Richard Henry Wilde (24 September 1789-10 September 1847), poet, politician, and translator, was born in Dublin, Ireland. The son of a merchant father and a socially prominent mother, Wilde saw little of Ireland because his family moved to Baltimore in 1796 in order to establish a branch of the family business there. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 wiped out the family's investments in Dublin, and they became entirely dependent upon their Baltimore store for a livelihood. From childhood Wilde suffered from poor health, which made him a shy and reclusive youngster, privately tutored as well as educated at home by his mother. Much of Wilde's time was spent reading rather than playing out of doors. In 1800 he went to work in his father's store.

Another blow struck the Wilde family in 1802, when Richard's father died, leaving but a small estate. In an attempt to bolster the family's finances, Wilde went to seek...