Chidiock Tichborne

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Chidiock Tichborne

Chidiock (Charles) Tichborne (1558–September 20, 1586) is remembered as an English

England

Conspiracy (political)

In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'?tat or through assassination....
and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
.

He was born in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest City status in the United Kingdom in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is sited around 100 km south-west of London and 30 km north-west of Portsmouth....
in 1558 to Roman Catholic parents. Given the recent succession of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was List of English monarchs and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the House of Tudor....
to the throne after the death of Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
, he was allowed to practice Catholicism for part of his early life. However in 1570 the Queen was excommunicated

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of full communion....
by the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
for her support of Protestant causes, and in retaliation ended her toleration of the Catholic Church.

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Encyclopedia

Chidiock (Charles) Tichborne (1558–September 20, 1586) is remembered as an English

England

Conspiracy (political)

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
.

He was born in Southampton

Southampton

Elizabeth I of England

Mary I of England

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of full communion....
by the Pope

Pope

In 1583, Tichborne and his father were arrested and questioned concerning the use of "popish relics." Though they were released without charge, records suggest that this was not the last time they were to be questioned by the authorities over their religion.

In June 1586, Tichborne agreed to take part in the Babington Plot

Babington Plot

The Babington Plot was the event which most directly led to the execution of Mary I of Scotland . This was a second major conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England after the Ridolfi plot....
to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots who was next in line to the throne. The plot was foiled by Sir Francis Walsingham

Francis Walsingham

Sir Francis Walsingham is usually remembered as the "spymaster" of Queen regnant Elizabeth I of England. Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence both for espionage and for domestic security....
using double agent

Double agent

"Double agent" is a counterintelligence term for someone who pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization....
s, most notably Robert Poley who was later witness to the murder of Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe was an Kingdom of England Playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost English Renaissance theatre tragedy next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death....
, and though most of the conspirators fled, Tichborne had an injured leg and was forced to remain in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. On August 14 he was arrested and he was later tried and sentenced to death in Westminster Hall.

While in custody in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames....
on September 19 (the eve of his execution), Tichborne wrote to his wife Agnes. The letter contained three stanza

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "Verse " ....
s of poetry that is his only known piece of work, Tichborne's Elegy, also known by its first line My Prime of Youth is but a Frost of Cares. The poem is a dark look at a life cut short and is a favourite of many scholars to this day.

On September 20, 1586, Tichborne was executed with Anthony Babington

Anthony Babington

Sir Anthony Babington was convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary Queen Of Scots....
, John Ballard

John Ballard

John Ballard was an England Jesuit priest executed for being involved in an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England in the Ridolfi Plot....
, and four other conspirators. They were disembowelled while still alive on specially erected gallows

Gallows

A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging.A gallows can take several forms.*the simplest form resembles an inverted "L", with a single upright and a horizontal beam to which the rope noose would be attached....
in St Giles Field, London as a warning to other would-be conspirators; however, when the Queen received reports that these gruesome executions were arousing sympathy for the conspirators, she gave orders that the remaining seven conspirators were to be allowed to hang until 'quite dead' before being disembowelled.

Tichborne's Elegy
Elegy

An elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive Poetry#Elegy, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead....

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,

My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,

My crop of corn is but a field of tares,

And all my good is but vain hope of gain;

The day is past, and yet I saw no sun,

And now I live, and now my life is done.

My tale was heard and yet it was not told,

My fruit is fallen, and yet my leaves are green,

My youth is spent and yet I am not old,

I saw the world and yet I was not seen;

My thread is cut and yet it is not spun,

And now I live, and now my life is done.

I sought my death and found it in my womb,

I looked for life and saw it was a shade,

I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,

And now I die, and now I was but made;

My glass is full, and now my glass is run,

And now I live, and now my life is done.

This is the first printed version from Verses of Prayse and Joye (1586). The original text differs slightly: along with other minor differences, the first line of the second verse reads "The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung," and the third line reads "My youth is gone, and yet I am but young."

Critical Appreciation

Tichborne's Elegy uses two favourite Renaissance figures of speech - antithesis

Antithesis

Paradox

Antithesis

Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out of a contrast in the meaning by an obvious contrast in the Idiom....
means setting opposites against each other: prime of youth / frost of cares (from the first line". This is typical of Renaissance poetry, as for example in Wyatt's "I find no peace, and all my war is done", with the lover freezing/burning. We also see it in the poem by Elizabeth I, "I grieve and dare not show my discontent", e.g., "I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned."

A paradox

Paradox

A paradox is a Proposition or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition ; or, it can be an apparent contradiction that actually expresses a non-dual truth ....
is a statement which seems self-contradictory, yet is true, e.g., "My tale is heard, and yet it was not told", or "My glass is full, and now my glass is run."

Often a Renaissance poem will begin with antithesis to establish circumstances and reveal its themes through paradox.

The Elegy is remarkable for being written almost entirely in monosyllables.

Chidiock Tichborne

Tichborne's ElegyElegyAn elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive Poetry#Elegy, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead....

Critical Appreciation

External links

Tichborne's Elegy
Elegy

An elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive Poetry#Elegy, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead....