Thomas Chatterton: The Patron Saint of the Romantic Movement

Abstract

Thomas Chatterton, Bristol boy was one of the most precocious English poets the world had ever seen. He was the writer of mature verses and precursor of Romantic Movement. He had struggled both professionally and personally during his life time. When he was quite young, Chatterton was an estranged, alienated boy. Even at this time, the sign of precocity and egotism were quite apparent. Despite the struggle in personal life, he wrote with grace and poise and made a remarkable contribution to English poetry. He was gifted with natural poetical skill, keen sense of observation and delicate sensibilities. All his successors like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats and D.G. Rossetti all showered praise on him. His poetry is fully romantic in its sprit, presentation of nature, autobiographical element, treatment of supernatural and his melancholic nature are the prominent features of romantic poetry of Chatterton.