Link Copied!
Thomas Chatterton Quotes (1752-1770)
Poet
About Thomas Chatterton
Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 β 24 August 1770) was an English poet, claimed by some as the father of English Romantic poetry. A literary forger, he is best remembered for his verses in pseudo-medieval English, which he claimed were by a hitherto unknown 15th century poet called Thomas Rowley. He died, either by suicide or by accidental overdose, at the age of 17.
Best Thomas Chatterton Quotes
Shortest
Earliest
Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Thomas Chatterton quotes.
βHappy (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 Revelationβs side.β
Who, not by priest but Reason, rules his span:
Reason, to its possessor a sure guide,
Reason, a thorn in Revelationβs side.β
βAlmighty 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.β
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.β
βHaste 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.β
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.β
βHow 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!β
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!β
βListe! now the thunder's rattling clymmynge sound
Cheves slowlie on, and then embollen clangs,
Shakes the hie spyre, and losst, dispended, drown'd,
Still on the gallard eare of terroure hanges;
The windes are up; the lofty elmen swanges;
Again the levynne and the thunder poures,
And the full cloudes are braste attenes in stonen showers.β
Cheves slowlie on, and then embollen clangs,
Shakes the hie spyre, and losst, dispended, drown'd,
Still on the gallard eare of terroure hanges;
The windes are up; the lofty elmen swanges;
Again the levynne and the thunder poures,
And the full cloudes are braste attenes in stonen showers.β
βThe 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.β
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.β
Thomas Chatterton Quotes by Topic
Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Thomas Chatterton quotes by topic.
Thomas Chatterton on Daisies
βYun daiseyd mantels ys the mountayne dyghte.β
Thomas Chatterton on Flowers
βThe nesh yonge coweslip bendethe wyth the dewe.β
Thomas Chatterton on Clay
βHow shall we celebrate the day, When God appeared in mortal clay, The mark of worldly scorn.β
Thomas Chatterton on Mourning
Thomas Chatterton on War
βO Chryste, it is a grief for me to telle, How manie a noble erle and valrous knyghte In fyghtynge for Kynge Harrold noblie fell, Al sleyne on Hastyng's field in bloudie fyghte.β
Quotes About Thomas Chatterton
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Thomas Chatterton from others.
William Wordsworth on Thomas Chatterton
βChatterton, the marvellous boy, The sleepless soul that perished in his pride.β
Horace Walpole on Thomas Chatterton
William Hazlitt on Thomas Chatterton
βI cannot find in Chatterton's works any thing so extraordinary as the age at which they were written. They have a facility, vigour, and knowledge, which were prodigious in a boy of sixteen, but which would not have been so in a boy of twenty. He did not show extraordinary powers of genius, but extraordinary precocity. Nor do I believe he would have written better, had he lived. He knew this himself, or he would have lived. Great geniuses, like great kings, have too much to think of to kill themselves.β
Samuel Taylor Coleridge "Monody on the Death of Chatterton" on Thomas Chatterton
βO Chatterton! that thou wert yet alive! Sure thou would'st spread the canvass to the gale, And love, with us, the tinkling team to drive O'er peaceful Freedom's undivided dale; And we, at sober eve, would round thee throng, Hanging, enraptur'd, on thy stately song! And greet with smiles the young-eyed Poesy All deftly mask'd, as hoar Antiquity.β
Dante Gabriel Rossetti on Thomas Chatterton
βThe finest of the Rowley poems β Eclogues, Ballad of Charity &c rank absolutely with the finest poetry in the languageβ¦He was an absolute and untarnished hero.β
About Thomas Chatterton
Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 β 24 August 1770) was an English poet, claimed by some as the father of English Romantic poetry. A literary forger, he is best remembered for his verses in pseudo-medieval English, which he claimed were by a hitherto unknown 15th century poet called Thomas Rowley. He died, either by suicide or by accidental overdose, at the age of 17.