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| 'The
Death of Thomas Chatterton'
by Henry Wallis |
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The
English poet
Thomas Chatterton
was a mere
17 years old
when he died
in 1770 as
a result of
arsenic poisoning.
Though he
has come to
be regarded
as something
of a patron
saint to the
cause of teenage
suicide prevention,
it will never
be known if
his death
was an intentional
suicide or
the result
of self-medicating
to cure a
venerial disease.
Chatterton
was the primary
poet of the
18th-century
Gothic literary
revival, and
had a great
influence
on the Romantic
Movement.
He became
notorious
as a result
of a hoax
in which he
convinced
many of his
contemporaries,
including
Horace Walpole,
of the authenticity
of a number
of forged
poems supposedly
written by
a 15th Century
monk whose
existence
Chatterton
had invented.
Thomas Chatterton
was buried
in London
at the Shoe
Lane Workhouse
Cemetery,
The cemetery
no longer
exists, and
the location
of Chatterton's
remains has
been lost. |
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