[34] See _ante_, p. 117.

[35] There were French translations by Letourneur in 1777 and 1810: by
Lacaussade in 1842; and an imitation by Baour-Lormian in 1801.

[36] See Perry's "Eighteenth Century Literature," p. 417.

[37] One suspects this translator to have been of Irish descent. He was
born at Schärding, Bavaria, in 1729.




CHAPTER X.

Thomas Chatterton.

The history of English romanticism has its tragedy: the life and death of
Thomas Chatterton--

"The marvelous boy,
The sleepless soul that perished in his pride."[1]

The story has been often told, but it may be told again here; for, aside
from its dramatic interest, and leaving out of question the absolute
value of the Rowley poems, it is most instructive as to the conditions
which brought about the romantic revival. It shows by what process
antiquarianism became poetry.

The scene of the story was the ancient city of Bristol--old Saxon