Christopher Smart

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Christopher Smart (April 11, 1722 – May 21, 1771), otherwise known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English poet. As a Pembroke student, major contributory to two popular magazines, and friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson, Christopher Smart was widely known throughout London.

However, Christopher Smart soon became infamous in his role as Mrs. Mary Midnight and widespread accounts of his religious “mania” which led to his father-in-law locking him away in a mental asylum. for many years. Even after his release, a negative reputation continued to pursue him as he was known for incurring more debt than he could pay off, and this lead to his confinement in debtor’s prison until his eventual death.

His works include the widely known A Song to David and Jubilate Agno, both of which were at least partly written during his confinement in asylum. To contemporaries, he was known for his 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 widely known as a religious poet, Christopher Smart's poetry has provided many readers and critics various subjects of interest, such as his theories on nature.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Early education 1.3 College 1.4 London 1.5 Mrs. Mary Midnight 1.6 Later career 1.7 Asylum confinement 1.8 Final years 2 Literary themes and styles 2.1 Religion 2.2 Language 2.3 Gender 2.4 Environmental 2.5 Freemasonry 3 Works 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Although Samuel Johnson, a friend of Christopher, did not include a "Life of Smart" among his Life of the Poets, Christopher's nephew, Christopher Hunter, wrote his own biography. Keymer p. 177 This, along with various letters, the writings of Christopher's daughter Elizabeth LeNoir, and anecdotes from Smart’s associates, form the body of biographical detail about the happenings of Christopher's life. In current criticism, there are two biographies of Christopher Smart, Sherbo’s Christopher Smart: Scholar of the University and Mounsey's Christopher Smart: Clown of God. While they agree on many of the important aspects of Christopher’s life, one describes Christopher in terms of his role as a scholar while the latter describes Christopher with emphasis on him being a unique religious figure.

[edit] Early life

Christopher Smart was born in Shipbourne in Kent, England on the Fairlawn estate of William, Viscount Vane , younger son of Lord Barnard of Barnard Castle.^[1] He was, according to his nephew Christopher Hunter, “was of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period” and baptized in Wrotham parish on May 11, 1722.^[2]

Smart’s father was Peter Smart, the steward ^[3] or bailiff^[1] of Fairlawn. Smart’s mother was Winifred Smart, of the Griffiths family from Radnorshire, Wales.^[4] Before giving birth to Christopher, she had two daughters, Margaret and Mary Anne.^[4]

During Christopher younger years, Fairlawn was the residence of Christopher Vane and Elizabeth Holles Vane, and it was Christopher Vane who bequeathed £200 to Christopher Smart.^[5] He received so much money because of his being named after Christopher Vane, his father’s closeness to the Vane family, and the fact that the young boy was "the pride of Fairlawn."^[5] However, there is some controversy over the exact nature of this inheritance and some cynically disagree with the reasons for his inheritance but no other explanations have been provided.^[6]

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, which was influencial over Smart’s later life.^[5] Christopher, from the age of four until eleven, spent a significant time around the farms, but did not participate, which led to speculations that he suffered from asthema attacks.^[7] However, not all scholars agree that Smart was a “sickly youth.”^[8] The only written account of events happening during Smart’s childhood result from his writing of a short poem, at the age of four, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of twelve year old girl.^[9]

[edit] Early education

While at Hall-Place, Christopher was sent to a local school at Maidstone and taught by Charles Walwyn, a scholar from Eton who received a Masters of Arts in 1696 from King’s College, Cambridge.^[10] It was here that Christopher received an intense education in Latin and later was educated in Greek.^[10] On February 3, 1733, Peter Smart died and Winifred took her children to live near relatives in Durham after selling off a large portion of the estate to pay off Peter’s debts.^[11]

It is unknown if Christopher lived with his uncle John Smart or with a school master when he came to Durham, and then attended Durham School.^[12] He spent his vacations from school at Raby Castle, then owned by Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, the grandson of Christopher Vane.^[13] 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, that were only a few years younger than Christopher and became playmates, with Anne and Henry “pairing off” with Christopher and his sister Margaret respectively.^[13] Although nothing resulted from the match, Anne was traditionally described as being Christopher’s “first love”.^[14]

During his time with the Vane family, Christopher dedicated many poems to Henrietta, the Duchess of Cleveland.^[15] It was Christopher’s closeness with the Vane family along with his skill for learning that encouraged Henrietta to allowed him a pension of 40 pounds yearly which was paid even after her death in 1742 by her husband.^[16] Along with this money, an education provided by Reverened Mr. Richard Dongworth, head of the Durham Grammar School, allowed Christopher to attend Pembroke College, Cambridge.^[17]

[edit] College

Christopher was admitted to Pembroke College on October 20, 1739 as a sizar under Leonard Addison.^[18] Although it is unsure as to why Christopher chose Pembroke College, Leonard Addison was named in Peter Smart's trust deed (1729).^[19] As a sizar, he occassionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks.^[20] On July 12, 1740, Christopher was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him six pounds a year until he gained a Bachelor of Arts.^[21] In addition to this income, he was also granted four pounds a year for scholarship.^[22] Although he was successful academically, Christopher began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravegant lifestyle while at the college.^[21]

During his time at Pembroke, Christopher borrowed a significant number of books whose topics spanned the fields of literature, religion, and science.^[23] These works helped when Smart wrote the three "Tripos Verse" at the end of each year.^[24] These poems were written in Latin and they, along with Smart's other Latin poems like his translation of Alexander Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, led to Smart being awarded the "Craven scholarship for classics" on June 10, 1742, which paid twenty-five pounds a year for 14 years.^[25] These scholarships, combined with his becoming a fellow in 1743, justified Christopher calling himself "Scholar of the University".^[26]

In 1743, Christopher 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.^[27] With this translation, he wanted to win the 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, Christopher translated Pope's The Art of Criticism instead.^[27] The initial letter sent from Pope recommending the future translation was prized by Christopher.^[28] In response to this letter and Christopher's budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke Fellows honored Christopher with a portrait of him holding the letter from Pope and allowed him to write a poem in celebration of Jubilee of Pembroke's 400th year on New Years of 1744.^[29][30]

In October, 1745, Christopher was elected Praelector of Philosophy, which paid one pound a year, and made one of three Keepers of the Common Chest.^[31] The next year, on February 11, 1746, he became a Master of Arts and was later elected on October 10, 1746, to Praelector of Philosophy, Praelector of Rhetoric, and Keeper of the Common Chest.^[32] However, he had ran up more debt of over twice his annual income, and he was not re-elected in 1747 to Praelectorship and was denied his control over the Common Chest accounts.^[33] However, he was made a "Preacher before the Mayor of Cambridge" at the college under the title "Concionatori Coram Praetore oppidano", and his modesty 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.^[34]

In 1746, Christopher became tutor to John Blake Delaval, but this was abruptly canceled and Delaval eventually removed from Pembroke over various broken rules and mischief.^[35] After recovering from this incident, Smart returned to studying. Eventually, a play written by Christopher was put into production and it was performed, with many parts played by Christopher, in April, 1747.^[36] This play was a comedy titled A Trip to Cambridge, or The Grateful Fair, and took place in Pembroke College-Hall.^[37] The prologue was printed in The Cambridge Journal $ Weekly Flying-Post, which claimed that the play received "Universal Applause".^[37]

During his final years at Pembroke, Christopher was writing and publishing many poems.^[38] On January 9, 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.^[39] Thomas Gray, in March 17, 1747, referred to this work as Smart's "Collection of Odes".^[39] This collection was not printed in 1748, and was delayed until 1752, in which it was titled Poems on Several Occasions.^[39]

Between 1740 and 1746, Christopher was introduced to Harriot Pratt, and he began to write poetry about her.^[40] 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.^[41] 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.^[42]

[edit] London

Although Christopher seemed to turn his life around at Pembroke, he slowly abandoned the school for London. During 1749, Smart listed himself on Pembroke’s "Liber Absentiae" and would occasionally return to Pembroke throughout 1749 and 1750.^[43] Because of his relationship with those at Pembroke, he was allowed to keep his name in the school’s records, which allowed him to participate and be charged as a member of the school.^[43] However, in 1750 Christopher was living near St. James’s Park and was busy familiarizing himself with Grub Street.^[44] It was this year that Smart developed a business relationship with John Newbery.^[45] It is unknown how Christopher and Newbery met, but Christopher’s daughter claimed Charles Burney introduced the two.^[46] 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 March 25, 1750, that brought his poetic abilities to Newbery’s.^[46]

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" ^[46] It was established by the will of Thomas Seaton, an "Anglican divine and hymn writer."^[47] Christopher wrote in the “"poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse.^[48] In 1750, the poem he won the prize with was On the Eternity of the Supreme Being.^[46] The prize was only worth 17 pounds each year before 7 seven pounds were deducted for the publication of the poem.^[49] However, after the publication of the poem, Christopher became a regular contributor in The Student.^[50]

The Student, before Christopher’s work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays.^[50] However, once Christopher joined and began writing under many pseudonyms, the magazine became filmed with satire, parody, and humorous essays and poems.^[50] Along with Christopher 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.^[51] These reports included many "puff pieces" promoting Christopher’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 Smollet.^[51] However, this was not the only important publication produced by Christopher during this time.

[edit] Mrs. Mary Midnight

Main article: Mrs. Mary Midnight

The Midwife, first running on October 16, 1751 and lasting until April of 1753, was produced primarily by Christopher while he worked on The Student.^[52] This magazine was popular enough to be published in four editions.^[53] To hide his identity for practical and humorous reasons, Christopher adopted the persona of a Midwife, also known as a "Mrs. Midwife" in slang, and called this persona "Mrs. Mary Midwife".^[52]

When Christopher’s poem "Night Piece" was attacked by William Kenrick in Kapelion, or Poetical Ordinary, possibly out of a prearranged publicity stunt, Christopher 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.^[54] However, Kenrick beat Christopher to the use of the title and printed his own in January, 1751.^[54] 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.^[55]

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.^[56] However, Christopher returned to this character full force when he established The Old Woman’s Oratory; or Henley in Petticoats in December of 1751.^[57] The Oratory included Christopher playing as Mrs. Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts.^[58] The Oratory was successful, and was completely redone on January 21, 1752.^[59] 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."^[60] Late in 1752, Christopher finished and tried published a collection of his works as Poems on Several Occasions, which resulted in the end of the Oratory and The Midwife.^[61]

[edit] Later career

After the publication of Poems on Several Occassions, including The Hop-Garden, in June of 1752, John Hill launched an attack upon many of Christopher’s poems.^[62] Smart responded with his mock-epic, The Hilliad.^[63] 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.^[64] This battle may have been for publicity only and lasted over many months before Christopher involved himself.^[65] However, even with such a late entry, his Hilliad was the "loudest broadside" of the war.^[66]

Christopher was incurring many debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family; he was married to Anna Maria Smart around mid-1752, and in 1754 already had two daughters, Marianne (May 3, 1753) and Elizabeth Anne (October 27, 1754), and 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.^[67] Anna was the step-daughter of John Newbery, and Newbery allowed Chris’s family to live at Canonbury House, Islington.^[68] Newbery, although having a strong reputation for charity, was determined to have complete control over his writers.^[69] It is likely that such an attitude combined with monetary problems led to a rift forming between the two in 1753.^[70]

Between 1753 and 1755, Christopher published/republished at least 79 works.^[71] However, even if he received money from each of these publications, this was still very little to support a family, especially to Christopher’s standards.^[72] While he was producing a poem each year for the Seatonian Prize, this amounted to very little of his writing; Christopher 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."^[73] In December of 1755, he finished The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into Enlight Prose, a translation of Horace, which was widely used but brought him little profit.^[74]

Christopher signed a 99 year long contract in November of 1755 to produce a weekly paper entitled The Universal Visiter or Monthly Memorialist for Thomas Gardner and Edmund Allen.^[75] However, the strain of publishing caused Christopher to suffer from a fit, and he was unable to keep up with publishing.^[76] Allen was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Christopher who contributed to the magazine in order to help Christopher keep up with his contract.^[76] In March of 1756, Newbery published Christopher’s final "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Goodness of the Supreme Being, and later, in June 5, published Hymn to the Supreme Being, a poem which thanked God for recovery over an illness of some kind, possibly a "disturbed mental state".^[77] After this "fit", Christopher began to "Pray without ceasing" and became obsessed with religion.^[78]

[edit] Asylum confinement

A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Christopher Smart, and he was admitted in St. Luke's Hospital on May 6, 1757 as a "Curable Patient".^[79] It is possible that Christopher 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.^[80] Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery’s admittance of Christopher Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness".^[81] However, there is evidence that an incident took place in St. James’s Park in which he "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89).^[81]

It is not know what exactly happened during his confinement, but Christopher did work on two of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno and A Song to David.^[82] What is know 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.^[83] At St. Luke’s, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and moved to Mr. Potter’s asylum for monetary reasons.^[84] During this time, Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland.^[85] His isolation led Christopher into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno.^[86] Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, Christopher's poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation".^[87] There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Christopher and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects Christopher to the Christian God.^[88]

Christopher was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker.^[89] 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".^[90] In London, only a few of Christopher’s works were still being published.^[91] However, not everyone viewed Smart’s "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended Christopher, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times.^[92] A century later, Robert Browning later remarked that A Song to David was great because Smart was mad, and that the poet allowed Smart to rank alongside of Milton and Keats.^[93] It is no wonder that a few of Christopher’s loyal friends did come to Mr. Potter’s and free him.

There is little information known about how and why Christopher 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"^[94]

Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Christopher did leave the asylum on January 30, 1763.</ref>Mounsey p. 240</ref>

[edit] Final years

A Song to David was printed on April 6, 1763 along with a proposal for a new translation of the Psalms.^[95] Christopher’s poem was received harshly, which was possibly just thinly veiled personal attacks over Christopher being freed from the asylum just weeks before.^[96] However, Kenrick, Christopher’s former rival, praised the poem in a poem of his own printed May 25, 1763.^[97] Also, John Lockman followed in June 21, 1763, with his own poem in praise of Christopher’s and Samuel Boyce followed this on July 15, 1763 with his.^[98] Along with this support, Christopher responded to his critics at the Critical Review, which received a reply that the Critical Review would "ay no more of Mr. Smart."^[99]

After A Song to David, Christopher tried to publish a collection of his Psalms translations, and Newbery sought to ruin Christopher by hiring James Merrick to produce his own translations.^[100] Newbery then hired Christopher’s new publisher, James Fletcher, which in turn forced Christopher to find a new publisher, delaying the printing of his Psalms.^[101] Finally, on August 12, 1765, Christopher printed A Translation of the Psalms of David, which included Hymns and Spiritual Songs and a second edition of A Song to David.^[102] 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 Christopher’s.^[103] However, modern criticism has received Christopher's version in a more favourable light.^[104] While working on this project, Christopher was also working on a translation of the Phaedrus and a verse translation of Horace.^[105] His verse Horace was published in July of 1767 including a preface in which Christopher attacked Newbery, but the attack was in vain because Newbery died soon after.^[106]

On April 20, 1770, Christopher was arrested for debt.^[107] On January 11, 1771, Christopher was tried by Lord Mansfield, the gentleman who originally introduced Christopher to Alexander Pope, and Christopher was soon recommended to the King's Bench Prison.^[108] Although he was in prison, Charles Burney purchased the "Rules" (allowing him some freedom), and Christopher's final weeks may have been peaceful although pathetic.^[109] Soon after, Christopher died, May 20, 1771, from either liver failure or pneumonia, after completing his final work, Hymns, for the Amusement of Children.^[108]

[edit] 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 with the "discovery" of Jubilate Agno in 1939.^[110] Many recent critics approach Christopher 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).

[edit] Religion

Although Christopher 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.^[111] 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" ^[112] In connecting the two, Christopher redefines "the role of the religious poet."^[112] By establishing a debate between these two forms, Harriet Guest claims that Christopher creates "a poetic space which allows the poet to make provisional, even questionable statements", which are important to his later works.^[113] To Guest, Christopher, in his religious poems, "is not concerned to offer instruction in Christian conduct."^[114] Besides the greater theological debate, the poems also are the origins of Christopher's belief that all of creation is constantly praising God, and that a poet must "give voice to mute nature’s praise of God."^[115]

Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought.^[116] His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry.^[117] Christopher, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language.^[118] 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."^[119] This justified her combing the two sides to follow each other.^[119] 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.^[120] 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."^[121]

Words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, and God is the "great poet" who used language in order to create the universe.^[122] Through words and language, Christopher attempted to capture the creative power of those words.^[123] By relying on the power of words, Christopher is, according to Clement Hawes, subverting "Anglican control over religious functions and services."^[124] In essence, Christopher'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.^[125] He also creates his own natural philosophy and criticizes science, like that established by Issac Newton, for their ignoring the "the glory of Almighty God."^[126]

To Christopher, 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.^[127] However, Christopher accomplished his new science by relying on Newtonian empiricism.^[128] As part of his desire to bring back the divine language to poetry and science, Christopher creates an "Ark of Salvation" in order to describe a prophetic and apocalyptic future which emphasizes the important of Christ and England.^[129] Along with being prophetic, the poem itself is modeled after the canticles and follows the form of the Benedicite.^[129] However, the Benedicite isn't the only model, and there is a strong link between Jubilate Agno and the Psalm tradition.^[130]

Christopher's A Song to David is an attempt to bridge poetry written by humans and Biblical poetry.^[131] The Biblical David plays an important role in this poem just like he played an important role in Jubilate Agno^[132] However, David in Jubilate Agno is an image of the creative power of poetry whereas he becomes a fully realized model of the religious poet.^[133] By focusing on David, Christopher is able to tap into the "heavenly language."^[134] Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's Temple and his possible role with the Freemasons.^[135] However, the true life of the poem comes later when Christ is introduced as the major subject.^[136] After Christ is introduced, Christopher attempts to "reach to heaven" and the final passages, to Neil Curry, represent a "final rush for glory."^[137]

According to Mouney, A Song to David and Christopher's Psalms is an attempt to "Christianize" the Old Testament.^[138] However, the Psalms perform a secondary function: they allow Christopher to relate to the suffering of David and to reinforce his own religious convictions by following his Biblical model.^[139] As part of Christopher's "Christianizing" of the Psalms, Jesus becomes a divine form of suffering, and Christopher becomes further juxtaposed with his Biblical model as both praise God for Jesus's ultimate sacrifice and for the beauty of all creation.^[139] The Hymns and Psalms form their own sort of liturgy and attempt to reform Anglican liturgy by emphasizing God's place in nature.^[140]

Christopher's Hymns are modeled after a tradition exemplified by those like Robert Nelson.^[141] They are steeped in Anglican tradition and also emphasize English patriotism and England's divine favor.^[142] The Hymns, according to Guest, "expresses 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."^[143] To Hawes, the Hymns exemplify an evangelical spirit that separates Christopher from the traditional Anglican church.^[144] Although he wrote his second set of hymns, Hymns for the Amusement of Children, for a younger audience, Christopher cares more about emphasizing the need for children to be moral instead of "innocent".^[145] These works have been seem as possibly too complicated for "amusement" because they employee ambiguities and complicated theological concepts.^[146] 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.^[147] Like the Hymns for the Amusement of Children, Christopher's The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were designed to teach morals.^[148] However, these Parables alter the original Biblical parables in order to simplify them and help them "make sense"^[149] As such, Todd Parker claims that the Parables, and the other religious works of Christopher Smart, are part of his final push for the "evangelization of London’s reading public."^[150]

[edit] 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 Christopher to connect to "the Word calling forth the world."^[151] This is similar to David and Orpheus's ability as poets to create through their song.^[132] In his constant emphasis on the force of poetry, Jubilate Agno takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica tradition.^[152] As such, Christopher is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem."^[153] The poetic language that Christopher 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.^[154]

In Jubilate Agno, Christopher describes his writing as creating "impressions".^[155] To accomplish this task, he incorporated puns and onomonpoeia in order to emphasize the theological significance of his poetic language.^[156] 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.^[157] Along with scriptural authority, Christopher relies on prophetic rhetoric to gain his audience's sympathy.^[158]

During the 18th century, there was a debate over poetic language and the translations of Christopher Smart, especially of Horace, positioned Christopher as one who sought to redeem traditional forms and understanding of language.^[159] However, some critics, like Alan Liu, believe that translations are effectively forced to compete against the original works, and that Christopher's language, at least in his translations, must constantly seek to undermine the original authors, like Horace.^[160] Not all critics agree with Liu, and those like Donald Davie believe that the Christopher's translations cannot be compared to the original works, but are part of a system of Christopher competing against the language of his contemporaries.^[161] Thomas Keymer further verified this point about Christopher'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.^[162]

Regardless of where he stood on the specific issue of translation, Christopher 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.^[163] However, many of Smart's poems served a dual purpose, and, when they were put to music, were altered to meet various standards.^[164] By constantly revising, he ensured that his poems were always the "authentic" version.^[165]

[edit] Gender

Christopher's role as Mrs. Midnight along with his gendered comments in Jubilate Agno form the focal point for analyzing Christopher Smart's understanding of sexuality and gender. With Mrs. Midnight, Smart challenges the traditional social order found in 18th-century England.^[166] However, some, like Lance Bertelsen, claim that the Mrs. Midnight persona reveals Christopher's schizophrenia in which Smart is torn between masculine and feminine roles.^[167] Fraser Easton claims that Mrs. Midnight proves that Christopher identified a female connection to poetry and was used to defy popular 18th-century notions of who is able to attain knowledge.^[168] This role allowed Christopher to focus on "social and sexual dimensions" in his satire.^[169] However, there is a potentially darker side to Mrs. Midnight, and she could represent Christopher's feelings that he was "emasculated by economic pressures."^[170]

The image of "horns" inJubilate Agnois commonly viewed as a sexual image.^[171] Easton puts particular emphasis on the image of horns as a phallic image and contends that there are masculine and feminine horns throughout Christopher's poem.^[172] Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claims that the poem shows "that [Christopher Smart] had been ‘feminized’ as a cuckold."^[173] In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.^[174]

[edit] Environmental

Christopher's focus on his cat Jeoffrey is widely known and his focus on nature connects Christopher to those mistreated and neglected by 18th-century society.^[175] The first fragment of Jubilate Agno is a poetic "Ark" that pairs humans with animals in order to purify all of creation.^[129] The whole work relies on Christopher's extensive background in botany and his knowledge of taxonomy.^[176] Christopher actively participates in the 18th-century taxonomy systems established by Carl Linnaeus, however, Christopher is mythologizing his view of nature and creation when he adds information from Pliny the Elder into his work.^[177]

By using this knowledge, Smart is able to give a "voice" to nature, and Christopher believes that nature, like his cat Jeoffrey, is always praising God but needs a poet in order to bring out that voice.^[115] As such, the themes of animals and language are merged in Jubilate Agno, and Jeoffrey is transformed into a manifestation of the Ars Poetica tradition.^[178]

[edit] Freemasonry

Although it is not know for sure if Christopher was a Freemason or not, there is some evidence suggesting that he was either part of the organization or had a strong knowledge of its belief system.^[179] It was this tiny bit of information that encouraged many critics to try and decode the "seven pillar" section of A Song of David along the lines of Freemason imagery.^[135] 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.^[180] This image further connects Freemason belief surrounding the relationship of David to Solomon's Temple.^[181] While these images, and further images in A Song to David are related also to depictions of the Temple in Issac 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.^[182]

Based on this theory, the first pillar, the Greek alpha, represents the mason's compass and "God as the Architect of the Universe."^[183] The second, the Greek gamma, represents the mason's square.^[184] In addition, the square represents the "vault of heaven."^[181] The third, the Greek eta, represents Jacob's ladder itself and is connected to the complete idea of seven pillars.^[185] The fourth, the Greek theta, is either "the all-seeing eye or the point within a circle."^[185] The fifth letter, the Greek iota, represents a pillar and the temple.^[186] The sixth letter, the Greek sigma, is an incomplete hexagram, otherwise known as "the blazing star or hexalpha" to the Freemasons.^[186] The last, the Greek omega, represents a lyre and David as a poet.^[187]

[edit] 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 independent publications include:

• A Song to David
• Poems on Several Occassions’’ (including the Hop-Garden)
• The Hilliad
• The Hop-Garden
• Hymns and Spiritual Songs
• Hymns for the Amusement of Children
• The Oratorios Hannah and Abimelech
• The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
• 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 was not published until 1939 by William Force Stead.^[110]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Bertelsen, Lance. "'Neutral Nonsense, neither False nor True': Christopher Smart and the Paper War(s) of 1752-53." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 135-52. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• Booth, Mark W. "Syntax and Paradigm in Smart's Hymns for the Amusement of Children." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 67-81. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• Costa, Dennis. "Language in Smart's Jubilate Agno." ssays in Criticism: A Quarterly Journal of Literary Criticism 52, 4 (Oct. 2002): 295-313.
• Curry, Neil. Christopher Smart. Devon: Northcote House Publishers, 2005. 128 pp.
• Davie, Donald. "Psalmody as Translation." The Modern Language Review 85, 4 (Oct. 1990): 817-828
• Easton, Fraser. "Christopher Smart's Cross-Dressing: Mimicry, Depropriation, and Jubilate Agno." Genre: Forms of Discourse and Culture 31, 3-4 (Fall-Winter 1998): 193-243.
• Ennis, Daniel J. "Christopher Smart's Cat Revisited: Jubilate Agno and the Ars Poetica Tradition." South Atlantic Review 65, 1 (Winter 2000): 1-23.
• Guest, Harriet. A Form of Sound Words: The Religious Poetry of Christopher Smart. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. 312 pp.
• Hawes, Clement. Mania and Literary Style: The Rhetoric of Enthusiasm from the Ranters to Christopher Smart. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xii, 241 pp.
• ----. "Smart's Bawdy Politic: Masculinity and the Second Age of Horn in Jubilate Agno." Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts 37, 3 (Summer 1995): 413-42.
• Hunter, Christopher. The Poems of the late Christopher Smart. Reading, 1791.
• Katz, Edward Joseph. "Action and Speaking Are One': A Logological Reading of Smart's Prophetic Rhetoric." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 47-66. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• Keymer, Thomas. "William Toldervy and the Origins of Smart's A Translation of the Psalms of David." Review of English Studies: The Leading Journal of English Literature and the English Language 54, 213 (Feb. 2003): 52-66.
• Liu, Alan. "Christopher Smart's 'Uncommunicated Letters': Translation and the Ethics of Literary History." Boundary 2: An International Journal of Literature and Culture 14, 1-2 (Fall-Winter 1985-1986): 115-46.
• Mahony, Robert and Rizzo, Betty. Christopher Smart : an annotated bibliography, 1743-1983. New York : Garland Pub., 1984.
• Mahony, Robert. "Revision and Correction in the Poems of Christopher Smart." Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 77, 2 (1983): 196-206.
• Miller, Eric. "Taxonomy and Confession in Christopher Smart and Jean-Jacques Rousseau." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 99-118. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• Mounsey, Chris. Christopher Smart: Clown of God. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2001. 342 pp.
• Parker, Todd C. "Smart's Enlightened Parables and the Problem of Genre." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 83-97. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• Rizzo, Betty. "Christopher Smart: A Letter and Lines from a Prisoner of the King's Bench." Review of English Studies: A Quarterly Journal of English Literature and the English Language 35, 140 (Nov. 1984): 510-16.
• Rose, John. "All the Crumbling Edifices Must Come Down: Decoding Christopher Smart's Song to David." Philological Quarterly 84, 4 (Fall 2005): 403-24.
• Smart, Christopher. The Poetical Works of Christopher Smart, I: Jubilate Agno. Ed. Karina Williamson. Oxford: Clarendon, 1980. 143 pp.
• ----. The Poetical Works of Christopher Smart, III: A Translation of the Psalms of David. Ed. Marcus Walsh. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987. 440 pp.
• Sherbo, Arthur. Christopher Smart: Scholar of the University. Michigan State University Press, 1967. 303 pp.
• Walker, Jeanne Murray. "‘Jubilate Agno’ as Psalm." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 20, 3 (Summer 1980): 449-59.
• Walsh, Marcus. "‘Community of Mind’: Christopher Smart and the Poetics of Allusion." In Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment, edited by Clement Hawes, 29-46. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1999. 308 pp.
• ----. "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Christopher Smart and the Lexis of the Particular." Yearbook of English Studies 28 (1998): 144-62.

[edit] External links

• Song to David
• Jubilate Agno HTML edition by Ray Davis.