Christopher Smart

Smart was put in an institution mostly due to his compulsive public praying. In the social climate of eighteenth-century London, kneeling in the street to pray was viewed more as a sign of mental illness than of genuine faith. He spent several years locked away, first at St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics and later at a private madhouse in Bethnal Green. Samuel Johnson notably challenged the diagnosis, yet Smart’s family and friends went ahead with the commitment regardless.

*Jubilate Agno* (Latin for "Rejoice in the Lamb") is a lengthy poem that Smart penned while he was confined. This piece was never intended for publication; instead, it served as a personal spiritual journal expressed in verse. Although the manuscript endured, it wasn't completely edited and published until 1939, almost 170 years after his death. Today, it's recognized as one of the most distinctive and captivating poems of the century.

Inside *Jubilate Agno*, there's a passage that starts with "For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry." This section stretches for dozens of lines, detailing the cat's daily routines, his spiritual importance, and his bond with God. It's written with precision, warmth, and genuine emotion. This part has become one of the most quoted in Smart's work, helping many modern readers discover him—readers who might not have otherwise explored his religious poetry.

*A Song to David* is frequently regarded as his best work. This formal hymn praises the biblical King David, organized into concise six-line stanzas, and it gradually builds in intensity, creating a musical quality. When it was published in 1763, some readers questioned its fervor. However, over the years, critics recognized that this intense energy is actually central to the poem — it's making a bold statement with its blend of devotion and poetic structure.

He had strong connections from the start. His friendships with Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding brought him into the heart of London's literary scene, and his journalism helped him gain public recognition. However, his writing style never fully aligned with the prevailing Augustan preference for wit, refinement, and classical restraint. His fervent religious beliefs and his tendency to adopt unconventional approaches put him at odds with what many readers anticipated from serious poetry in the 1750s and 1760s.

It took a while. The Romantics mostly overlooked him, leaving him as a footnote for much of the nineteenth century. However, the publication of *Jubilate Agno* in 1939 significantly shifted perspectives, and by the mid-twentieth century, both that poem and *A Song to David* were getting serious attention from scholars and poets. Figures like Allen Ginsberg and W.H. Auden recognized his influence or praised his work, which contributed to his growing audience.

He died in 1771 in a London debtors' prison. His later years were filled with poverty and financial struggles, and he was imprisoned for debt shortly before his death. He was forty-nine years old. It's a grim conclusion for someone who had once been a fellow at Cambridge with powerful connections, highlighting how drastically his life had deteriorated after his time in asylum confinement.