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Christopher Smart (1722-1771), circa 1745. Artist unknown. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Christopher Smart
Born April 11 1722(1722-Template:MONTHNUMBER-11)
Shipbourne, England
Died May 21 1771(1771-Template:MONTHNUMBER-21) (aged 49)
King's Bench Prison, London, England
Pen name Mrs. Mary Midnight, Ebenezer Pentweazle
Occupation Actor, Editor, Playwright, Poet, Translator
Literary movement The Augustans
Spouse(s) Anna Maria Carnan
Children Margaret, Mary Anne, Elizabeth LeNoir


Christopher Smart (11 April 1722 - 21 May 1771) (also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart") was an English poet.

Life[]

Overview[]

Smart, son of the steward to Lord Vane, was born at Shipbourne, Kent, and by the bounty of the Duchess of Cleveland sent to Cambridge. Here his ill-balanced mind showed itself in wild folly. Leaving the University he came to London and maintained himself by conducting and writing for periodicals. His Poems on Several Occasions, which contained "The Hop Garden," was issued in 1752, and The Hilliad in 1753 against "Sir" John Hill, a notoriety of the day who had attacked him. He also translated Horace. His mind ultimately gave way, and it was in confinement that he produced by far his most remarkable work, the Song to David, a most original and powerful poem. Unfortunate to the last, he died in the King's Bench prison, to which he had been committed for debt.[1]

Family, youth, early education[]

Smart's father was Peter Smart (1687–1733), of an old north-country family (said to be descended from Sir John Smart, Garter king of arms under Edward IV, and from Dr. Peter Smart), was born at Shipbourne, near Tunbridge in Kent, on 11 April 1722 (Hop Garden), and baptised on 11 May (Shipbourne register of baptisms). The poet's grandfather, Francis Smart, married on 16 May 1676 Margaret Gilpin, who was of the same family as Bernard Gilpin, the ‘apostle of the north.’ The poet's father, Peter Smart, a younger son, born in 1687, married Winifrid Griffiths of Radnorshire about 1720, by which time he had migrated from his native county of Durham to become steward of the Fairlawn estates in Kent, belonging to William, viscount Vane, younger son of Lord Barnard (Surtees, Durham, iv. 142–3). The poet's sister, Mary Anne, married, in 1750, Richard Falkiner of Mount Falcon, Tipperary.[2]

In 1726, 3 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.[3] From the age of 4 until 11, Christopher spent much time around the farms, but did not participate, leading to speculations that he suffered from asthma attacks.[4] However, not all scholars agree that he was a "sickly youth".[5] The only written record of events during his childhood comes from his writing of a short poem, at the age of 4, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of a 12-year-old girl.[5]

Smart was educated at Maidstone and then under Richard Dongworth at Durham school, where his facility in verse-making attracted notice. For a summer he was invited to Raby Castle, where his boyish gifts gained the applause of Henrietta, duchess of Cleveland, and she rewarded his promise by causing the sum of £40 to be paid to him annually until her death on 14 April 1742.[2]

College[]

Christopher Smart Pembroke portrait

Christopher Smart, Pembroke portrait, holding his letter from Alexander Pope

Relying upon the patronage of the duchess of Cleveland, Smart was admitted to Pembroke Hall (now Pembroke College), Cambridge, on 20 October 1739, where he earned a B.A. in 1742.[2] As a sizar, he occasionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks.[6] On 12 July 1740, he was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him ₤6 a year until he gained a B.A.[7] In addition to this income, he was also granted £4 a year for scholarship.[8] Although he was successful academically, he began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle while at the college.[7]

In 1743 he translated into elegant Latin elegiacs Pope's "Ode to St. Cecilia," receiving a very civil letter from Twickenham by way of acknowledgment.[2] In response to this letter and his budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke fellows honored 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.

He was elected a fellow of Pembroke on 3 July 1745, and, on 10 October following, accumulated the college posts of prælector in philosophy and keeper of the common chest.[2]

In an ode the poet apologises for being a little man, and the inference is confirmed by the Cambridge Chronicle, which states that he was a "little, smart, black-eyed man." If the portraits may be believed, his eyes were grey.[9] There is a story that while at Pembroke he wore a path upon a paved walk by his incessant promenade (cf. Quarterly Rev. xi. 496).[2]

Dependent though he was upon college largesse, Smart combined with small means some extravagant habits and a predilection for tavern parlors. His contemporary, Thomas Gray, who was as much at home at Pembroke as at Peterhouse, wrote in 1747 that Smart "must be abîmé in a very short time by his debts." At this very time Smart was amusing himself by writing a "comedy," or rather an extravaganza, which he called A Trip to Cambridge, or the Grateful Fair, which was acted during the summer of 1747 in Pembroke Hall, and was said to be the last play acted in Cambridge by undergraduates until comparatively recent times. The piece was never printed, but a few of the songs were afterwards committed to the pages of the ‘Old Woman's Magazine, where may also be found the "Soliloquy of the Princess Periwinkle Sola, attended by Fourteen Maids of great honour," containing the once famous simile of the collier, the barber, and the brickdust man.[2]

In 1747 Smart earned an M.A., but he seems to have lost his college posts by November in this year, when Gray speaks of his being confined to his rooms by his creditors. In 1750, however, by winning the Seatonian Prize, now offered for the best poem upon the attributes of the Supreme Being, he seems to have gained sufficient credit temporarily to emerge from his difficulties, and in this year he also had a share in The Student, or the Oxford and Cambridge Monthly Miscellany, to which Thomas Warton, Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Somerville were likewise contributors. About the same time he published, under the pseudonym of Ebenezer Pentweazle, The Horatian Canons of Friendship. Being the third satire of the First Book of Horace, imitated, London, 1750, 4to.[2]

During his final years at Pembroke, Smart was writing and publishing many poems.[10] On 9 January 1748, there were 3 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 until 1752, under the title Poems on Several Occasions.[11]

In 1751 Smart was confined for a short while in Bedlam (Bethlehem Hospital) on what proved the earliest of 2 visits to that institution. His malady is said to have taken the form of praying, in accordance with a literal interpretation of the injunction, without ceasing (Piozziana, ap. Gentleman's Magazine 1849, ii. 24). Before his return to Cambridge, Smart seems to have fallen in with Dr. Burney, and to have been introduced by him to John Newbery, the bookseller, who exercised an important influence over his career.[2]

Without the knowledge of the college authorities, Smart married Anna Maria, daughter of William Carnan, a printer of Reading and publisher of the Reading Mercury, whose widow had married Newbery. His wife was "The lass with the golden locks" of his ballad of that name. In November 1753, when the college discovered the fact, Smart was threatened with serious consequences; but eventually, on condition of his continuing to write for the Seatonian Prize, it was settled that his fellowship should be extended (January 1754). For the 1st time since its foundation he failed to gain the annual premium in 1754; he gained it again in 1755, but in the meantime he had definitely left Cambridge for Grub Street.[2]

Career[]

From the moment of his introduction, Smart seems to have eagerly collaborated with Newbery, who, on his side, was delighted by the Cambridge poet's aptitude for nonsense verses, "crambo ballads," and such literary frivolities,[2] no less than by his quick appreciation of the subtleties of advertising. Newbery reprinted 2 of Smart's poems on the attributes of the deity, to 1 of which the author added by way of preface a puff of Dr. James's fever powder.[9]

In the meantime, under the auspices of Newbery, and the pseudonym of Mary Midnight (a name probably borrowed from a booth in Bartholomew fair), Smart had been directing a 3-penny journal, entitled The Midwife, or the Old Woman's Magazine, which ran to 3 volumes between 1751 and 1753. Amid a great deal of buffoonery, often sufficiently coarse, Smart's hand is constantly revealed by the neatness of the verse, and especially of the Latin epigrams and fables. Many of his compositions appeared under his pseudonym of Pentweazle. Drawn by Newbery into the vortex of Grub Street animosities, Smart further conceived an Old Woman's Dunciad,’ but he was anticipated in this by William Kenrick, who used the idea to pay off a grudge against its originator, whereupon Smart abandoned the design (Kenrick, Pasquinade, p. 20 n.)[9]

It is doubtful whether Smart had anything to do with Mother Midnight's Miscellany (London, 1751), which looks like an unauthorised imitation, but he probably had a hand in The Index of Mankind, a clever collection of proverbial maxims, and perhaps in some later enterprises of Newbery, such as the Lilliputian Magazine [see Jones, Griffith, (1722–1786)]. The ascription of the "Index" to Goldsmith is implausible, as he was in Ireland during the winter of 1751–2. The Nonpareil (1757) and Mrs. Midnight's Orations … spoken at the Oratory in the Haymarket (1763) are merely selections from the original Miscellany, the latter printed for Smart's benefit.[9]

From the resignation of his fellowship, Smart's fortunes steadily declined. In 1756 he completed a prose translation of Horace, which became a mine of wealth to the booksellers, but seems to have brought him little profit, as in this year he engaged himself to the bookseller Gardener, in conjunction with Richard Rolt, to produce a weekly paper, The Universal Visiter, and nothing else, for 1/6 of the profits. According to the somewhat apocryphal story, he leased himself to Gardener on these conditions for a term of 99 years (cf. Drake, Essays, 1810, ii. 344; Forster, Goldsmith, i. 382). Dr. Johnson, whose ‘Rambler’ Smart had been among the earliest to praise, wrote a few pages for the Visiter, which seems to have collapsed before 1759.[9]

On 3 February 1759, Smart being much "reduced," Garrick gave for his benefit Merope, together with his farce The Guardian, himself playing Heartly (Genest, iv. 547). For some years the poet appears to have been unable to maintain his wife and children, who had in consequence to take refuge with Mrs. Falkiner in Ireland.[9]

In 1763 Smart was again immured in a madhouse (probably Bethlehem Hospital), where the story runs that his grand Song to David was written, "partly with charcoal on the walls, or indented with a key on the panels of his cell" (respecting the legend, which probably contains a nucleus of truth, cf. Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. iii. 433). The Song was published in a thin quarto in the autumn of 1763 (it was reprinted in the poet's Metrical Version of the Psalms, 1765, and separately, 1819, 12mo, and 1895, 8vo). Dr. Johnson visited Smart in his cell during the summer of 1763, and gave a pithy account of the poet's condition. He concluded that he ought never to have been shut up. "His infirmities were not noxious to society. He insisted upon people praying with him, and I'd as lief pray with Kit Smart as with any one else. Another charge was that he did not love clean linen; and I have no passion for it."[9]

Final years[]

The impulse which had produced the Song to David remained with Smart to the end, but the inspiration was exhausted along with the "glorious" stanzas which conclude that poem. In 1764 he wrote the libretto, Hannah, an Oratorio; in 1765 metrical versions of Phædrus and of the Psalms, in many of which, says Orme, "Sternhold himself was out-Sternholded,’ and finally, in 1768,[9] of The Parables, in which the decline of his powers is manifest.[12]

On 11 September 1768 Smart called at his old friend Dr. Burney's in Poland Street, and Fanny Burney, who mentions his "sweetly elegant 'Harriet's Birthday,'" inscribed in her diary: "This ingenious writer is one of the most unfortunate of men — he has been twice confined in a madhouse, and, but last year, sent a most affecting letter to papa to entreat him to lend him half a guinea. He is extremely grave, and has still great wildness in his manners, looks, and voice." It must have been soon after this that Smart was permanently confined in the king's bench by his creditors. The rules were eventually obtained for him by his brother-in-law, Thomas Carnan, and a small subscription was raised, "of which Dr. Burney was the head."[12]

Smart died within the rules of the king's bench on 21 May 1771 (Gent. Mag. 1771, p. 239; cf. Cambridge Chronicle, 25 May 1771), and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard. He left 2 daughters, of whom the elder, Mary Anne (died 1809), married Thomas Cowslade (died 1806), proprietor of the Reading Mercury, while the younger, Elizabeth Anne, became poet and novelist Elizabeth Anne Le Noir. His widow died on 16 May 1809 at Reading, aged 77.[12]

Writing[]

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.[13] His earliest "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Eternity of the Supreme Being is part of 2 traditional types of religious writing: "authoritative discourse of religious poetry" and "tentative and self-critical discourse of an apparently more personal devotion." In connecting both types, he redefines "the role of the religious poet."[14] 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.[15] To Guest, Smart, in his religious poems, "is not concerned to offer instruction in Christian conduct."[16] 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."[17]

20 years after Smart's death was issued in a collective form his Poems, containing the ‘Seatonians,’ epigrams, fables, imitations of Pope and Gray, Young, and Akenside — everything, in fact, that might be expected from a facile and uninspired versifier of that age.[12]

The Song to David was omitted from the Poems as affording a "melancholy proof" of mental estrangement. It is, however, scarcely correct to say (as has often been said) that it was left to the late 19th century to discover his "inspired lay." When the Song was reprinted in 1819 a review in the London Magazine for March 1820 concluded by likening the poem to "one of our ancient cathedrals — imperfect, unequal, and with strange, anomalous parts of no perceptible use or beauty, yet exquisite in the finishing of other parts, and, in its general effect, appropriately solemn and splendid.’ A juster criticism could scarcely be passed. To describe the ‘Song,’ with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as the "only great accomplished poem of the eighteenth century," is to exaggerate grossly, if in good company; for (after comparing the poem to an exquisitely wrought chapel in a prosaic mansion) Robert Browning, apostrophising the poet, speaks of his

Song, where flute-breath silvers trumpet clang,
And stations you for once on either hand
With Milton and with Keats(Parleyings, No. iii.).[12]

It is hardly disputable that the Song to David supplies a very remarkable link between the age of Dryden and the dawn of a new era with Blake; and it combines to a rare degree the vigor and impressive diction of the former with the spirituality of the latter. There are few episodes in our literary history more striking than that of "Kit Smart," the wretched bookseller's hack, with his mind thrown off its balance by poverty and drink, rising at the moment of his direst distress to the utterance of a strain of purest poetry.[12]

The following is a list of Smart's works: 1. ‘Carmen Alex. Pope in S. Cæciliam Latine redditum,’ 1743, fol.; 1746. 2. ‘The Eternity of the Supreme Being,’ 1750, 4to. 3. ‘The Immensity of the Supreme Being,’ 1750, 4to. 4. ‘Solemn Dirge to the Memory of the Prince of Wales,’ 1751, 4to. 5. ‘Occasional Prologue and Epilogue to Othello’ [1751], fol. 6. ‘The Omniscience of the Supreme Being,’ 1752, 4to. 7. ‘Poems,’ 1752, 8vo. 8. ‘The Power of the Supreme Being,’ 1753, 4to. 9. ‘The Hilliad: an Epic Poem,’ 1753, 4to. 10. ‘The Goodness of the Supreme Being,’ 1755, 4to. 11. ‘Hymn to the Supreme Being,’ 1756, 4to. 12. ‘The Works of Horace, translated literally into English Prose,’ 2 vols. 12mo, 1756 (many editions; Bohn, 1848, 8vo). 13. ‘A Song to David,’ 1763, 4to. 14. ‘Poems on Several Occasions: viz. Munificence and Modesty; Female Dignity; Verses from Catullus; after dining with Mr. Murray; Epitaphs’, &c., 1763, 4to. 15. ‘Poems: Reason and Imagination, a fable,’ &c. [1763], 4to.[12] 16. ‘An Ode to the Earl of Northumberland on his being appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,’ 1764, 4to. 17. ‘A poetical translation of the Poems of Phædrus, with the appendix of Gudius,’ 1765, 12mo. 18. ‘Translation of the Psalms of David,’ 1765, 4to. 19. ‘The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, done into verse,’ 1768, 8vo. 20. ‘Abimelech: an Oratorio’ [1768], 4to. Posthumously was issued: 21. ‘Poems of the late Christopher Smart,’ 2 vols., Reading, 1791, 16mo.[18]

Critical reputation[]

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 1939 "discovery" of Jubilate Agno.[19] Many recent critics approach Smart from a religious perspective (Neil Curry, Harriet Guest, Clement Hawes, Chris Mounsey). However, some also favour a psychological/sexual analysis of his works (Lance Bertelsen, Clemet Hawes, Alan Liu).

Religion[]

File:Jubilate Agno let.JPG

A page from the "Let" side of the Jubilate Agno manuscript

File:Jubilate Agno for.JPG

A page from the "For" side of the Jubilate Agno manuscript

Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought.[20] His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry.[21] Smart, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language.[22] 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."[23] This justified her combing the two sides to follow each other.[23] 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.[24] 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."[25]

Words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, and God is the "great poet" who used language in order to create the universe.[26] Through words and language, Smart attempted to capture the creative power of those words.[27] By relying on the power of words, Smart is, according to Clement Hawes, subverting "Anglican control over religious functions and services."[28] 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.[29] He also creates his own natural philosophy and criticizes science, like that established by Isaac Newton, for their ignoring "the glory of Almighty God."[30]

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.[31] However, Smart accomplished his new science by relying on Newtonian empiricism.[32] 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 important of Christ and England. Along with being prophetic, the poem itself is modelled after the canticles and follows the form of the Benedicite.[33] However, the Benedicite isn't the only model, and there is a strong link between Jubilate Agno and the psalm tradition.[34]

Smart's A Song to David is an attempt to bridge poetry written by humans and Biblical poetry.[35] The Biblical David plays an important role in this poem just as he played an important role in Jubilate Agno[36] 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.[36] By focusing on David, Smart is able to tap into the "heavenly language."[37] Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's Temple and his possible role with the Freemasons.[38] However, the true life of the poem comes later when Christ is introduced as the major subject.[39] After Christ is introduced, Smart attempts to "reach to heaven" and the final passages, to Neil Curry, represent a "final rush for glory."[40]

According to Mounsey, A Song to David and Smart's Psalms represent an attempt to "Christianize" the Old Testament through writing an 18th-century psalter.[41] 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.[42] 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.[42] The Hymns and Psalms form their own sort of liturgy and attempt to reform Anglican liturgy by emphasizing God's place in nature.[43]

Smart's Hymns are modelled after a tradition exemplified by Robert Nelson.[44] They are steeped in Anglican tradition and also emphasize English patriotism and England's divine favour.[45] 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."[46] To Hawes, the Hymns exemplify an evangelical spirit that separates Smart from the traditional Anglican church.[47] Although he wrote his 2nd 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".[48]

These works have been seen as possibly too complicated for "amusement" because they employ ambiguities and complicated theological concepts.[49] 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.[50] Like the Hymns for the Amusement of Children, Smart's The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were designed to teach morals.[51] However, these Parables alter the original Biblical parables in order to simplify them and help them "make sense"[52] 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."[53]

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."[54] This is similar to David and Orpheus's ability as poets to create through their song.[36] In his constant emphasis on the force of poetry, Jubilate Agno takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica tradition.[55] As such, Smart is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem."[56] 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.[57]

In Jubilate Agno, he describes his writing as creating "impressions".[58] To accomplish this task, he incorporated puns and onomonpoeia in order to emphasize the theological significance of his poetic language.[59] 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.[60] Along with scriptural authority, he relies on prophetic rhetoric to gain his audience's sympathy.[61]

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.[62] 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.[63] 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.[64] 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.[65]

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.[66] However, many of Smart's poems served a dual purpose, and, when they were put to music, were altered to meet various standards.[67] By constantly revising, he ensured that his poems were always the "authentic" version.[68]

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.[69] However, some, like Lance Bertelsen, claim that the Mrs. Midnight persona reveals Smart's schizophrenia in which he is torn between masculine and feminine roles.[70] 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.[71] This role allowed Smart to focus on "social and sexual dimensions" in his satire.[72] However, there is a potentially darker side to Mrs. Midnight, and she could represent his feelings that he was "emasculated by economic pressures."[73]

The image of "horns" in Jubilate Agno is commonly viewed as a sexual image.[74] 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.[75] Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claims that the poem shows "that [Smart] had been 'feminized' as a cuckold."[76] In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.[77]

Environmental[]

Smart had a reputation for being a "dedicated gardener".[78] 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.[78] 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."[79] Gardening, to Smart, was a way in which humans could interact with nature and actually "improve" on the natural landscape.[80]

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.[81] The first fragment of Jubilate Agno is a poetic "Ark" that pairs humans with animals in order to purify all of creation.[33] The whole work relies on his extensive background in botany and his knowledge of taxonomy.[82] 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.[83]

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.[17] 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.[84]

Freemasonry[]

Many critics have focused on the role of David as planner of Solomon's Temple and his possible role with the Freemasons.[38] 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.[85] 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."[86] Furthermore, there are accounts of Smart attending meetings at the Bell Tavern in Westminster.[86][87] 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."[88] 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."[89]

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.[90] 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.[91]

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.[38] 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.[92] This image further connects Freemason belief surrounding the relationship of David to Solomon's Temple.[93] 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.[94]

Based on this theory, the first pillar, the Greek alpha, represents the mason's compass and "God as the Architect of the Universe."[95] The second, the Greek gamma, represents the mason's square.[96] In addition, the square represents the "vault of heaven."[93] The third, the Greek eta, represents Jacob's ladder itself and is connected to the complete idea of seven pillars.[97] The fourth, the Greek theta, is either "the all-seeing eye or the point within a circle."[97] The fifth letter, the Greek iota, represents a pillar and the temple.[98] The sixth letter, the Greek sigma, is an incomplete hexagram, otherwise known as "the blazing star or hexalpha" to the Freemasons.[98] The last, the Greek omega, represents a lyre and David as a poet.[99]

Recognition[]

At Cambridge, Smart won the Seatonian Prize 5 times, for "On the Eternity of the Supreme Being" (1750), "On the Immensity of the Supreme Being" (1751), "On the Omniscience of the Supreme Being" (1752), "On the Power of the Supreme Being" (1753), and "On the Goodness of the Supreme Being" (1755).Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

A poor mezzotint in a small oval is prefixed to his collected Poems (1791); an anonymous portrait in oils was in the possession of C. Litton Falkiner, esq., of 9 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, and a fine portrait (5 feet by 4 feet), owned by Frederick Cowslade, esq., of Reading, has been attributed, on somewhat uncertain authority, to Sir Joshua Reynolds. In manner Smart seems to have been abnormally nervous and retiring, but when this shyness was overcome, he was particularly amiable, and had a frank and engaging air which, with children especially, often overflowed with drollery and high spirits. In later life, however, owing to bad habits, penurious living, and his constitutional melancholia, he became a mere wreck of his earlier self[9].

In popular culture[]

In 1943, lines from Jubilate Agno were set to music by Benjamin Britten with the translated title Rejoice in the Lamb.

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • On the Eternity of the Supreme Being: A poetical essay. Cambridge, UK: J. Bentham, for W. Thurlbourn / C. Bathurst, R. Dodsley, London / J. Hildyard, York, 1750.
  • The Horatian Canons of Friendship: Being the Third Satire of the First Book of Horace Imitated (as "Ebenezer Pentweazle"). London: Printed for the author and sold by J. Newbery, 1750.
  • An Occasional Prologue and Epilogue to Othello, As it was acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, on Thursday the 7th of March 1751, by Persons of Distinction for their Diversion. London: Printed for the author and sold by Thomas Carnan, at Mr. Newbery's, 1751.
  • A Solemn Dirge, Sacred to the Memory of His Royal Highness Frederic Prince of Wales, As it was Sung by Mr. Lowe, Miss Burchell, and others, at Vaux-hall. Written by Mr. Smart. The Music compos'd by Mr. Worgan, M.B. London: Printed for T. Carnan, at Mr. Newbery's, 1751.
  • On the Immensity of the Supreme Being: A poetical essay. Cambridge, UK: J. Bentham, for W. Thurlbourn in Cambridge; C. Bathurst, J. Newbery, London; and J. Hildyard at York, 1751.
  • Poems on Several Occasions. London: Printed for the author by W. Strahan; and sold by J. Newbery, 1752.
  • On the Omniscience of the Supreme Being: A poetical essay. Cambridge, UK: J. Bentham, for W. Thurlbourn / C. Bathurst, J. Newbery, R. Dodsley, London / J. Hildyard, York, 1752.
  • The Hilliad: An epic poem. London: J. Newbery / M. Cooper, 1753.
  • [https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/works/o4987-w0930.shtml On the Power of the Supreme Being: A poetical essay. Cambridge, UK: J. Bentham, for W. Thurlbourn / C. Bathurst, J. Newbery, London / J. Hildyard, York, 1754.
  • On the Goodness of the Supreme Being: A poetical essay. Cambridge: J. Bentham, for W. Thurlbourn & T. Merrill / J. Newbery & T. Gardner, London, 1756.
  • Hymn to the Supreme Being: On recovery from a dangerous fit of illness. London: J. Newbery, 1756.
  • A Song to David. London: Printed for the author and sold by Mr. Fletcher, and by all the booksellers in town and country, 1763.
  • Poems by Mr. Smart, Viz. Reason and Imagination a Fable. Ode to Admiral Sir George Pocock. Ode to General Draper. An Epistle to John Sherratt, Esq. London: Printed for the author and sold by Mr. Fletcher and Co.; and Mr. Laurence, 1763.
  • Poems on Several Occasions. Viz. Munificence and Modesty. Female Dignity. To Lady Hussey Delaval. Verses from Catullus, after Dining with Mr. Murray. Epitaphs. On the Dutchess of Cleveland. On Henry Fielding, Esq. On the Rev. James Sheeles. Epitaph from Demosthenes. London: Printed for the author and sold by Mr. Fletcher and Co.; Mr. Davies; Mr. Flexney; Mr. Laurence; and Mr. Almon, 1763.
  • Ode to the Right Honourable the Earl of Northumberland, on his being appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Presented on the Birth-Day of Lord Warkworth; with some other pieces. London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley and sold by J. Wilkie, 1764).
  • Abimelech, an Oratorio. As It Is Performed at the Theatre Royal in the Hay-Market. London: Sold at the Theatre only, 1768.
  • Rejoice in the Lamb (edited by William Force Stead). London: Cape, 1939; New York: Holt, 1939.

Plays[]

  • Hannah: An oratorio. Written by Mr. Smart. The Musick composed by Mr. Worgan. As Perform'd at the King's Theatre in the Hay-Market. London: J. & R. Tonson, 1764.

Non-fiction[]

  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, a New Translation of the Psalms of David: To Which Will Be Added, a Set of Hymns. London, 1763.

Juvenile[]

  • The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: Done into Familiar Verse, with Occasional Applications, for the Use and Improvement of Younger Minds. London: W. Owen, 1768.
  • Hymns: For the amusement of children. London: T. Carnan, 1771.

Collected editions[]

  • Poems, of the Late Christopher Smart, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Consisting of His Prize Poems, Odes, Sonnets, and Fables, Latin and English Translations; Together with Many Original Compositions, Not included in the Quarto Edition. To Which Is Prefixed, An Account of his Life and Writings, Never before published.(2 volumes), Reading, UK: Printed and sold by Smart and Cowslade; and sold by F. Power and Co., London, 1791. Volume I, Volume II
  • A Song to David, with other poems (edited by Edmund Blunden). London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1924.
  • Collected Poems (edited by Norman Callan). (2 volumes), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1949.
  • Poems (edited by Robert Brittain). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950.
  • Selected Poems (edited by Marcus Walsh). Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1979.
  • Poetical Works. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980-1996. '
    • Volume I: Jubilate Agno (edited by Karina Williamson). 1980.
    • Volume III: A translation of the Psalms of David (edited by Marcus Walsh). 1987.
    • Volume VI: A poetical translation of the fables of Phaedrus (edited by Karina Williamson). 1996.

Translated[]

  • Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine redditum (translated by Smart). Cambridge, UK: Printed for the author by J. Bentham, 1743
    • enlarged as Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine redditum: Editio Altera. To Which Is Added Ode for Musick on Saint Cecilia's Day (Cambridge, UK: Printed by J. Bentham and sold by Robert Dodsley, London, 1746.
  • The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into English Prose; For the Use of those who are desirous of acquiring or recovering a competent Knowledge of the Latin Language (translated by Smart). (2 volumes), London: Printed for J. Newbery, 1756.
  • A Poetical Translation of the Fables of Phaedrus, with the Appendix of Gudius, And an accurate Edition of the Original on the opposite Page. To which is added, A Parsing Index for the Use of Learners (translated and edited by Smart). London: Printed for J. Dodsley and sold by J. Wilkie, and T. Merrill at Cambridge, 1765.
  • A Translation of the Psalms of David, Attempted in the Spirit of Christianity, and Adapted to the Divine Service (translated by Smart). London: Printed by Dryden Leach, for the author; and sold by C. Bathurst and W. Flexney, and T. Merril [sic] at Cambridge, UK, 1765. (includes Smart's "Gloria Patri," "Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Fasts and Festivals of the Church of England," and "A Song to David").
  • The Works of Horace, Translated into Verse: With a Prose Interpretation, for the Help of Students. And Occasional Notes (translated and edited by Smart). (4 volumes), London: Printed for W. Flexney, Mess. Johnson and Co., and T. Caslon, 1767)
    • translation of odes republished as Christopher Smart's Verse Translation of Horace's Odes: Text and Introduction (edited by Arthur Sherbo). Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 1979).

Edited[]

  • The Student; or, The Oxford and Cambridge monthly miscellany (edited by Smart & Bonnell Thornton) 1-2 (June 1750-July 1751).
  • The Midwife; or, The Old Woman's Magazine (edited by Smart as "Mary Midnight"), 1-3 (October 1750-June 1753)
    • published in book form, (3 volumes); volume 1, London: Printed for Mary Midnight and sold by T. Carnan, 1751; volumes 2-3, London: Printed for Thomas Carnan, at J. Newbery's, 1751-1753.
  • An Index to Mankind; or, Maxims Selected from the Wits of All Nations, for the Benefit of the Present Age, and of Posterity; by Mrs. Mary Midnight, Author of The Midwife, or Old Woman's Magazine. Intermix'd with Some Curious Reflections by That Lady, and a Preface by Her Good Friend, the Late Mr. Pope (editorship attributed to Smart). London: Printed for T. Carnan, at Mr. Newbery's, 1751.
  • The Nut-cracker: Containing an Agreeable Variety of Well-Season'd Jests, Epigrams, Epitaphs, & c. Collected from the Most Sprightly Wits of the Present Age .... by Ferdinando Foot, Esq., (editorship attributed to Smart). (2 volumes), London: Printed for J. Newbery, B. Collins in Salisbury; and sold by the booksellers in Great Britain and Ireland, 1751).
  • The Nonpareil; or, The Quintessence of Wit and Humour: Being a Choice Selection of Those Pieces That Were Most Admired in the Ever-to-Be Remember'd Midwife; or, Old Woman's Magazine.... To Which Is Added An Index to Mankind (editorship attributed to Smart as "Mary Midnight"). London: Printed for T. Carnan, 1757.

Anthologized[]

  • "To Miss A--n," in Lyra Britannica: Book I. Being a collection of songs, duets, and cantatas, on various subjects; compos'd by Mr. Boyce. London: J. Walsh, 1747, pp. 18-21.

Letters[]


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.[100]

Unpublished[]

One of Smart's most famous poems, Jubilate Agno, was not published until 1939, by William Force Stead.[101]

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, a 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.[86]

See also[]

Charming_18th_century_poem_about_cats_)

Charming 18th century poem about cats )

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." Essays 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
  • Dearnley, Moira. The Poetry of Christopher Smart. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1969. 332 pp.
  • 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 (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.
  • Hawes, Clement. "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.
  • Jacobs, Alan. "Diagnosing Christopher's Case: Smart's Readers and the Authority of Pentecost." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 50, 3-4 (Spring-Summer 1998): 183-204.
  • 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.
  • Roberts, Marie. British Poets and Secret Societies. Totowa: Barnes and Noble, 1986.
  • Rose, John. "All the Crumbling Edifices Must Come Down: Decoding Christopher Smart's Song to David." Philological Quarterly 84, 4 (Fall 2005): 403-24.
  • PD-icon Seccombe, Thomas (1897) "Smart, Christopher" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 52 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 386-389  Wiksource, Web, Mar. 27, 2021.
  • 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.
  • Walsh, Marcus. "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Christopher Smart and the Lexis of the Particular." Yearbook of English Studies 28 (1998): 144-62.

Notes[]

  1. John William Cousin, "Sart, Chiristopher," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 346. Wikisource, Web, Mar. 1, 2018.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Seccombe, 386.
  3. Sherbo, 6.
  4. Mounsey, 29.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Sherbo, 12.
  6. Sherbo, 25.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Sherbo, 26.
  8. Mounsey, 48.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Seccombe, 387.
  10. Sherbo p. 50
  11. Sherbo, 51.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Seccombe, 388.
  13. Guest p. 70
  14. Guest, 71.
  15. Guest, 83.
  16. Guest, 94.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Curry, 8.
  18. Seccombe, 389.
  19. Poetical Works I p. xxii
  20. Guest, 132.
  21. Guest, 140/
  22. Guest, 167.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Prose Works I, xxii
  24. Guest, 141-142.
  25. Walker, 458.
  26. Curry, 28.
  27. Hawes, 140-141.
  28. Hawes, 152.
  29. Hawes, 163.
  30. Gues, 201.
  31. Guest, 214.
  32. Mounsey, 221.
  33. 33.0 33.1 Prose Works I, xxv
  34. Walker, 450.
  35. Guest, 246.
  36. 36.0 36.1 36.2 Hawes, 167.
  37. Jacobs, 189.
  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 Curry, 57. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Curry p. 57" defined multiple times with different content
  39. Curry p. 67
  40. Curry p. 69
  41. Mounsey, 213.
  42. 42.0 42.1 Curry p. 44
  43. Guest p. 251
  44. Curry p. 74
  45. Curry p. 76
  46. Guest p. 252
  47. Hawes p. 134
  48. Curry p. 91
  49. Booth p. 71
  50. Curry p. 93
  51. Parker p. 88
  52. Parker p. 95
  53. Parker p. 84
  54. Jacobs p. 196
  55. Ennis p. 8
  56. Ennis p. 10
  57. Costa p. 296
  58. Liu p. 127
  59. Costa p. 305
  60. Walsh p. 40
  61. Katz p. 54
  62. Walsh "Something Old" p. 147
  63. Liu p. 133
  64. Davie p. 825
  65. Keymer p. 57
  66. Mahony p. 196
  67. Mahony p. 200
  68. Mahony p. 203
  69. Bertelsen p. 364
  70. Bertelsen p. 365
  71. Easton p. 198
  72. Easton p. 200
  73. Hawes "Bawdy" p. 9
  74. Liu p. 121
  75. Easton p. 234
  76. Hawes "Bawdy" p. 4
  77. Hawes "Bawdy" p. 16
  78. 78.0 78.1 Dearnley p. 46
  79. Boswell's Life of Johnson
  80. Dearnley p. 47
  81. Bertelsen p. 375
  82. Mounsey p. 226
  83. Miller p. 109
  84. Ennis p. 16
  85. Rose p. 404
  86. 86.0 86.1 86.2 Sherbo p. 221 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Sherbo p. 221" defined multiple times with different content
  87. Lane, John Masonic Records, 1717-1886. London, 1886. p. 4, 23
  88. Roberts 1986 p. 10
  89. Mounsey 2001 p. 320
  90. Roberts 1986 pp. 10–11
  91. Roberts 1986 p. 11
  92. Rose p. 405
  93. 93.0 93.1 Rose p. 407
  94. Rose p. 409
  95. Rose p. 406
  96. Rose p. 406-407
  97. 97.0 97.1 Rose p. 408
  98. 98.0 98.1 Rose p. 410
  99. Rose p. 413
  100. Christopher Smart 1722-1771, Poetry Foundation. Web, Dec. 6, 2012.
  101. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Poetical Works I xxii

External links[]

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PD-icon This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Smart, Christopher

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