Analysis of A New Song

Thomas Chatterton 1752 (Bristol) – 1770 (Holborn)



Ah blame me not, Catcott, if from the right way
My notions and actions run far.
How can my ideas do other but stray,
Deprived of their ruling North-Star?

A blame me not, Broderip, if mounted aloft,
I chatter and spoil the dull air;
How can I imagine thy foppery soft,
When discord's the voice of my fair?

If Turner remitted my bluster and rhymes,
If Hardind was girlish and cold,
If never an ogle was got from Miss Grimes,
If Flavia was blasted and old;

I chose without liking, and left without pain,
Nor welcomed the frown with a sigh;
I scorned, like a monkey, to dangle my chain,
And paint them new charms with a lie.

Once Cotton was handsome; I flam'd and I burn'd,
I died to obtain the bright queen;
But when I beheld my epistle return'd,
By Jesu it alter'd the scene.

She's damnable ugly, my Vanity cried,
You lie, says my Conscience, you lie;
Resolving to follow the dictates of Pride,
I'd view her a hag to my eye.

But should she regain her bright lustre again,
And shine in her natural charms,
'Tis but to accept of the works of my pen,
And permit me to use my own arms.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG HIHI JGJG KLKL
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1111111011 11001011 11101011011 01111011 0111111001 11001011 111010111 1101111 11001011001 1111001 11011011111 110011001 11011001011 11001101 11101011011 01111101 11011011011 11101011 1111101001 1111001 111011001 11111011 01011000111 11001111 11101011001 01001001 11101101111 001111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,087
Words 209
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 118
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:04 min read
125

Thomas Chatterton

Thomas Chatterton was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. He committed suicide, dying of arsenic poisoning. His works and death were much discussed posthumously and had an influence on the Romantic movement. more…

All Thomas Chatterton poems | Thomas Chatterton Books

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