Famous Single Poems
the contents of this volume to their view as the mere amusements of my idle hours; effusions thrown off without care or meditation, as though the refuse of my thoughts were good enough for them. On the contrary, some of the pieces have cost me much time and thought; and I have composed them all as carefully and correctly as I could." The longest of these poems is entitled "A Trip to Saratoga," a pleasant narrative and sentimental account of a family journey. Others are very agreeable vers de société, commonly associated with some amusing theme. One, a sketch of an old Dutch legend greatly cherished in all genuine New York families, has become a general favorite wherever it is known. It is "A Visit from St. Nicholas."
The lesson of the amiable life and character of this accomplished Christian gentleman is happily expressed in one of the resolutions passed by the faculty of the General Theological Seminary, which he had served as a professor for nearly thirty years, and endowed with a magnificent grant of land. "We recognize in him," is its language, "one whom God has blessed with selecter gifts; warm-hearted in friendship, genial in society, kindly and considerate to all; possessed of fine literary tastes, poetic instincts and expressiveness, and of cheerful humor withal; at the same time well accomplished in severer studies and resolute for more laborious undertakings, as his learned works in Hebrew grammar and lexicography distinctly testify."
Dr. Moore's life seems to have been an exceptionally full and happy one. He was the
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