Thomas Chatterton Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Once was a priest
Who lived in England
Who recounted the history
Of events that have come to be
Important to those who
Admire those who
Went before.

Rowley was his name
According to records left
By Thomas Chatterton.
Great was the exclaim
In Chatterton's time
That a man of record
Made such detailed
Writing on parchment.

Basking in the attention
Bestowed,
Chatterton sought to
Enshrine his discovery
For posterity.

Alas,
It came to pass
That the imagination
Of Chatterton
Was responsible
For the priest
Who lived only in
Parchment and ink.

Thus began one of the
Most famous extraordinary
Delusion know to be
Foisted on the illumini
Who refused to believe
That a boy of seventeen years
Could produce such,
And in abundance, much,
For in addition to Rowley
He produced poems,
Satiric essays and other writings.
Far greater than is
To be expected of one of
Chatterton's young age.

No other has done as much
To confuse the reader
Than perhaps Christopher Marlowe
Who some think was the
Ghost masquerading as no less
Than William Shake-speare.

s

...
Whan from the diftaunt ftreeme arofe a mayde,
Whofe gentle treffes mov'd not to the wynde;
Lyche to the fylver moone yn froftie neete,
The damolfelle dyd come foe blythe amd fweete.

Ne browded mantell of a fearlette hue,
Ne thoone pykes plaited o'er wyth ribbande geere,
Ne coftlie paraments of woden buue,
Noughte of a dresse, but bewtie dyd fhee weere;
Naked fhee was, and loked swete of youthe,
All dyd bewryen that her name was Trouthe.

The ethie ringletts of her notte-browne hayre
What ne a manne fhould fee dyd fwotelie hyde,
Whych on her milk-white bodykin fo fayer
Dyd fhowe lyke browne ftreemes fowlyng the white tyde
Or veynes of brown hue yn a marble cuarr,
Whyche by the travelier ys kenn'd from farr.

...
line 39, The Storie of William Canynge, as written by Thomas Rowley and others in the fifteenth century and copied by Thomas Chatterton (according to TC) .
When Chatterton sought rhyme, he sometimes used words to fit from the glossary he created.
Regardless, Thomas Chatterton continues to draw moths to the flickering candle flame.

The Rowley Poems, Clarendon Press,1911.