- Born:
- November 20, 1752, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
- Died:
- August 24, 1770, London (aged 17)
- Notable Works:
- theatrical production
- Movement / Style:
- Romanticism
Thomas Chatterton
-
Who was Thomas Chatterton?
Thomas Chatterton (1752ā1770) was a significant figure in the 18th-century "Gothic" literary revival, and is known as Englandās youngest writer of mature verse, and a precursor of the Romantic Movement.
Chatterton created a fictitious 15th-century monk named Thomas Rowley and attributed many of his poems to him. Despite their shortcomings, these poems displayed Chatterton's genius and marked him as an early Romantic pioneer.
In 1770, facing financial struggles and despair, Chatterton died by suicide at the age of 17. Posthumously, he gained fame and inspired poets like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and John Keats.
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What kind of poetry did Thomas Chatterton write?
Thomas Chatterton, a key figure in the 18th-century Gothic literary revival and a precursor to the Romantic Movement, is known for his unique poetic style. At the age of 11, Chatterton began creating poems attributed to Thomas Rowley, a fictional 15th-century monk from Bristol.
These Rowley poems, though flawed, showcased Chatterton's genius and marked him as an early Romantic pioneer in metrics and feeling. His notable work includes the pathetic Rowley poem, āAn Excelente Balade of Charitieā. Despite initial rejection, Chatterton's work gained posthumous fame, influencing poets like Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, and Byron.
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Why is Thomas Chatterton considered important in British literature?
Thomas Chatterton, born in Bristol in 1752, stands as a notable figure in British literature for his precocious talent and contribution to the Gothic literary revival of the 18th century. He is viewed as Englandās youngest writer of mature verse and a precursor of the Romantic Movement.
Chatterton created a fictitious 15th-century monk, Thomas Rowley, and attributed several poems to him. Despite their shortcomings, these poems showcased Chatterton's genius and marked him as an early Romantic pioneer in metrics and feeling. Although he faced challenges and died young, his work gained posthumous fame and influenced prominent poets such as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, and others.
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What are the Rowley Poems, and how are they connected to Chatterton?
The Rowley Poems are a collection of poems that Thomas Chatterton attributed to Thomas Rowley, a fictitious 15th-century monk from Bristol, England. Chatterton created Rowley as a persona through which he could express his poetic genius.
Chatterton's initial poem was "On the Last Epiphany," a scholarly Miltonic piece penned when he was 10 years old. About a year later, he inscribed an old parchment with a pastoral eclogue, "Elinoure and Juga," which was supposed to be from the 15th century. Readers were deceived, and thereafter what had begun as a childish deception became a poetic activity separate from Chatterton's acknowledged writings.
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How did Thomas Chatterton influence later Romantic poets?
Thomas Chatterton, the chief poet of the 18th-century "Gothic" literary revival, stands as Englandās youngest writer of mature verse and a precursor of the Romantic Movement.
His works, particularly the poems attributed to the fictitious 15th-century monk Thomas Rowley, significantly influenced later Romantic poets. Despite their shortcomings as medieval writings, these poems showcased Chatterton's genius and pioneering spirit in metrics and feeling, marking him as an early Romantic pioneer. Poets like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats were among those who paid tribute to him, acknowledging his impact on their work.
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What challenges did Chatterton face during his life and career?
Thomas Chatterton, a prodigious 18th-century poet, faced numerous challenges. Despite his early talent, he was considered slow in learning and found solace in solitude. Apprenticed to an attorney, he found the work irksome and yearned for literary success.
His attempts to gain recognition were met with rejection; publisher James Dodsley and Horace Walpole dismissed his "Rowley" manuscripts, plunging him into despair. Struggling with poverty in London, he refused help from friends and tragically died by suicide at the age of 17. Despite the controversies surrounding his forgeries, Chatterton's genius was posthumously recognized, inspiring Romantic poets like Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Keats.
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Thomas Chatterton (born November 20, 1752, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Englandādied August 24, 1770, London) was the chief poet of the 18th-century āGothicā literary revival, Englandās youngest writer of mature verse, and precursor of the Romantic Movement.
At first considered slow in learning, Chatterton had a tearful childhood, choosing the solitude of an attic and making no progress with his alphabet. One day, seeing his mother tear up as wastepaper one of his fatherās old French musical folios, the boy was entranced by its illuminated capital letters, and his intellect began to be engaged. He learned to read far in advance of his age but only from old materials, music folios, a black-letter Bible, and muniments taken by his father from a chest in the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe. At age seven Chatterton entered Colstonās Hospital, but his learning was acquired independently.
Chattertonās first known poem was a scholarly Miltonic piece, āOn the Last Epiphany,ā written when he was 10. About a year later an old parchment he had inscribed with a pastoral eclogue, āElinoure and Juga,ā supposedly of the 15th century, deceived its readers, and thereafter what had begun merely as a childish deception became a poetic activity quite separate from Chattertonās acknowledged writings. These poems were supposedly written by a 15th-century monk of Bristol, Thomas Rowley, a fictitious character created by Chatterton. The name was taken from a civilianās monument brass at St. Johnās Church in Bristol. The poems had many shortcomings both as medieval writings and as poetry. Yet Chatterton threw all his powers into the poems, supposedly written by Rowley, in such a manner as to mark him a poet of genius and an early Romantic pioneer, both in metrics and in feeling.
In 1767 Chatterton was apprenticed to a Bristol attorney but spent most of his time on his own writing, which for a while he turned to slight profit in Felix Farleyās Bristol Journal and Town and Country Magazine. The life was irksome to him, however, and pressures began to build up, compounded of a fight for a free press, contempt for Bristol and his dowdy family, a philandering attitude to local girls, and the ādeathā of Rowley.
Chatterton sent James Dodsley, the publisher, letters offering some of Rowleyās manuscripts, but Dodsley ignored him. Horace Walpole received similar offers and at first was enchanted with the āoldā poems; but, when advised by friends that the manuscripts were modern, he treated Chatterton with chilly contempt, advising him in a letter to stick to his calling. Chatterton rewarded him with bitter but noble lines. By a mock suicide threat (āThe Last Will and Testament of me, Thomas Chatterton of Bristolā), he forced his employer, John Lambert, to release him from his contract and set out for London to storm the city with satires and pamphlets. A lively burletta (comic opera), The Revenge, brought some money, but the death of a prospective patron quenched Chattertonās hopes. At this time he wrote the most pathetic of his Rowley poems, āAn Excelente Balade of Charitie.ā Though literally starving, Chatterton refused the food of friends and, on the night of August 24, 1770, took arsenic in his Holborn garret and died.
The aftermath was fame. The just tributes of many poets came after controversy between the āRowleiansā and those who rightly saw Chatterton as the sole author. Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote a monody to him; William Wordsworth saw him as āthe marvelous boyā; Percy Bysshe Shelley gave him a stanza in āAdonaisā; John Keats dedicated Endymion: A Poetic Romance to him and was heavily influenced by him; and George Crabbe, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti added their praise. In France the Romantics hailed his example, and Alfred de Vignyās historically inaccurate play Chatterton was the model for an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo.