Jubilate Agno
Encyclopedia
Christopher Smart
Christopher Smart , also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high church Anglican, was widely known throughout...
, and was written between 1759 and 1763, during Smart's confinement for insanity in St. Luke's Hospital, Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The poem was first published in 1939, under the title Rejoice in the Lamb: A Song from Bedlam, edited by W. F. Stead from Smart's manuscript, which Stead had discovered in a private library.
Background
A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Christopher Smart, and he was admitted in St. Luke's HospitalSt Luke's Hospital for Lunatics
St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics was founded in London in 1750 for the treatment of incurable pauper lunatics by a group of philanthropic apothecaries and others. It was the second public institution in London created to look after mentally ill people, after the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlem...
on May 6, 1757 as a "Curable Patient" by his wife Anna's stepfather John Newbery. It is possible that Christopher was confined by Newbery over old debts and a poor relationship between the two. Regardless, there is evidence that an incident took place in St. James’s Park in which he "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89) and this incident may have provoked his being locked away.
During this time, Christopher was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffry and the occasional gawker. It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo… between public and private space". He had nothing else but to turn inwards and devote himself to God and his poetry. No specifics are known about Christopher Smart's day-to-day activities, and he was released from the asylum on January 30, 1763, but his poem was not to be published until 1939.
The Manuscript
Editing the work in 1950, W.H. Bond found that, "The poem was intended as a responsive reading; and that is why the Let and For sections [of the manuscript] are physically distinct while corresponding verse for verse. Smart's plan was to arrange the Let and For passages opposite one another antiphonally, following a practice of biblical Hebrew poetry, and that the present MS. represents less than half of Smart's original plan for the poem."
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." Reinforcing this view of a parallel between the two sides is the fact that Christopher Smart's influence, Robert Lowth and his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, spends a large portion of his work exploring the "parallelism" found in "Hebrew verse." In Karina Williamson's 1980 edition, she made an editorial decision and combined the "Let" and the "For" and then justified this combining the two sides to follow each other based on Bond's claims.
Using Williamson's combining of the two halves as a model, Guest claims that the "For" verses explore religion with a "personal tone" and the "Let" are "unambiguous" and deal with public matters. Jeanne Walker goes further than Guest and reinforced Bond's claims that the "Let " and "For" sections are reminiscent of the Hebrew tradition when she states that the purpose of the poems, as with the Hebrew poems, is to "iterate both present and future simultaneously, that is, they redeem time."
In Jubilate Agno, Smart describes his writing as creating "impressions". To accomplish this task, he incorporated puns and onomatopoeia in order to emphasize the theological significance of his poetic language. Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought. His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry. Smart, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language. This is most exemplified when the poet says, "For I pray the Lord Jesus to translate my MAGNIFICAT into verse and represent it" (B43), where the image of the Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
connects Christopher Smart to Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
and her praise of God before giving birth to Jesus, the future savior.
Ark
"Fragment A" of Jubilate Agno begins by combining the PatriarchsPatriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
with animals. The beginning lines of the poem state the function of this action when they read, "Let Noah and his company approach the throne of Grace, and do homage to the Ark of their Salvation" (A4). These two groups are combined together in order to combine the images of "Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
" and the "Ark of Salvation" in a manner that is similar to a "Baptismal Service
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
".
For many of the pairs there is a logical or symbolic consistency. Figures, such as Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Balaam
Balaam
Balaam is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified...
, and Daniel
Daniel
Daniel is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways...
are paired with animals mentioned directly in relationship with each other in their Biblical accounts, while others, like Isaac, are slightly more obscure are paired with animals that were involved in an important aspect of their life. Biblical priests follow the Patriarchs, and their animal companions are the :unclean: animals from Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
.
The pairing slowly breaks down when later figures, such as political leaders, enter into the poem. Along with this transformation of pairing comes insects, legendary creatures, and finally seven birds at the end of the fragment. The next section, "Fragment B" returns to the various animal pairs and, in a mixture of Old and New Testament figures, begins to rely on local animals or animals that pun off of aspects of the figure's life. One such example is a pun on Salmon and Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
as a pair for John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
. This fish image is further expanded to play off the idea that the Apostles were originally "fishermen" along with being "fishers of men". This pairs continue to go on until the poem turns to creatures from Pliny at B245.
The pairing stops at B295 when the "For" verses become the only type remaining in the fragment. However, the pairing resumes in "Fragment C" when Biblical names from the Book of Ezra
Book of Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
and the Book of Nehemiah
Book of Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws...
are combined with various plants and herbs. The last section, "Fragment D", relies on personal friends and those known by Christopher Smart to be paired with various stones, gems, minerals and a few herbs.
Science
The poem contains many references to the scientific works of John LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
and Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
. However, some have claimed that Christopher Smart was involved with science and did not care about scientific principles because he relies on mythical creatures such as the "Leucrocuta" that come from works like those of Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
. Regardless, Jubilate Agno criticizes his contemporary scientific theories, saying "Newton is ignorant for if a man consult not the WORD how should he understand the WORK?"(B220), and establishes his own natural philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
in which he reinforces God's presence in the universe.
The "new science" that rewrites Newton's laws of motion
Newton's laws of motion
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces...
to include the divine (B159-B168):
- For the grosser the particles the nearer to the sink, and the nearer to purity, the quicker the gravitation.
- For MATTER is the dust of the Earth, every atom of which is the life.
- For MOTION is the quality of life direct, and that which hath not motion, is resistance.
- For Resistance is not of GOD, but he-hath built his works upon it.
- For the Centripetal and Centrifugal forces are GOD SUSTAINING and DIRECTING.
- For Elasticity is the temper of matter to recover its place with vehemence.
- For Attraction is the earning of parts, which have a similitude in the life.
- For the Life of God is in the Loadstone, and there is a magnet, which pointeth due EAST.
- For the Glory of God is always in the East, but cannot be seen for the cloud of the crucifixion.
- For due East is the way to Paradise, which man knoweth not by reason of his fall.
The problems with Newtonian physics is, as Harriet Guest claims, "it is not based on the principles of revelation: it builds up general notions or theories from analyses of particular instances, rather than attempting to understand each instance through perceiving its relation to the whole revealed to faith." It is possible that Christopher Smart was influenced by John Hutchinson
John Hutchinson (writer)
John Hutchinson was an English theological writer.He was born at Spennithorne, Yorkshire, and served as steward in several families of position, latterly in that of the Duke of Somerset, who ultimately obtained for him the post of riding purveyor to the master of the horse, a sinecure worth about...
, Moses Principia being his major work on the subject, and it is Hutchinson that inspired Christopher to turn against Newtonian science as lacking a proper relationship with the divine. However, the poem's "new science" comes to an abrupt stop "as though," according to Curry, "[Christopher Smart] loses interest in it for a while."
Jeoffry
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
lovers - for the 74-line section wherein Smart extols the many virtues and habits of his cat, Jeoffry. To this Neil Curry remarks, "They are lines that most people first meet outside the context of the poem as a whole, as they are probably the most anthologized extract in our literature." Furthermore, Jeoffry himself is the "most famous cat in the whole history of English literature."
Christopher Smart is fond of his cat and praises his cat's relationship with God when he says (B695-B768):
- "For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
- For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
- For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his Way.
- For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
- For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer
- ...
- For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
- For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
- For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life
- ...
- For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
- For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
- For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
- For he is tenacious of his point.
- For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
- For he knows that God is his Saviour.
- For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
- For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion
- ...
- For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
- For, tho he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
- For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadrupede.
- For he can tread to all the measures upon the musick
- For he can swim for life.
- For he can creep."
His section of Jeoffry is just part of his larger desire to give a "voice" to nature, and Christopher believes that nature, like his cat, is always praising God but needs a poet in order to bring out that voice. As such, the themes of animals and language are merged in Jubilate Agno, and Jeoffry is transformed into a manifestation of the Ars Poetica tradition.
Critical interpretation
Many critics have focused on the unique language of Jubilate Agno. Christopher Smart's constant emphasis on the force of poetry in the poem takes on the qualities of the Ars PoeticaArs Poetica
Ars Poetica is a term meaning "The Art of Poetry" or "On the Nature of Poetry". Early examples of Ars Poetica by Aristotle and Horace have survived and have since spawned many other poems that bear the same name...
tradition. As such, Christopher is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem" of God. This poetic language connects Christopher to Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
and David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, but also relates him to Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
'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.
However, many critics have focused on the possible sexual images present in Jubilate Agno. The image of "horns" in Jubilate Agno is commonly viewed as a sexual image. Easton puts particular emphasis on the image of horns as a phallic image and contends that there are masculine and feminine horns throughout Christopher's poem. Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claim that the poem shows "that [Christopher Smart] had been ‘feminized’ as a cuckold." In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.
Jubilate Agno in music
The text of Jubilate Agno is the source for Rejoice in the LambRejoice in the Lamb
Rejoice in the Lamb is a festival cantata for four soloists, SATB choir, and organ composed by Benjamin Britten in 1943 and based on the poem Jubilate Agno by Christopher Smart . The poem, written while Smart was in an insane asylum, is a highly idiosyncratic and ecstatic praise and worship of God...
, a festival cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
composed by Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
in 1943 for four soloists, a Soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, Alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
, Tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
and Bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
choir, and organ. The cantata was commissioned by the Rev'd Canon Walter Hussey
Walter Hussey
Walter Hussey was an Anglican clergyman who had a great fondness for the arts, commissioning a number of musical compositions and visual art for the church as well as amassing his own collection....
for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew's, Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
.
Performances
On 27 December 2007 The London arts radio station Resonance FMResonance FM
Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station run by the London Musicians' Collective .The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and over 300 volunteer technical and production staff.Until September 2007, ResonanceFM...
broadcast the whole of Jubilate Agno. It was performed by Frank Key
Frank Key
Frank Key is a British writer and broadcaster best known for his self-published short-story collections and his long-running radio series Hooting Yard on the Air, which has been broadcast weekly on Resonance FM since April 2004...
and Germander Speedwell.