Ekphrasis Blog

Wallis, Henry. The Death of Chatterton, 1856.

"The Death of Chatterton" Humanities Revelation

So young and full of fire, yet his body so cold and tired.

Scraps of his poems lay below his head.

As he had ripped the pages, for they were dead.

Failure of literacy overwhelmed the room.

He could not stand the critical view, so he determined his time was due.

Decades to learn, but his first try had him so blue.

Still, he lays cold and pale.

His body so stale.

For there was poison coursing through his veins.

And his presence would never remain.

Poem written by Ordinary Human

I decided to create an ekphrasis with the medium of a painting. An ekphrasis is art that is made with a basis or idea from another piece of art. A painting I found myself drawn to was "The Death of Chatterton" by Henry Wallis. This piece was created in 1856 and is a historic impressionist painting representing a young 17-year-old, creative poet, Thomas Chatterton. I chose to creative a poem that represents this work. The story both the painting and my poetry represent is how this young poet received backlash after publishing his first book, and it was too much for him, resulting in him ending his life. This stood out because the story the painting represents is from 1770, yet the issue of suicide was just as relevant back then as it is today.

The original painting allows Chatterton's fiery red hair to contrast with the rest of the color scheme. Because this is such a prominent detail in the painting, I tried to show it in my poetry. The first line I wrote referred to how young and full of fire he was before leaving his body so cold and tired. I wanted to share the story as generously as Wallis did, so just like the painting, I shared how shredded poetry was on the floor. The detail showing that he tore up his art truly encases how he felt and makes viewers present with the history. He was angry with his work and felt like a failure, so I knew it was important to translate those intricate details of the painting into my poem.

I spent some time trying to translate how unlively his body appeared in the painting with words like still, pale, blue, cold, and stale. This is my first piece of poetry, but I did try my best to make my poem have a good rhythm with some rhyming words. Additionally, I wanted to share what may still need to be fully seen in the painting. Near the scraps of his poems lays a bottle full of poison; I had almost missed this detail, so I wanted it to be clear in my translation. Although his body appears so lifeless, there was indeed poison flowing through his body. Lastly, I wanted to show that he would never face critique again because of this accident, but he also would never gain decades of knowledge.