The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton with an essay on the Rowley poems by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat and a memoir by Edward Bell |
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THE EXHIBITION; |
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 | The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton |  |
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THE EXHIBITION;
A PERSONAL SATIRE.
This truth, this mighty truth—if truth can shineIn the smooth polish of a laboured line—
Catcott by sad experience testifies;
And who shall tell a sabled priest he lies?
Bred to the juggling of the specious band
Predestinated to adorn the land,
The selfish Catcott ripened to a priest,
And wore the sable livery of the Beast.
By birth to prejudice and whim allied,
And heavy with hereditary pride,
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And spent his youth to prove himself a fool;
Buried existence in a lengthened cave,
And lost in dreams whatever Nature gave.
May 1, 1770.
| The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton | |