Chatterton, Thomas

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Chatterton, Thomas (1752–70) English poet and forger of antiquities. He achieved posthumous fame for poems such as “Bristowe Tragedie” and “Mynstrelles Songe”, supposedly composed by Thomas Rowley, an imaginary 15th-century monk. An erratic talent, his early suicide established him as a hero of the Romantic movement. William Wordsworth described him as “the marvellous boy”.

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