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Thomas Chatterton

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Also known as Thomas Rowley, Decimus

English poet and forger (1752-1770)

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 187 inbound references to Thomas Chatterton, and connects out to Oscar Wilde, Suicide and Geoffrey Chaucer.

It sits within the topics 1752 births, 1770 deaths and 18th-century English poets.

Vinony links it to 34 Wikipedia language editions.

Person · Open Library

Born
1752
Died
1770
Works
78

Top works

  • Poetical works
  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton
  • Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton; Volume 1
  • The letter paraphras'd
  • The execution of Sir Charles Bawdin

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Group
Country
US

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
2
Total plays
2

Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. He died of arsenic poisoning, either from a suicide attempt or self-medication for a venereal disease. Thomas Chatterton was born at Bristol where the office of sexton of St. Mary Redcliffe had long been held the Chatterton family. The poet's father, also named Thomas Chatterton, was a musician, a poet, a numismatist, and a dabbler in the occult. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Tho

via Last.fm · Thomas Chatterton

Quotes

  • Mie love ys dedde,Gon to hys death-bedde,Al under the wyllowe tree. Waterre wytches, crownede wythe reytes,Bere mee to yer leathalle tyde.I die; I comme; mie true love waytes.Thos the damselle spake, and dyed.
  • Almighty Framer of the Skies!O let our pure devotion rise,Like Incense in thy Sight!Wrapt in impenetrable Shade,The Texture of our Souls were made,Till thy Command gave Light.
  • How shall we celebrate the day,When God appeared in mortal clay,The mark of worldly scorn;When the Archangel's heavenly Lays,Attempted the Redeemer's Praise,And hail'd Salvation's Morn!
  • Happy (if mortals can be) is the man,Who, not by priest but Reason, rules his span:Reason, to its possessor a sure guide,Reason, a thorn in Revelation’s side.
  • Haste to thie kiste, thie onlie dortoure bedde. Cale, as the claie whiche will gre on thie hedde, Is Charitie and Love aminge highe elves; Knightis and Barons live for pleasure and themselves.
  • The gatherd storme is rype; the bigge drops falle; The forswat meadowes smethe, and drenche the raine; The comyng ghastness do the cattle pall, And the full flockes are drivynge ore the plaine; Dashde from the cloudes the waters flott againe; The welkin opes; the yellow levynne flies; And the hot fierie smothe in the wide lowings dies.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
( 1752-11-20 ) 20 November 1752 , Bristol , England
Died
24 August 1770 (1770-08-24) (aged 17), Holborn , London, England
Pen name
Thomas Rowley, Decimus
Occupation
Poet, forger

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Thomas Chatterton wb.jpg
Show 7 more facts
pseudonym
Decimus
Commons category
Thomas Chatterton
date of death
1770-01-01
date of birth
1752-01-01
name in native language
Thomas Evengton
Commons Creator page
Thomas Chatterton
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

9 objects attributed to Thomas Chatterton, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet who committed suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Although fatherless and raised in poverty, Chatterton was a studious child, publishing work by the age of 11. He was able to pass off his work as that of a fictional 15th-century poet called Thomas Rowley, though he was denounced by Horace Walpole.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Thomas Chatterton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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