Christopher Smart
Encyclopedia
Christopher Smart also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English
poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson
and Henry Fielding
. Smart, a high church
Anglican, was widely known throughout London.
Smart was infamous for his role as "Mrs. Mary Midnight" and widespread accounts of his father-in-law, John Newbery
, locking him away in a mental asylum
for many years over Smart's supposed religious "mania". Even after Smart's eventual release, a negative reputation continued to pursue him as he was known for incurring more debt than he could pay off; this ultimately led to his confinement in debtor's prison until his death.
Smart's two most widely-known works are A Song to David
and Jubilate Agno
, both at least partly written during his confinement in asylum. However, Jubilate Agno was not to be published until 1939 and A Song to David received mixed reviews until the 19th century. To his contemporaries, Smart was known mainly for his many contributions in the journals The Midwife and The Student, along with his famous Seaton Prize poems and his mock epic The Hilliad
. Although he is primarily recognized as a religious poet, his poetry includes various other themes, such as his theories on nature and his promotion of English nationalism
.
in Kent
, England on the Fairlawne estate of William, Viscount Vane
, younger son of Lord Barnard
of Barnard Castle
. He was, according to his nephew, "of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period". He was baptized in Wrotham
parish on 11 May 1722. Smart's father was Peter Smart, steward
or bailiff of Fairlawne. His mother was Winifred Smart of the Griffiths family of Radnorshire
, Wales
. Before giving birth to Christopher, she had two daughters, Margaret and Mary Anne.
During Smart's younger years, Fairlawne was the residence of Christopher Vane and Elizabeth Holles Vane, and Christopher Vane who bequeathed £200 to Smart. He is supposed to have received so much money due to his father's closeness to the Vane family, his being named after Christopher Vane, and the young boy was considered "the pride of Fairlawn". However, there is some controversy over the exact nature of this inheritance; while some cynically disagree with the reasons for his inheritance, no other explanation has been specified. In 1726, three years after Christopher Vane died, Peter Smart purchased Hall-Place in East Barming
, which included a mansion house, fields, orchards, gardens, and woodland, a property that was influential throughout Smart's later life. From the age of four until eleven, he spent much time around the farms, but did not participate, leading to speculations that he suffered from asthma attacks. However, not all scholars agree that he was a "sickly youth". The only written record of events during his childhood comes from his writing of a short poem, at the age of four, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of a twelve-year-old girl.
While at Hall-Place, Smart was sent to the local Maidstone Grammar School
where he was taught by Charles Walwyn, a scholar from Eton College
who had received an MA from King's College
, Cambridge
in 1696. It was here that Smart received an intensive education in Latin and Greek. However, he was not to complete his education at Maidstone as his father died on 3 February 1733, and his mother took Smart and his siblings to live near relatives in Durham after selling off a large portion of the estate to pay off Peter Smart's debts.
Smart then attended Durham School
where the Reverend Mr. Richard Dongworth was headmaster; it is not known whether he lived with his uncle, John Smart, or with a school master. He spent vacations at Raby Castle
, which was owned by Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington
, the grandson of Christopher Vane. Henry Vane and his wife Grace, sister to William and Henrietta Fitzroy the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, had four children, Henry, Frederick, Anne, and Mary. They were only a few years younger than Smart and became playmates, with Anne and Henry "pairing off" with Christopher and his sister Margaret respectively. Although nothing resulted from the match, Anne has been traditionally described as being his "first love". During his time with the Vane family, Smart dedicated many poems to Henrietta, the Duchess of Cleveland. It was his closeness with the Vane family along with his skill for learning that encouraged Henrietta to allow him a pension of 40 pounds yearly, continued by her husband after her death in 1742. This allowed Smart to attend Pembroke College, Cambridge
.
Smart was admitted to Pembroke College on 20 October 1739 as a sizar
under Leonard Addison. Although it is unclear why he chose Pembroke College, Addison was named in Peter Smart's trust deed (1729). As a sizar, he occasionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks. On 12 July 1740, he was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him six pounds a year until he gained a Bachelor of Arts
degree. In addition to this income, he was also granted four pounds a year for scholarship. Although he was successful academically, he began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle while at the college.
During his time at Pembroke, Smart borrowed numerous books spanning the fields of literature, religion, and science. These works helped when he wrote the three "Tripos Verse" at the end of each year. These poems were written in Latin and they, along with his other Latin poems like his translation of Alexander Pope
's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, led to him being awarded the "Craven scholarship for classics" on 10 June 1742, which paid ₤25 a year for 14 years. These scholarships, combined with his becoming a fellow
in 1743, justified Smart calling himself "Scholar of the University".
In 1743, Smart pushed his translation of Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day as Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine Redditum and paid for the publication himself. With this translation, he wanted to win Pope's favor and translate Pope's Essay on Man, but Pope rejected the idea and, after a lettered response and a possible meeting between the two, Smart translated Pope's An Essay on Criticism (De Arte Critica) instead. The initial letter sent from Pope recommending the future translation was prized by Smart. In response to this letter and his budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke Fellows honoured him with a portrait showing him holding the letter from Pope and allowed him to write a poem in celebration of Jubilee of Pembroke's 400th year in 1744.
In October 1745, Smart was elected Praelector
of Philosophy, which paid one pound a year, and made one of three Keepers of the Common Chest. The next year, on 11 February 1746, he became a Master of Arts and was later elected on 10 October 1746, to Praelector of Philosophy, Praelector of Rhetoric, and Keeper of the Common Chest. However, he had run up more debt of over twice his annual income, and he was not re-elected in 1747 to the Praelectorship and was denied his control over the Common Chest accounts. However, he was made a "Preacher before the Mayor of Cambridge" at the college under the title "Concionatori Coram Praetore oppidano", and his modest living during this year allowed him to regain Praelectorship in Philosophy along with being made a catechist, which suggests that he was ordained in the Anglican church.
In 1746, Smart became tutor to John Blake Delaval, but this was abruptly canceled and Delaval eventually removed from Pembroke over various broken rules and mischief. After recovering from this, Smart returned to studying. In April 1747, a comedy he wrote just months before, A Trip to Cambridge, or The Grateful Fair, was performed in Pembroke College Hall, with many parts, including female roles, played by Smart himself. The prologue was printed in The Cambridge Journal Weekly Flying-Post, which claimed that the play received "Universal Applause".
During his final years at Pembroke, Smart was writing and publishing many poems. On 9 January 1748, there were three proposals for "A Collection of Original Poems, By Christopher Smart, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke Hall, in the University of Cambridge" that would include "The Hop Garden", "The Judgment of Midas, a Masque", his odes, his translations into Latin, and some original Latin poems. Thomas Gray
, in 17 March 1747, referred to this work as Smart's "Collection of Odes". This collection was not printed in 1748 but was delayed until 1752, and was re-titled Poems on Several Occasions.
Between 1740 and 1746, he was introduced to Harriot Pratt, and he began to write poetry about her. By 1749, he was in love with her and wrote to his friend Charles Burney
(father of Fanny Burney
), "I am situated within a mile of my Harriote & Love has robd Friendship of her just dues... There was a great musical crash at Cambridge, which was greatly admired, but I was not there, being much better pleased with hearing my Harriote on her spinnet & organ at her ancient mansion", suggesting that he was living permanently in Market Downham, London. Although he wrote many poems dedicated to Harriot, his poem "The Lass with the Golden Locks" (1752) claims that he was done with both Harriot, Polly, and other women. The "lass with the golden locks" who replaced Smart's previous fancies was Anna Maria Carnan. Anna would be Smart's future wife and she was the stepdaughter of John Newbery, Smart's future publisher.
. It was this year that Smart developed a business relationship with John Newbery. It is unknown how Smart and Newbery met, but Smart's daughter claimed Charles Burney introduced the two. Newbery was looking for a contributory to his The Midwife and The Student magazines, and it is possible that Smart's winning of Cambridge's "Seatonian Prize" on 25 March 1750 brought his poetic abilities to Newbery's attention.
The "Seatonian Prize" was a contest for one English poem each year on the topic of "the Perfections or Attributes of the Supreme Being" and the prize would be the "Rent of the [Kislingbury, Northamptonshire] estate" It was established by the will of Thomas Seaton, an "Anglican divine and hymn writer". Smart wrote in the "poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse. In 1750, the poem he won the prize with was On the Eternity of the Supreme Being. The prize was only worth 17 pounds each year before 7 pounds were deducted for the publication of the poem. However, after the publication of the poem, Smart became a regular contributor in The Student.
The Student, before Smart's work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays. However, once he joined and began writing under many pseudonyms, the magazine became filled with satire, parody, and humorous essays and poems. Along with him composing 15 of the essays and the majority of the poems published in the two volumes of the magazine, he decided to append three of The Inspector, a "humorous news report", to the second of the volumes. These reports included many "puff pieces" promoting Smart's works along with various stories written by his friends and associates, including the famous writers/poets Henry Fielding
, Samuel Johnson, William Collins
, and Tobias Smollett
. However, this was not the only important publication produced by him during this time.
The Midwife, first running on 16 October 1751 and lasting until April of 1753, was produced primarily by Smart while he worked on The Student. This magazine was popular enough to be published in four editions. To hide his identity for practical and humorous reasons, he adopted the persona of a Midwife, also known as a "Mrs. Midwife" in slang, and called this persona "Mrs. Mary Midwife".
When his poem "Night Piece" was attacked by William Kenrick
in Kapelion, or Poetical Ordinary, possibly out of a prearranged publicity stunt, Smart used The Midwife in December, 1750, to attack back at Kenrick and promised an Old Woman's Dunciad to be written against the other poet. However, Kenrick beat Smart to the use of the title and printed his own in January, 1751. This feud lasted as attacks published in a few issues of The Midwife, but it soon died out when Smart focused his attention to writing a prologue and epilogue for a production of Othello and using the magazine to promote it.
His attention slowly shifted away from The Midwife when he wrote for, and won, the "Seatonian Prize" for his On the Immensity of the Supreme Being and when he began working with Newbery's children's magazine, The Lilliputian Magazine. However, Smart returned to this character full force when he established The Old Woman's Oratory; or Henley in Petticoats in December of 1751. The Oratory included Smart playing as Mrs. Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts. The Oratory was successful, and was completely redone on 21 January 1752. However, not everyone enjoyed the show, and Horace Walpole described the performance as "the lowest buffoonery in the world even to me who am used to my uncle Horace." Late in 1752, Smart finished and published a collection of his works as Poems on Several Occasions, which resulted in the end of the Oratory and The Midwife.
In 1752, Christopher Smart was slowly dragged into a large "paper war
" that involved many of London's writers. After the publication of Poems on Several Occasions, including The Hop-Garden
, in June of 1752, John Hill
launched a major attack upon Smart's poetry. Smart responded with his mock-epic, The Hilliad
. Before the release of Smart's poem, Hill was engaged in a large literary battle between various members of Grub Street's and London's writing community, especially Henry Fielding. This battle may have been for publicity only and lasted over many months before Smart involved himself. However, even with such a late entry, his Hilliad was the "loudest broadside" of the war.
Smart was incurring many debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family; he was married to Anna Maria Carnan around mid-1752, and in 1754 already had two daughters, Marianne (3 May 1753) and Elizabeth Anne (27 October 1754). As a married man, he could no longer stay enrolled at Pembroke and collect his scholarship money when his marriage and children were made apparent to the heads of the college. Newbery allowed Smart, along with his wife and their children, to live at Canonbury House, Islington. Although Newbery had a strong reputation for charity, he was determined to have complete control over his writers. It is likely that such an attitude combined with monetary problems led to a rift forming between the two in 1753.
Between 1753 and 1755, Smart published or republished at least 79 works. However, even if he received money from each of these publications, these publications were unable to provide enough of an income to support a family, especially to his standard of living. While he was producing a poem each year for the Seatonian Prize, this amounted to very little of his writing; he was forced into a life of "hack work", which was described by his contemporary, Arthur Murphy, as "a bookseller is his only friend, but for that bookseller, however liberal, he must toil and drudge." In December of 1755, he finished The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into English Prose, a translation of Horace
, which was widely used but brought him little profit.
He signed a 99 year long contract in November 1755 to produce a weekly paper entitled The Universal Visitor or Monthly Memorialist for Thomas Gardner and Edmund Allen. However, the strain of publishing caused Smart to suffer from a fit, and he was unable to keep up with the publishing of the paper. Allen was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Smart, who contributed to the magazine in order to help Smart keep up with his contract. In March 1756, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's final "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Goodness of the Supreme Being, and later, on 5 June, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's Hymn to the Supreme Being, a poem which thanked God for recovery over an illness of some kind, possibly a "disturbed mental state". The Hymn to the Supreme Being marks the time in Smart's life after the mysterious "fit" was resolved and the beginning of Smart's obsession with religion and his praying "without ceasing".
A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Smart, and he was admitted to St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics
on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient". It is possible that Smart was confined by Newbery over old debts and a poor relationship between the two; Newbery had previously mocked Smart and his immorality in his A Collection of Pretty Poems for the Amusement of Children six Foot High. Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery's admittance of Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness". However, there is also evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St. James's Park in which Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89).
It is not known what exactly happened during his confinement, but Smart did work on two of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno and A Song to David. What is known is that he may have been in a private madhouse before St Luke's and that he was later moved from St Luke's to Mr. Potter's asylum until his release. At St Luke's, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and was moved to Mr. Potter's asylum for monetary reasons. During this time, Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland. His isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, his poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation". There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Smart and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects him to the Christian God.
Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker. It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo… between public and private space". In London, only a few of his works were still being published. However, not everyone viewed Smart's "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended him, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times. A century later, Robert Browning
later remarked that A Song to David was great because Smart was mad, and that the poem allowed him to rank alongside of Milton and Keats. It is no wonder that a few of his loyal friends did come to Mr. Potter's and free him.
Little is known as to how and why Smart was released from asylum, but Elizabeth, his daughter, claimed: "He grew better, and some misjudging friends who misconstrued Mr Newbery's great kindness in placing him under necessary & salutary restriction which might possibly have eventually wrought a cure, invited him to dinner and he returned to his confinement no more." Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Smart did leave the asylum on 30 January 1763.
followed this on 15 July 1763 with another. Along with this support, Smart responded to his critics at the Critical Review; in regards to Smart's response, the Critical Review claimed that they would "say no more of Mr. Smart".
After A Song to David, he tried to publish a collection of his Psalms translations, and Newbery sought to ruin him by hiring James Merrick to produce his own translations. Newbery then hired Smart's new publisher, James Fletcher, which in turn forced Smart to find a new publisher, delaying the printing of his Psalms. Finally, on 12 August 1765, he printed A Translation of the Psalms of David, which included Hymns and Spiritual Songs and a second edition of A Song to David. This work was criticized by Tobias Smollett who was working with Newbery at the time, and Newbery's edition by Merrick was constantly compared with Smart's. However, modern criticism has received Smart's version in a more favourable light. While working on this project, he was also working on a translation of the Phaedrus and a verse translation of Horace. His verse Horace was published in July of 1767 including a preface in which he attacked Newbery, but the attack was in vain because Newbery died soon after.
On 20 April 1770, Smart was arrested for debt. On 11 January 1771, he was tried by Lord Mansfield, the gentleman who originally introduced Smart to Alexander Pope, and he was soon recommended to the King's Bench Prison
. Although he was in prison, Charles Burney purchased the "Rules" (allowing him some freedom), and Smart's final weeks may have been peaceful although pathetic. In his final letter, Smart begged for money from Rev. Mr. Jackson, saying: "Being upon recovery from a fit of illness, and having nothing to eat, I beg you to send me two or three shillings which (God willing) I will return, with many thanks, in two or three days." On 20 May 1771, Smart died from either liver failure or pneumonia shortly after completing his final work, Hymns, for the Amusement of Children.
On 22 May 1771, a jury of twelve fellow inmates of the King's Bench Prison declared that Smart "upon the Twentieth day of May Instant died a Natural Death within the Rules of the Prison." He was then buried on 26 May 1771.
Although Smart wrote the "Seatonian Prize" poems early on, there is a contrast between the mimicked Miltonic blank verse and the intense exploration of religion found in his later works. His first "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Eternity of the Supreme Being is part of two traditional types of religious writing: "authoritative discourse of religious poetry" and "tentative and self-critical discourse of an apparently more personal devotion" In connecting the two, he redefines "the role of the religious poet." By establishing a debate between these two forms, Harriet Guest claims that Smart creates "a poetic space which allows the poet to make provisional, even questionable statements", which are important to his later works. To Guest, Smart, in his religious poems, "is not concerned to offer instruction in Christian conduct." Besides the greater theological debate, the poems also are the origins of Smart's belief that all of creation is constantly praising God, and that a poet must "give voice to mute nature's praise of God."
Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought. His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry. Smart, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language. Although the original manuscript divided the "Let" and "For" verses onto opposing sides of the manuscript, Karina Williams claims that "Dr W. H. Bond then discovered that some of the LET and FOR folios were numbered and dated concurrently, and that these chronologically parallel texts were further connected by verbal links." This justified her combing the two sides to follow each other. Using this as a model, Guest claims that the "For" verses explore religion with a "personal tone" and the "Let" are "unambiguous" and deal with public matters. Jeanne Walker goes further than Guest and claims that the "Let " and "For" sections are united with the Hebrew tradition and "iterate both present and future simultaneously, that is, they redeem time."
Words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, and God is the "great poet" who used language in order to create the universe. Through words and language, Smart attempted to capture the creative power of those words. By relying on the power of words, Smart is, according to Clement Hawes, subverting "Anglican control over religious functions and services." In essence, Smart's approach to religion in Jubilate Agno is comparable to John Wesley
's theological dictum
and to the writings of John Perro and William Bowling. He also creates his own natural philosophy and criticizes science, like that established by Isaac Newton
, for their ignoring "the glory of Almighty God."
To Smart, each piece of matter is alive because it is connected to God, and matter cannot be described in a cold manner that disconnects it from this reality. However, Smart accomplished his new science by relying on Newtonian empiricism. As part of his desire to bring back the divine language to poetry and science, he creates an "Ark of Salvation" in order to describe a prophetic and apocalyptic future which emphasizes the importance of Christ and England. Along with being prophetic, the poem itself is modelled after the canticles and follows the form of the Benedicite
. However, the Benedicite isn't the only model, and there is a strong link between Jubilate Agno and the psalm tradition.
Smart's A Song to David is an attempt to bridge poetry written by humans and Biblical poetry. The Biblical David
plays an important role in this poem just as he played an important role in Jubilate Agno However, David in Jubilate Agno is an image of the creative power of poetry whereas he becomes a fully realised model of the religious poet. By focusing on David, Smart is able to tap into the "heavenly language." Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's Temple
and his possible role with the Freemasons. However, the true life of the poem comes later when Christ is introduced as the major subject. After Christ is introduced, Smart attempts to "reach to heaven" and the final passages, to Neil Curry, represent a "final rush for glory."
According to Mounsey, A Song to David and Smart's Psalms is an attempt to "Christianize" the Old Testament through writing an 18th-century psalter
. However, the Psalms perform a secondary function: they allow Smart to relate to the suffering of David and to reinforce his own religious convictions by following his Biblical model. As part of Smart's "Christianizing" of the Psalms, Jesus becomes a divine form of suffering, and Smart becomes further juxtaposed with his Biblical model as both praise God for Jesus's ultimate sacrifice and for the beauty of all creation. The Hymns and Psalms form their own sort of liturgy and attempt to reform Anglican liturgy by emphasizing God's place in nature.
Smart's Hymns are modelled after a tradition exemplified by Robert Nelson
. They are steeped in Anglican tradition and also emphasize English patriotism and England's divine favour. The Hymns, according to Guest, "[express] a delight in creation that is largely absent from the work of other hymn-writers of the century, unless they are paraphrasing the words of David." To Hawes, the Hymns exemplify an evangelical spirit that separates Smart from the traditional Anglican church. Although he wrote his second set of hymns, Hymns for the Amusement of Children, for a younger audience, Smart cares more about emphasising the need for children to be moral instead of "innocent". These works have been seem as possibly too complicated for "amusement" because they employee ambiguities and complicated theological concepts. In essence, the Hymns for the Amusement of Children is intended to teach children the specific virtues that make up the subject matter of the work. Like the Hymns for the Amusement of Children, Smart's The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were designed to teach morals. However, these Parables alter the original Biblical parable
s in order to simplify them and help them "make sense" As such, Todd Parker claims that the Parables, and the other religious works of Smart, are part of his final push for the "evangelization of London's reading public."
's ability as poets to create through their song. In his constant emphasis on the force of poetry, Jubilate Agno takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica
tradition. As such, Smart is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem." The poetic language that he creates is related to Adam's "onomathetic" tradition, or the idea that names hold significant weight in the universe and that Adam was able to join in with creation by naming objects.
In Jubilate Agno, he describes his writing as creating "impressions". To accomplish this task, he incorporated puns and onomonpoeia in order to emphasize the theological significance of his poetic language. In addition to these techniques, he relied on repeated language and allusions to traditional works and to scripture for a source of authority in various works, especially in his Hymns. Along with scriptural authority, he relies on prophetic rhetoric to gain his audience's sympathy.
During the 18th century, there was a debate over poetic language and the translations of Smart, especially of Horace, positioned him as one who sought to redeem traditional forms and understanding of language. However, some critics, like Alan Liu, believe that translations are effectively forced to compete against the original works, and that Smart's language, at least in his translations, must constantly seek to undermine the original authors, like Horace. Not all critics agree with Liu, and those like Donald Davie believe that the Smart's translations cannot be compared to the original works, but are part of a system of Smart competing against the language of his contemporaries. Thomas Keymer further verified this point about Smart's translations by revealing that the poet claims, in William Toldervy's The History of Two Orphans, "But what heaven-exciting harmony might we not expect from that exalted genius, who can produce such lines as these following!" in anticipation of replacing the previous flawed translations of the Psalms.
Regardless of where he stood on the specific issue of translation, Smart believed that there was an importance to language and this carried over to his constant revising of his poems in order to slowly correct them. However, many of Smart's poems served a dual purpose, and, when they were put to music, were altered to meet various standards. By constantly revising, he ensured that his poems were always the "authentic" version.
in which he is torn between masculine and feminine roles. Fraser Easton claims that the existence of Mrs. Midnight proves that Smart identified a female connection to poetry and her character was used to defy popular 18th-century notions of who is able to attain knowledge. This role allowed Smart to focus on "social and sexual dimensions" in his satire. However, there is a potentially darker side to Mrs. Midnight, and she could represent his feelings that he was "emasculated by economic pressures."
The image of "horns" in Jubilate Agno is commonly viewed as a sexual image. Easton puts particular emphasis on the image of horns as a phallic image and contends that there are masculine and feminine horns throughout Smart's poem. Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claims that the poem shows "that [Smart] had been 'feminized' as a cuckold." In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.
However, Smart didn't only write about gardens and vegetation, and his focus on his cat Jeoffry is widely known and his focus on nature connects him to those mistreated and neglected by 18th-century society. The first fragment of Jubilate Agno is a poetic "Ark" that pairs humans with animals in order to purify all of creation. The whole work relies on his extensive background in botany and his knowledge of taxonomy. Smart actively participated in the 18th-century taxonomy systems established by Carl Linnaeus; however, Smart is mythologizing his view of nature and creation when he adds information from Pliny the Elder
into his work.
By using this knowledge, Smart is able to give a "voice" to nature, and he believes that nature, like his cat Jeoffry, is always praising God but needs a poet in order to bring out that voice. As such, the themes of animals and language are merged in Jubilate Agno, and Jeoffry is transformed into a manifestation of the Ars Poetica tradition.
and his possible role with the Freemasons. Although it is not known for sure whether Christopher was a Freemason or not, there is evidence suggesting that he was either part of the organization or had a strong knowledge of its belief system. Based on personal admittance to contributing to A Defence of Freemasonry, contemporary verification of his participation in the volume and with Masonic meetings, there is enough to confirm "his participation in Masonic affairs." Furthermore, there are accounts of Smart attending meetings at the Bell Tavern in Westminster. The information available has led Marie Roberts to declare in her 1986 book British Poets and Secret Societies, "It has been universally accepted by scholars that Christopher Smart [...] was a Freemason yet no record of his membership has been traced." However, in the notes to Chris Mounsey's 2001 book Christopher Smart: Clown of God, Marie Roberts' 1986 book is referred to as "an account of Smart's work which accepts his association with the Freemasons," but in Mounsey's view, "Since neither Smart's name nor his pseudonyms appear in the records of the Freemasons, it is highly unlikely he was ever one of their number."
Smart's involvement with Masonry can be traced through his poems, including Jubilate Agno and A Song to David, with his constant references to Masonic ideas and his praise of Free Masonry in general. In Jubilate Agno, Smart declares "I am the Lord's builder and free and accepted MASON in CHRIST JESUS" (B 109). This declaration of being a "free and accepted MASON" has been interpreted to define his connection to speculative Masonry. The "in Christ Jesus" declaration places Smart within a Christian version of Masonry. He also declares himself as "the Lord's builder" and this connects his life with the building of King Solomon's Temple, an important Masonic idea. In A Song to David, Smart returns to the building of Solomon's Temple and incorporates many of the Masonic images that he uses in Jubilate Agno.
It was this detail that encouraged many critics to try and decode the "seven pillar" section of A Song of David along the lines of Freemason imagery. The poem follows two traditional sets of motions common to Freemason writing that mimics the image of Jacob's Ladder
: movement from earth to heaven and movement from heaven to earth. This image further connects Freemason belief surrounding the relationship of David to Solomon's Temple. While these images, and further images in A Song to David are related also to depictions of the Temple in Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728), the John Bunyan
's Solomon's Temple Spiritualiz'd (1688), and to the Geneva Bible
, these works were relied on by the Freemasons.
Based on this theory, the first pillar, the Greek alpha, represents the mason's compass and "God as the Architect of the Universe." The second, the Greek gamma, represents the mason's square. In addition, the square represents the "vault of heaven." The third, the Greek eta, represents Jacob's ladder itself and is connected to the complete idea of seven pillars. The fourth, the Greek theta, is either "the all-seeing eye or the point within a circle." The fifth letter, the Greek iota, represents a pillar and the temple. The sixth letter, the Greek sigma, is an incomplete hexagram, otherwise known as "the blazing star or hexalpha" to the Freemasons. The last, the Greek omega, represents a lyre and David as a poet.
However, one of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno
, was not published until 1939, by William Force Stead. In 1943, lines from this poem were set to music by Benjamin Britten
with the translated title Rejoice in the Lamb
.
He is also credited with the writing of A Defence of Freemasonry (1765), also known as A Defence of Freemasonry as practiced in the regular lodges, both foreign and domestic, under the Constitution of the English Grand Master, in which is contained a refutation of Mr. Dermott's absurd and ridiculous account of Freemasonry, in his book entitled 'Ahiman Rezon' and the several quries therein reflecting on the regular Masons, briefly considered and answered, that response to Laurence Dermott
's Ahiman Rezon
. Although there is no direct attribution on the text's titlepage, it was established as his work since its publication, and it includes a poem directly attributed to him.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
and Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
. Smart, a high church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
Anglican, was widely known throughout London.
Smart was infamous for his role as "Mrs. Mary Midnight" and widespread accounts of his father-in-law, John Newbery
John Newbery
John Newbery was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson...
, locking him away in a mental asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for many years over Smart's supposed religious "mania". Even after Smart's eventual release, a negative reputation continued to pursue him as he was known for incurring more debt than he could pay off; this ultimately led to his confinement in debtor's prison until his death.
Smart's two most widely-known works are A Song to David
A Song to David
A Song to David, a poem by Christopher Smart, was most likely written during his stay in a mental asylum while he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it received mixed reviews, it was his most famous work until the discovery of Jubilate Agno....
and Jubilate Agno
Jubilate Agno
Jubilate Agno is a religious poem by Christopher Smart, and was written between 1759 and 1763, during Smart's confinement for insanity in St. Luke's Hospital, Bethnal Green, London. The poem was first published in 1939, under the title Rejoice in the Lamb: A Song from Bedlam, edited by W. F...
, both at least partly written during his confinement in asylum. However, Jubilate Agno was not to be published until 1939 and A Song to David received mixed reviews until the 19th century. To his contemporaries, Smart was known mainly for his many contributions in the journals The Midwife and The Student, along with his famous Seaton Prize poems and his mock epic The Hilliad
The Hilliad
The Hilliad was Christopher Smart's mock epic poem written as a literary attack upon John Hill on 1 February 1753. The title is a play on Alexander Pope's The Dunciad with a substitution of Hill's name, which represents Smart's debt to Pope for the form and style of The Hilliad...
. Although he is primarily recognized as a religious poet, his poetry includes various other themes, such as his theories on nature and his promotion of English nationalism
English nationalism
English nationalism refers to a nationalist outlook or political stance applied to England. In a general sense, it comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for English culture, language and history, and a sense of pride in England and the English people...
.
Early life
Christopher Smart was born in ShipbourneShipbourne
Shipbourne lies in the English county of Kent, in an undulating landscape traversed by the small streams of the River Bourne, set in a clay vale at the foot of the wooded Sevenoaks Greensand Ridge....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England on the Fairlawne estate of William, Viscount Vane
Viscount Vane
Viscount Vane was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1720 for the Honourable William Vane, who had previously represented County Durham in Parliament and who later sat for Steyning and Kent. He was created Baron Vane, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, also in the Peerage of...
, younger son of Lord Barnard
Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard
Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard was an English peer. He is known for his treatment of his heirs, and his employment as steward of Peter Smart, father of the poet Christopher Smart.-Biography:...
of Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...
. He was, according to his nephew, "of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period". He was baptized in Wrotham
Wrotham
Wrotham is a village situated on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, at the foot of the North Downs. It is located one mile north of Borough Green and approximately five miles east of Sevenoaks. It is within the junction of the M20 and M26 motorways....
parish on 11 May 1722. Smart's father was Peter Smart, steward
Steward (office)
A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...
or bailiff of Fairlawne. His mother was Winifred Smart of the Griffiths family of Radnorshire
Radnorshire
Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Before giving birth to Christopher, she had two daughters, Margaret and Mary Anne.
During Smart's younger years, Fairlawne was the residence of Christopher Vane and Elizabeth Holles Vane, and Christopher Vane who bequeathed £200 to Smart. He is supposed to have received so much money due to his father's closeness to the Vane family, his being named after Christopher Vane, and the young boy was considered "the pride of Fairlawn". However, there is some controversy over the exact nature of this inheritance; while some cynically disagree with the reasons for his inheritance, no other explanation has been specified. In 1726, three years after Christopher Vane died, Peter Smart purchased Hall-Place in East Barming
East Barming
East Barming is a village in the civil parish of Barming in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. The village is located on the A26 road out of Maidstone, three miles from the town centre, and is virtually part of its built-up area....
, which included a mansion house, fields, orchards, gardens, and woodland, a property that was influential throughout Smart's later life. From the age of four until eleven, he spent much time around the farms, but did not participate, leading to speculations that he suffered from asthma attacks. However, not all scholars agree that he was a "sickly youth". The only written record of events during his childhood comes from his writing of a short poem, at the age of four, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of a twelve-year-old girl.
While at Hall-Place, Smart was sent to the local Maidstone Grammar School
Maidstone Grammar School
Maidstone Grammar School is a grammar school located in Maidstone, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1549.-Admissions:The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over by examination and boys and girls at 16+ on their GCSE results. The school currently has almost 1200 students and approximately 120...
where he was taught by Charles Walwyn, a scholar from Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
who had received an MA from King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1696. It was here that Smart received an intensive education in Latin and Greek. However, he was not to complete his education at Maidstone as his father died on 3 February 1733, and his mother took Smart and his siblings to live near relatives in Durham after selling off a large portion of the estate to pay off Peter Smart's debts.
Smart then attended Durham School
Durham School
Durham School, headmaster Martin George , is an independent British day and boarding school for boys and girls in Durham....
where the Reverend Mr. Richard Dongworth was headmaster; it is not known whether he lived with his uncle, John Smart, or with a school master. He spent vacations at Raby Castle
Raby Castle
Raby Castle is situated near Staindrop in County Durham and is one of the largest inhabited castles in England. The Grade I listed building has opulent eighteenth and nineteenth century interiors inside a largely unchanged, late medieval shell. It is the home and seat of John Vane, 11th Baron...
, which was owned by Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington
Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington
Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington PC was an English peer, the son of Gilbert Vane, 2nd Baron Barnard.On 2 September 1725, he married Lady Grace Fitzroy, daughter of Charles Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Southampton and they had seven children.Vane was Whig MP for Launceston from 1726 to 1727, St Mawes...
, the grandson of Christopher Vane. Henry Vane and his wife Grace, sister to William and Henrietta Fitzroy the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, had four children, Henry, Frederick, Anne, and Mary. They were only a few years younger than Smart and became playmates, with Anne and Henry "pairing off" with Christopher and his sister Margaret respectively. Although nothing resulted from the match, Anne has been traditionally described as being his "first love". During his time with the Vane family, Smart dedicated many poems to Henrietta, the Duchess of Cleveland. It was his closeness with the Vane family along with his skill for learning that encouraged Henrietta to allow him a pension of 40 pounds yearly, continued by her husband after her death in 1742. This allowed Smart to attend Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
.
College
Sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is a student who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined job....
under Leonard Addison. Although it is unclear why he chose Pembroke College, Addison was named in Peter Smart's trust deed (1729). As a sizar, he occasionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks. On 12 July 1740, he was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him six pounds a year until he gained a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree. In addition to this income, he was also granted four pounds a year for scholarship. Although he was successful academically, he began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle while at the college.
During his time at Pembroke, Smart borrowed numerous books spanning the fields of literature, religion, and science. These works helped when he wrote the three "Tripos Verse" at the end of each year. These poems were written in Latin and they, along with his other Latin poems like his translation of Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, led to him being awarded the "Craven scholarship for classics" on 10 June 1742, which paid ₤25 a year for 14 years. These scholarships, combined with his becoming a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
in 1743, justified Smart calling himself "Scholar of the University".
In 1743, Smart pushed his translation of Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day as Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine Redditum and paid for the publication himself. With this translation, he wanted to win Pope's favor and translate Pope's Essay on Man, but Pope rejected the idea and, after a lettered response and a possible meeting between the two, Smart translated Pope's An Essay on Criticism (De Arte Critica) instead. The initial letter sent from Pope recommending the future translation was prized by Smart. In response to this letter and his budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke Fellows honoured him with a portrait showing him holding the letter from Pope and allowed him to write a poem in celebration of Jubilee of Pembroke's 400th year in 1744.
In October 1745, Smart was elected Praelector
Praelector
A praelector is a traditional role at the colleges of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs between the two universities.At Cambridge, a praelector is a fellow of a college...
of Philosophy, which paid one pound a year, and made one of three Keepers of the Common Chest. The next year, on 11 February 1746, he became a Master of Arts and was later elected on 10 October 1746, to Praelector of Philosophy, Praelector of Rhetoric, and Keeper of the Common Chest. However, he had run up more debt of over twice his annual income, and he was not re-elected in 1747 to the Praelectorship and was denied his control over the Common Chest accounts. However, he was made a "Preacher before the Mayor of Cambridge" at the college under the title "Concionatori Coram Praetore oppidano", and his modest living during this year allowed him to regain Praelectorship in Philosophy along with being made a catechist, which suggests that he was ordained in the Anglican church.
In 1746, Smart became tutor to John Blake Delaval, but this was abruptly canceled and Delaval eventually removed from Pembroke over various broken rules and mischief. After recovering from this, Smart returned to studying. In April 1747, a comedy he wrote just months before, A Trip to Cambridge, or The Grateful Fair, was performed in Pembroke College Hall, with many parts, including female roles, played by Smart himself. The prologue was printed in The Cambridge Journal Weekly Flying-Post, which claimed that the play received "Universal Applause".
During his final years at Pembroke, Smart was writing and publishing many poems. On 9 January 1748, there were three proposals for "A Collection of Original Poems, By Christopher Smart, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke Hall, in the University of Cambridge" that would include "The Hop Garden", "The Judgment of Midas, a Masque", his odes, his translations into Latin, and some original Latin poems. Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
, in 17 March 1747, referred to this work as Smart's "Collection of Odes". This collection was not printed in 1748 but was delayed until 1752, and was re-titled Poems on Several Occasions.
Between 1740 and 1746, he was introduced to Harriot Pratt, and he began to write poetry about her. By 1749, he was in love with her and wrote to his friend Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
(father of Fanny Burney
Fanny Burney
Frances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born in Lynn Regis, now King’s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Dr Charles Burney and Mrs Esther Sleepe Burney...
), "I am situated within a mile of my Harriote & Love has robd Friendship of her just dues... There was a great musical crash at Cambridge, which was greatly admired, but I was not there, being much better pleased with hearing my Harriote on her spinnet & organ at her ancient mansion", suggesting that he was living permanently in Market Downham, London. Although he wrote many poems dedicated to Harriot, his poem "The Lass with the Golden Locks" (1752) claims that he was done with both Harriot, Polly, and other women. The "lass with the golden locks" who replaced Smart's previous fancies was Anna Maria Carnan. Anna would be Smart's future wife and she was the stepdaughter of John Newbery, Smart's future publisher.
London
Although Smart seemed to turn his life around at Pembroke, he slowly abandoned the college for London. During 1749, Smart listed himself on Pembroke's "Liber Absentiae" and would occasionally return to Pembroke throughout 1749 and 1750. Because of his relationship with those at Pembroke, he was allowed to keep his name in the college's records, which allowed him to participate and be charged as a member of the college. By 1750 he was living near St. James's Park and was busy familiarising himself with Grub StreetGrub Street
Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street...
. It was this year that Smart developed a business relationship with John Newbery. It is unknown how Smart and Newbery met, but Smart's daughter claimed Charles Burney introduced the two. Newbery was looking for a contributory to his The Midwife and The Student magazines, and it is possible that Smart's winning of Cambridge's "Seatonian Prize" on 25 March 1750 brought his poetic abilities to Newbery's attention.
The "Seatonian Prize" was a contest for one English poem each year on the topic of "the Perfections or Attributes of the Supreme Being" and the prize would be the "Rent of the [Kislingbury, Northamptonshire] estate" It was established by the will of Thomas Seaton, an "Anglican divine and hymn writer". Smart wrote in the "poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse. In 1750, the poem he won the prize with was On the Eternity of the Supreme Being. The prize was only worth 17 pounds each year before 7 pounds were deducted for the publication of the poem. However, after the publication of the poem, Smart became a regular contributor in The Student.
The Student, before Smart's work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays. However, once he joined and began writing under many pseudonyms, the magazine became filled with satire, parody, and humorous essays and poems. Along with him composing 15 of the essays and the majority of the poems published in the two volumes of the magazine, he decided to append three of The Inspector, a "humorous news report", to the second of the volumes. These reports included many "puff pieces" promoting Smart's works along with various stories written by his friends and associates, including the famous writers/poets Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
, Samuel Johnson, William Collins
William Collins
William Collins may refer to:* William Collins , Bishop of Gibraltar in the Church of England* William Collins , English poet* William Collins , English landscape artist...
, and Tobias Smollett
Tobias Smollett
Tobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...
. However, this was not the only important publication produced by him during this time.
Mrs. Mary Midwife
When his poem "Night Piece" was attacked by William Kenrick
William Kenrick (writer)
William Kenrick was an English novelist, playwright, translator and satirist, who spent much of his career libelling and lampooning his fellow writers.- Life and career :Kenrick was born at Watford, Hertfordshire, son of a stay-maker...
in Kapelion, or Poetical Ordinary, possibly out of a prearranged publicity stunt, Smart used The Midwife in December, 1750, to attack back at Kenrick and promised an Old Woman's Dunciad to be written against the other poet. However, Kenrick beat Smart to the use of the title and printed his own in January, 1751. This feud lasted as attacks published in a few issues of The Midwife, but it soon died out when Smart focused his attention to writing a prologue and epilogue for a production of Othello and using the magazine to promote it.
His attention slowly shifted away from The Midwife when he wrote for, and won, the "Seatonian Prize" for his On the Immensity of the Supreme Being and when he began working with Newbery's children's magazine, The Lilliputian Magazine. However, Smart returned to this character full force when he established The Old Woman's Oratory; or Henley in Petticoats in December of 1751. The Oratory included Smart playing as Mrs. Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts. The Oratory was successful, and was completely redone on 21 January 1752. However, not everyone enjoyed the show, and Horace Walpole described the performance as "the lowest buffoonery in the world even to me who am used to my uncle Horace." Late in 1752, Smart finished and published a collection of his works as Poems on Several Occasions, which resulted in the end of the Oratory and The Midwife.
Later career
Paper War of 1752-1753
In 1752, Henry Fielding started a "paper war", a long term dispute with constant publication of pamphlets attacking other writers, between the various authors on London's Grub Street...
" that involved many of London's writers. After the publication of Poems on Several Occasions, including The Hop-Garden
The Hop-Garden
The Hop-Garden by Christopher Smart was first published in Poems on Several Occasions, 1752. The poem is rooted the Virgilian georgic and Augustan literature; it is one of the first long poems published by Smart...
, in June of 1752, John Hill
John Hill (author)
John Hill , called because of his Swedish honours, "Sir" John Hill, was an English author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and was awarded the title of Sir in recognition of his illustrated botanical compendium The Vegetable System.He was the son of the Rev. Theophilus Hill...
launched a major attack upon Smart's poetry. Smart responded with his mock-epic, The Hilliad
The Hilliad
The Hilliad was Christopher Smart's mock epic poem written as a literary attack upon John Hill on 1 February 1753. The title is a play on Alexander Pope's The Dunciad with a substitution of Hill's name, which represents Smart's debt to Pope for the form and style of The Hilliad...
. Before the release of Smart's poem, Hill was engaged in a large literary battle between various members of Grub Street's and London's writing community, especially Henry Fielding. This battle may have been for publicity only and lasted over many months before Smart involved himself. However, even with such a late entry, his Hilliad was the "loudest broadside" of the war.
Smart was incurring many debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family; he was married to Anna Maria Carnan around mid-1752, and in 1754 already had two daughters, Marianne (3 May 1753) and Elizabeth Anne (27 October 1754). As a married man, he could no longer stay enrolled at Pembroke and collect his scholarship money when his marriage and children were made apparent to the heads of the college. Newbery allowed Smart, along with his wife and their children, to live at Canonbury House, Islington. Although Newbery had a strong reputation for charity, he was determined to have complete control over his writers. It is likely that such an attitude combined with monetary problems led to a rift forming between the two in 1753.
Between 1753 and 1755, Smart published or republished at least 79 works. However, even if he received money from each of these publications, these publications were unable to provide enough of an income to support a family, especially to his standard of living. While he was producing a poem each year for the Seatonian Prize, this amounted to very little of his writing; he was forced into a life of "hack work", which was described by his contemporary, Arthur Murphy, as "a bookseller is his only friend, but for that bookseller, however liberal, he must toil and drudge." In December of 1755, he finished The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into English Prose, a translation of Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, which was widely used but brought him little profit.
He signed a 99 year long contract in November 1755 to produce a weekly paper entitled The Universal Visitor or Monthly Memorialist for Thomas Gardner and Edmund Allen. However, the strain of publishing caused Smart to suffer from a fit, and he was unable to keep up with the publishing of the paper. Allen was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Smart, who contributed to the magazine in order to help Smart keep up with his contract. In March 1756, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's final "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Goodness of the Supreme Being, and later, on 5 June, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's Hymn to the Supreme Being, a poem which thanked God for recovery over an illness of some kind, possibly a "disturbed mental state". The Hymn to the Supreme Being marks the time in Smart's life after the mysterious "fit" was resolved and the beginning of Smart's obsession with religion and his praying "without ceasing".
Asylum confinement
St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics
St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics was founded in London in 1750 for the treatment of incurable pauper lunatics by a group of philanthropic apothecaries and others. It was the second public institution in London created to look after mentally ill people, after the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlem...
on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient". It is possible that Smart was confined by Newbery over old debts and a poor relationship between the two; Newbery had previously mocked Smart and his immorality in his A Collection of Pretty Poems for the Amusement of Children six Foot High. Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery's admittance of Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness". However, there is also evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St. James's Park in which Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89).
It is not known what exactly happened during his confinement, but Smart did work on two of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno and A Song to David. What is known is that he may have been in a private madhouse before St Luke's and that he was later moved from St Luke's to Mr. Potter's asylum until his release. At St Luke's, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and was moved to Mr. Potter's asylum for monetary reasons. During this time, Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland. His isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, his poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation". There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Smart and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects him to the Christian God.
Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker. It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo… between public and private space". In London, only a few of his works were still being published. However, not everyone viewed Smart's "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended him, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times. A century later, Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
later remarked that A Song to David was great because Smart was mad, and that the poem allowed him to rank alongside of Milton and Keats. It is no wonder that a few of his loyal friends did come to Mr. Potter's and free him.
Little is known as to how and why Smart was released from asylum, but Elizabeth, his daughter, claimed: "He grew better, and some misjudging friends who misconstrued Mr Newbery's great kindness in placing him under necessary & salutary restriction which might possibly have eventually wrought a cure, invited him to dinner and he returned to his confinement no more." Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Smart did leave the asylum on 30 January 1763.
Final years
A Song to David was printed on 6 April 1763 along with a proposal for a new translation of the Psalms. The poem was received harshly, which was possibly just thinly veiled personal attacks over Smart being freed from the asylum just weeks before. However, Kenrick, Smart's former rival, praised the poem in a poem of his own printed on 25 May 1763. Also, John Lockman followed in 21 June 1763, with his own poem in praise of Smart's and Samuel BoyceSamuel Boyce
Samuel Boyce , was an English dramatist.Boyce was originally an engraver, and subsequently worked in the South Sea House. He published one play, entitled The Rover, or Happiness at Last, a dramatic pastoral , which was never performed. In an advertisement, he claimed that this was due to its...
followed this on 15 July 1763 with another. Along with this support, Smart responded to his critics at the Critical Review; in regards to Smart's response, the Critical Review claimed that they would "say no more of Mr. Smart".
After A Song to David, he tried to publish a collection of his Psalms translations, and Newbery sought to ruin him by hiring James Merrick to produce his own translations. Newbery then hired Smart's new publisher, James Fletcher, which in turn forced Smart to find a new publisher, delaying the printing of his Psalms. Finally, on 12 August 1765, he printed A Translation of the Psalms of David, which included Hymns and Spiritual Songs and a second edition of A Song to David. This work was criticized by Tobias Smollett who was working with Newbery at the time, and Newbery's edition by Merrick was constantly compared with Smart's. However, modern criticism has received Smart's version in a more favourable light. While working on this project, he was also working on a translation of the Phaedrus and a verse translation of Horace. His verse Horace was published in July of 1767 including a preface in which he attacked Newbery, but the attack was in vain because Newbery died soon after.
On 20 April 1770, Smart was arrested for debt. On 11 January 1771, he was tried by Lord Mansfield, the gentleman who originally introduced Smart to Alexander Pope, and he was soon recommended to the King's Bench Prison
King's Bench Prison
The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard; as such, the prison was often used as a debtor's prison...
. Although he was in prison, Charles Burney purchased the "Rules" (allowing him some freedom), and Smart's final weeks may have been peaceful although pathetic. In his final letter, Smart begged for money from Rev. Mr. Jackson, saying: "Being upon recovery from a fit of illness, and having nothing to eat, I beg you to send me two or three shillings which (God willing) I will return, with many thanks, in two or three days." On 20 May 1771, Smart died from either liver failure or pneumonia shortly after completing his final work, Hymns, for the Amusement of Children.
His death
In response to his uncle's death, Christopher Hunter wrote, "I trust he is now at peace; it was not his portion here." Fanny Burney, in her journal, wrote:On 22 May 1771, a jury of twelve fellow inmates of the King's Bench Prison declared that Smart "upon the Twentieth day of May Instant died a Natural Death within the Rules of the Prison." He was then buried on 26 May 1771.
Literary themes and styles
Christopher Smart received occasional mentions by critics and scholars after his death, especially by Robert Browning, but analysis and commentary on his works increased dramatically with the "discovery" of Jubilate Agno in 1939. Many recent critics approach Smart from a religious perspective (Neil Curry, Harriet Guest, Clement Hawes, Chris Mounsey). However, some also favour a psychology/sexual analysis of his works (Lance Bertelsen, Clemet Hawes, Alan Liu).Religion
Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought. His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry. Smart, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language. Although the original manuscript divided the "Let" and "For" verses onto opposing sides of the manuscript, Karina Williams claims that "Dr W. H. Bond then discovered that some of the LET and FOR folios were numbered and dated concurrently, and that these chronologically parallel texts were further connected by verbal links." This justified her combing the two sides to follow each other. Using this as a model, Guest claims that the "For" verses explore religion with a "personal tone" and the "Let" are "unambiguous" and deal with public matters. Jeanne Walker goes further than Guest and claims that the "Let " and "For" sections are united with the Hebrew tradition and "iterate both present and future simultaneously, that is, they redeem time."
Words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, and God is the "great poet" who used language in order to create the universe. Through words and language, Smart attempted to capture the creative power of those words. By relying on the power of words, Smart is, according to Clement Hawes, subverting "Anglican control over religious functions and services." In essence, Smart's approach to religion in Jubilate Agno is comparable to John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
's theological dictum
Dictum
In United States legal terminology, a dictum is a statement of opinion or belief considered authoritative though not binding, because of the authority of the person making it....
and to the writings of John Perro and William Bowling. He also creates his own natural philosophy and criticizes science, like that established by Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, for their ignoring "the glory of Almighty God."
To Smart, each piece of matter is alive because it is connected to God, and matter cannot be described in a cold manner that disconnects it from this reality. However, Smart accomplished his new science by relying on Newtonian empiricism. As part of his desire to bring back the divine language to poetry and science, he creates an "Ark of Salvation" in order to describe a prophetic and apocalyptic future which emphasizes the importance of Christ and England. Along with being prophetic, the poem itself is modelled after the canticles and follows the form of the Benedicite
Benedicite
The Benedicite is a canticle that is used in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and is also used in Anglican and Lutheran worship. The text is either verses 35–65 or verses 35–66 of The Song of the Three Children...
. However, the Benedicite isn't the only model, and there is a strong link between Jubilate Agno and the psalm tradition.
Smart's A Song to David is an attempt to bridge poetry written by humans and Biblical poetry. The Biblical David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
plays an important role in this poem just as he played an important role in Jubilate Agno However, David in Jubilate Agno is an image of the creative power of poetry whereas he becomes a fully realised model of the religious poet. By focusing on David, Smart is able to tap into the "heavenly language." Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
and his possible role with the Freemasons. However, the true life of the poem comes later when Christ is introduced as the major subject. After Christ is introduced, Smart attempts to "reach to heaven" and the final passages, to Neil Curry, represent a "final rush for glory."
According to Mounsey, A Song to David and Smart's Psalms is an attempt to "Christianize" the Old Testament through writing an 18th-century psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
. However, the Psalms perform a secondary function: they allow Smart to relate to the suffering of David and to reinforce his own religious convictions by following his Biblical model. As part of Smart's "Christianizing" of the Psalms, Jesus becomes a divine form of suffering, and Smart becomes further juxtaposed with his Biblical model as both praise God for Jesus's ultimate sacrifice and for the beauty of all creation. The Hymns and Psalms form their own sort of liturgy and attempt to reform Anglican liturgy by emphasizing God's place in nature.
Smart's Hymns are modelled after a tradition exemplified by Robert Nelson
Robert Nelson
Robert Nelson was an Anglo-Quebecer physician and a leading figure in the Lower Canada Rebellion in 19th century Quebec ....
. They are steeped in Anglican tradition and also emphasize English patriotism and England's divine favour. The Hymns, according to Guest, "[express] a delight in creation that is largely absent from the work of other hymn-writers of the century, unless they are paraphrasing the words of David." To Hawes, the Hymns exemplify an evangelical spirit that separates Smart from the traditional Anglican church. Although he wrote his second set of hymns, Hymns for the Amusement of Children, for a younger audience, Smart cares more about emphasising the need for children to be moral instead of "innocent". These works have been seem as possibly too complicated for "amusement" because they employee ambiguities and complicated theological concepts. In essence, the Hymns for the Amusement of Children is intended to teach children the specific virtues that make up the subject matter of the work. Like the Hymns for the Amusement of Children, Smart's The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were designed to teach morals. However, these Parables alter the original Biblical parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
s in order to simplify them and help them "make sense" As such, Todd Parker claims that the Parables, and the other religious works of Smart, are part of his final push for the "evangelization of London's reading public."
Language
The language and commentary on language is of particular emphasis in Jubilate Agno. To Alan Jacobs, Smart's use of language represents his attempt to connect to the "Ur language" which allows Smart to connect to "the Word calling forth the world." This is similar to David and OrpheusOrpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
's ability as poets to create through their song. In his constant emphasis on the force of poetry, Jubilate Agno takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica
Ars Poetica
Ars Poetica is a term meaning "The Art of Poetry" or "On the Nature of Poetry". Early examples of Ars Poetica by Aristotle and Horace have survived and have since spawned many other poems that bear the same name...
tradition. As such, Smart is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem." The poetic language that he creates is related to Adam's "onomathetic" tradition, or the idea that names hold significant weight in the universe and that Adam was able to join in with creation by naming objects.
In Jubilate Agno, he describes his writing as creating "impressions". To accomplish this task, he incorporated puns and onomonpoeia in order to emphasize the theological significance of his poetic language. In addition to these techniques, he relied on repeated language and allusions to traditional works and to scripture for a source of authority in various works, especially in his Hymns. Along with scriptural authority, he relies on prophetic rhetoric to gain his audience's sympathy.
During the 18th century, there was a debate over poetic language and the translations of Smart, especially of Horace, positioned him as one who sought to redeem traditional forms and understanding of language. However, some critics, like Alan Liu, believe that translations are effectively forced to compete against the original works, and that Smart's language, at least in his translations, must constantly seek to undermine the original authors, like Horace. Not all critics agree with Liu, and those like Donald Davie believe that the Smart's translations cannot be compared to the original works, but are part of a system of Smart competing against the language of his contemporaries. Thomas Keymer further verified this point about Smart's translations by revealing that the poet claims, in William Toldervy's The History of Two Orphans, "But what heaven-exciting harmony might we not expect from that exalted genius, who can produce such lines as these following!" in anticipation of replacing the previous flawed translations of the Psalms.
Regardless of where he stood on the specific issue of translation, Smart believed that there was an importance to language and this carried over to his constant revising of his poems in order to slowly correct them. However, many of Smart's poems served a dual purpose, and, when they were put to music, were altered to meet various standards. By constantly revising, he ensured that his poems were always the "authentic" version.
Gender
Smart's role as Mrs. Midnight along with his gendered comments in Jubilate Agno form the focal point for analysing his understanding of sexuality and gender. With Mrs. Midnight, Smart challenges the traditional social order found in 18th-century England. However, some, like Lance Bertelsen, claim that the Mrs. Midnight persona reveals Smart's schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
in which he is torn between masculine and feminine roles. Fraser Easton claims that the existence of Mrs. Midnight proves that Smart identified a female connection to poetry and her character was used to defy popular 18th-century notions of who is able to attain knowledge. This role allowed Smart to focus on "social and sexual dimensions" in his satire. However, there is a potentially darker side to Mrs. Midnight, and she could represent his feelings that he was "emasculated by economic pressures."
The image of "horns" in Jubilate Agno is commonly viewed as a sexual image. Easton puts particular emphasis on the image of horns as a phallic image and contends that there are masculine and feminine horns throughout Smart's poem. Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claims that the poem shows "that [Smart] had been 'feminized' as a cuckold." In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.
Environmental
Smart had a reputation for being a "dedicated gardener". His poem the Hop-Garden helped to further this reputation, and even his stay in a mental asylum he convinced others of his bond with nature. Johnson witnessed Smart's time in asylum and stated, "he has partly as much exercise as he used to have, for he digs in the garden." Gardening, to Smart, was a way in which humans could interact with nature and actually "improve" on the natural landscape.However, Smart didn't only write about gardens and vegetation, and his focus on his cat Jeoffry is widely known and his focus on nature connects him to those mistreated and neglected by 18th-century society. The first fragment of Jubilate Agno is a poetic "Ark" that pairs humans with animals in order to purify all of creation. The whole work relies on his extensive background in botany and his knowledge of taxonomy. Smart actively participated in the 18th-century taxonomy systems established by Carl Linnaeus; however, Smart is mythologizing his view of nature and creation when he adds information from Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
into his work.
By using this knowledge, Smart is able to give a "voice" to nature, and he believes that nature, like his cat Jeoffry, is always praising God but needs a poet in order to bring out that voice. As such, the themes of animals and language are merged in Jubilate Agno, and Jeoffry is transformed into a manifestation of the Ars Poetica tradition.
Freemasonry
Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's TempleSolomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
and his possible role with the Freemasons. Although it is not known for sure whether Christopher was a Freemason or not, there is evidence suggesting that he was either part of the organization or had a strong knowledge of its belief system. Based on personal admittance to contributing to A Defence of Freemasonry, contemporary verification of his participation in the volume and with Masonic meetings, there is enough to confirm "his participation in Masonic affairs." Furthermore, there are accounts of Smart attending meetings at the Bell Tavern in Westminster. The information available has led Marie Roberts to declare in her 1986 book British Poets and Secret Societies, "It has been universally accepted by scholars that Christopher Smart [...] was a Freemason yet no record of his membership has been traced." However, in the notes to Chris Mounsey's 2001 book Christopher Smart: Clown of God, Marie Roberts' 1986 book is referred to as "an account of Smart's work which accepts his association with the Freemasons," but in Mounsey's view, "Since neither Smart's name nor his pseudonyms appear in the records of the Freemasons, it is highly unlikely he was ever one of their number."
Smart's involvement with Masonry can be traced through his poems, including Jubilate Agno and A Song to David, with his constant references to Masonic ideas and his praise of Free Masonry in general. In Jubilate Agno, Smart declares "I am the Lord's builder and free and accepted MASON in CHRIST JESUS" (B 109). This declaration of being a "free and accepted MASON" has been interpreted to define his connection to speculative Masonry. The "in Christ Jesus" declaration places Smart within a Christian version of Masonry. He also declares himself as "the Lord's builder" and this connects his life with the building of King Solomon's Temple, an important Masonic idea. In A Song to David, Smart returns to the building of Solomon's Temple and incorporates many of the Masonic images that he uses in Jubilate Agno.
It was this detail that encouraged many critics to try and decode the "seven pillar" section of A Song of David along the lines of Freemason imagery. The poem follows two traditional sets of motions common to Freemason writing that mimics the image of Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder is a "ladder to heaven", described by biblical Jacob in the Book of GenesisJacob's Ladder may also refer to:* Ladder of Jacob, a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament...
: movement from earth to heaven and movement from heaven to earth. This image further connects Freemason belief surrounding the relationship of David to Solomon's Temple. While these images, and further images in A Song to David are related also to depictions of the Temple in Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728), the John Bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
's Solomon's Temple Spiritualiz'd (1688), and to the Geneva Bible
Geneva Bible
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into the English language, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John...
, these works were relied on by the Freemasons.
Based on this theory, the first pillar, the Greek alpha, represents the mason's compass and "God as the Architect of the Universe." The second, the Greek gamma, represents the mason's square. In addition, the square represents the "vault of heaven." The third, the Greek eta, represents Jacob's ladder itself and is connected to the complete idea of seven pillars. The fourth, the Greek theta, is either "the all-seeing eye or the point within a circle." The fifth letter, the Greek iota, represents a pillar and the temple. The sixth letter, the Greek sigma, is an incomplete hexagram, otherwise known as "the blazing star or hexalpha" to the Freemasons. The last, the Greek omega, represents a lyre and David as a poet.
Works
Smart, throughout his career, published many known works. Although his works are far too many to list, a few of his most famous and important publications during his life include:- A Song to DavidA Song to DavidA Song to David, a poem by Christopher Smart, was most likely written during his stay in a mental asylum while he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it received mixed reviews, it was his most famous work until the discovery of Jubilate Agno....
- Poems on Several Occasions (including the Hop-Garden)
- The HilliadThe HilliadThe Hilliad was Christopher Smart's mock epic poem written as a literary attack upon John Hill on 1 February 1753. The title is a play on Alexander Pope's The Dunciad with a substitution of Hill's name, which represents Smart's debt to Pope for the form and style of The Hilliad...
- The Hop-GardenThe Hop-GardenThe Hop-Garden by Christopher Smart was first published in Poems on Several Occasions, 1752. The poem is rooted the Virgilian georgic and Augustan literature; it is one of the first long poems published by Smart...
- Hymns and Spiritual SongsHymns and Spiritual Songs (book)Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Fasts and Festivals of the Church of England, by Christopher Smart, was published in 1765 along with a translation of the Psalms of David and a new version of A Song to David...
- Hymns for the Amusement of ChildrenHymns for the Amusement of ChildrenHymns for the Amusement of Children was the final work completed by Christopher Smart. It was completed while Smart was imprisoned for outstanding debt at the King's Bench Prison, and the work is his final exploration of religion...
- The Oratorios HannahHannah (oratorio)Hannah is an oratorio in three acts by Christopher Smart with a score composed by John Worgan. It was first performed in Haymarket theater 3 April 1764. It was supposed to have a second performance, but that performance was postponed and eventually cancelled over a lack of singers...
and AbimelechAbimelech (oratorio)Abimelech is an oratorio in three acts written by Christopher Smart and put to music by Samuel Arnold. It was first performed in Haymarket Theatre in 1768. A heavily revised version of the oratorio ran at the Covent Garden in 1772. Abimelech was the second of two oratorio librettos written by... - The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus ChristThe Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (book)The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Done into Familiar Verse, with Occasional Applications, for the Use and Improvement of Younger Minds was written by Christopher Smart and published in 1768...
- A Poetical Translation of the Fables of Phaedrus
- The "Seatonian Prize" poems
- A Translation of the Psalms of David
- The Works of Horace Prose and Verse
However, one of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno
Jubilate Agno
Jubilate Agno is a religious poem by Christopher Smart, and was written between 1759 and 1763, during Smart's confinement for insanity in St. Luke's Hospital, Bethnal Green, London. The poem was first published in 1939, under the title Rejoice in the Lamb: A Song from Bedlam, edited by W. F...
, was not published until 1939, by William Force Stead. In 1943, lines from this poem were set to music by Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
with the translated title Rejoice in the Lamb
Rejoice in the Lamb
Rejoice in the Lamb is a festival cantata for four soloists, SATB choir, and organ composed by Benjamin Britten in 1943 and based on the poem Jubilate Agno by Christopher Smart . The poem, written while Smart was in an insane asylum, is a highly idiosyncratic and ecstatic praise and worship of God...
.
He is also credited with the writing of A Defence of Freemasonry (1765), also known as A Defence of Freemasonry as practiced in the regular lodges, both foreign and domestic, under the Constitution of the English Grand Master, in which is contained a refutation of Mr. Dermott's absurd and ridiculous account of Freemasonry, in his book entitled 'Ahiman Rezon' and the several quries therein reflecting on the regular Masons, briefly considered and answered, that response to Laurence Dermott
Laurence Dermott
Laurence Dermott was born in Ireland and became a Freemason in 1740. He held various offices before being installed as Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 26 in Dublin on the 24th of June 1746. He emigrated to London some time after this, possibly in the company of fellow journeymen painters for he is...
's Ahiman Rezon
Ahiman Rezon
The Book of Constitutions of this Grand Lodge or Ahiman Rezon was a constitution written by Laurence Dermott for the Antient Grand Lodge of England which was formed in 1751...
. Although there is no direct attribution on the text's titlepage, it was established as his work since its publication, and it includes a poem directly attributed to him.
External links
- Works by or about Christopher Smart at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
and Google Books (scanned books original editions) - Audio: Robert Pinsky reads "Jubilate Agno" by Christopher Smart (via poemsoutloud.net)
- Song to David
- Jubilate Agno HTML edition by Ray Davis.
- "Biographical note on Poetry Foundation"