Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno

Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno, Ed. W. H. Bond, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1954.

Not only does it contain many phases and passages of striking beauty and power, but it also provides the key necessary to understand and explain its author’s masterwork, A Song to David. (Introduction, 11)

He was forced to give up the world, and in so doing he found himself. The surviving fragments of Jubilate Agno, written during those years, are the only records we have of the experiments and the probings of intellect and spirit with which Smart occupied his time. When he emerged from the shadows his days of imitation were over. Within a few months he published A Song to David, the mature product of his thought and labours. It was a poem unlike any he had ever published before, which is to say that it was quite outside the comfortable channels of eighteenth-century verse. It is no wonder that his contemporaries took one look at A Song to David and continued to regard its author as a madman. (15)

The critical response was discouraging, as indeed it was for all his later works. His friends were too ready to be saddened, and his enemies too eager to be pleased, by discovering signs of madness in everything he did. He quarreled with his critics, and thereafter received worse reviews than ever. It became virtually impossible for him to obtain a fair reviews than ever. It became virtually impossible for him to obtain a fair hearing, and consequently to sell his writings; his last years were an unending struggle against impossible odds. The sweetness of spirit which distinguishes much of this work becomes the more astonishing when viewed against the background of bitter circumstance which closed in upon him. (15)

The manuscript has not come down to us intact. As I shall presently show, what survives is only a series of fragments, representing somewhat less than half of the poem as Smart wrote it. Nothing is known of the fate of the missing portions. In his editions, Stead attempted to arrange the fragments chronologically; but he and those who have since worked on the poem failed to grasp the secret of its original structure. Yet it is possible to establish with a high degree of probability the original form and extent of the poem, and the present edition offers for the first time a full text of the fragments arranged as Smart evidently intended. I have dealt with the problem of reconstructing the poem elsewhere in some detail, and I shall therefore limit myself here to a briefer account. (17)

At the outset it should be emphasized that there is no evidence that Smart actually contemplated the publication of Jubilate Agno. … To begin with, it is enough to note that he never systematically revised any portion of it for the press. A few revisions and insertions do appear sporadically, and these are recorded in the textual notes to this edition, but there are many points exhibiting defects which the most careless author should have corrected in reviewing his work. (17)

In the first place, Jubilate Agno represents an attempt to adapt to English verse some of the principles of Hebrew verse as expounded by Bishop Robert Lowth in his pioneering study, De sacra poesi Hebraeorum, first published in 1753. Putting its theological content to one side, Lowth examined the Bible as a work of literature, and devoted a good deal of discussion to the rules governing its poetry. Smart certainly knew Lowth’s book, and was on familiar terms with Lowth himself; in fact, Smart’s family cited his friendship with Lowth after his release from the asylum as an indication that the poet was not altogether unacceptable in polite society. (20)

A distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry much emphasized by Lowth is its antiphonal or responsive character. Much of it was designed to be spoken or chanted by two groups; as Lowth has it, “One of the choirs sung a single verse to the other, while the other constantly added a verse in some respect correspondent to the former.” In addition to numerous examples of Biblical poetry so written, he cites passages in the Bible directly referring to the practice, such as I Samuel 18.7 and Isaiah 6.3. (20)

Moreover, he had been giving serious thought to a reformation of the Anglican liturgy. Many portion of the service in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England display these same characteristics, and readings from the Psalter are commonly performed responsively. When he later published his metrical paraphrase of the Psalms it was with the avowed intention of effecting such a reform; his version was to replace the Prayer Book version. In the same volume, it will be recalled, he published his cycle of hymns for the church year, and reprinted A Song to David, as if he hoped that it too might somehow be incorporated into the service. Since the Song is the immediate descendant of Jubilate Agno, it is more than probable that Jubilate was initially conceived as the opening move in this campaign of reform. (20)

…the title and peroration of Jubilate Agno are so closely parallel to portions of the Order for Morning Prayer and the Psalter. The poem was intended as a responsive reading; and that is why the Let and For sections are physically distinct while corresponding verse for verse. Very few of the Let verses, until we come to Section D, contain references personal to Smart; these are nearly all confined to the For verses. If, then, he visualized an actually performance of Jubilate Agno, it was apparently with himself as the second reader or responder. (20)

The composition of Jubilate Agno extended over a period of some four years, and during the time its plan and purpose underwent constant change. (21)

…in the early portions they indicate an irregular flow of composition, while towards the end he was grinding out one line (or one pair of lines) per day with monotonous regularity. Between these extremes, varying rates of compositions may be observed, and taken all together they show that Jubilate Agno began as a genuine outpouring of poetical inspiration and ended as a device with little purpose beyond recording the passage of time, as mechanical as the notches on Crusoe’s stick. Any intention of printed or pubic performance must have vanished long before Smart reached the end. (21)

It is a great misfortune that the responses to the opening Let verses have not survived. Without doubt Smart’s scheme of composition was to be seen there to best advantage. The Let verses of Fragment A, particularly near the beginning, are the most artfully composed of any in the poem and show a structural variety not to be found in the later verses. There is also some attempt to associate the Biblical personages with appropriate animals—an attempt to foredoomed to failure by the sheer scarcity of animals in the Bible, but nevertheless evidence of a logical plan. (21)

By Fragment D the deterioration is complete. Its earliest line shows the senseless pattern into which the verse has fallen: ‘Let Dew, house of Dew rejoice with Xanthenes a precious stone of an amber colour.’ The personal names are not Biblical and their selection is almost completely unsystematic. The names of natural objects are likewise chosen almost at random, and a series all in one category will be rudely broken into by irrelevant references to objects of a totally different sort. (23)

He composed this final section at the steady rate of one line (or, if my guess is correct, one pair of lines) per day. In the antepenultimate line he invokes a blessing on John Sherrat, the man whom he later credited with a major part in obtaining his release. The last line was written, it may be calculated, on or about 30 January 1763, and the ending of Jubilate Agno may be taken with a high degree of probability to coincide with the beginning of Smart’s freedom. (23)

The title of the poem is suggested by those of Ps. 66 and 100 in the Psalter of the BCP; the peroration is suggested by the liturgy and also owes something to Rev. 7.9-10. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, the palms in their hands; “And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” [note, page 30]


Rejoice in God, O ye Tongues; give the glory to the Lord, and the Lamb.
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Nations, and languages, and every Creature, in which is the breath of Life.
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Let man and beast before him, and magnify his name together. (Opening, Fragment A, verses 1-3)


Let Jacob, and his speckled Drove adore the good Shepherd of Israel. (A, 7)


Let Anah, the son of Zibion, lead a mule to the temple, and bless God, who amerces the consolation of the creature for the service of Man. (A, 12)


Let the Levites of the Lord take the Beavers of ye brook alive into the Ark of the Testimony. (A, 16, The beaver is non-Biblical, and as Stead points out, the usage of Ark in this line represents a confusion of ideas.)


Let Merari praise the wisdom and power of God with the Coney, who scoopeth the rock, and archeth in the sand. (A, 20, ‘Her cave the mining coney scoops’, S.D., 148)


Let Johoiada bless God with an Hare, whose mazes are determined for the health of the body and to parry the adversary. (A, 22, The adversary is not only the hare’s pursuer but also Satan, a connotation frequent in this poem.)


Let Joshua praise God with an Unicorn—the swiftness of the Lord, and the strength of the Lord, and the spear of the Lord mighty in battle. (A, 26)


Let Tola bless with the Toad, which is the good creature of God, tho’ his virtue is in the secret, and his mention is not made. (A, 29. And his mention is not made, i.e., in the Bible; showing that Smart was fully aware that some of his creatures were Biblical, some were not.)


Let Obed-Edom with a Dormouse praise the Name of the Lord God his Guest for increase of his store and for peace. (A, 34, Obed-Edom was entrusted with the Ark by David (2 S.6.10); it brought a blessing to the house and was thus (in Smart’s phrase) both a ‘guest’ and the source of an ‘increase of store’ S.)


Let Heman bless with the Spider, his warp and his woof, his subtlety and industry, which are good. (A, 38)


Let Solomon praise with the Ant, and give the glory to the Fountain of all Wisdom. (42)


Let Samuel, the Minister from a child, without ceasing praise with the Porcupine, which is the creature of defence and stands upon his arms continually. (A, 44)


Let Nathan with the Badger bless God for his retired fame, and privacy inaccessible to slander. (A, 45)


Let Job bless with the Worm—the life of the Lord is in Humiliation, the Spirit also and the truth. (A, 51)


Let Anna bless God with the Cat, who is worthy to be presented before the throne of grace, when he has trampled upon the idol in his prank. (A, 57, Smart was probably thinking of the Anna who was Tobias’s mother. The antics of the cat (which is non-Biblical) foreshadow the lines on Smart’s cat Jeoffry, B2.696-770)


Let Araunah bless with the Squirrel, which is a gift of homage from the poor man to the wealthy and increaseth good will. (A, 64)


Let Jabez bless with Tarantula, who maketh his bed in the moss, which he feedeth, that the pilgrimmay take heed to his way. (A, 66)


Net Nebuchadnezzar bless with the Grashopper—the pomp and vanities of the world are as the herb of the field, but the glory of the Lord increaseth for ever. (A, 69, Grashopper, with one s, is Smart’s habitual spelling, occurring also at B1.100 and D153, and it has therefore been retained. Among other appearances in the Bible, the grasshopper and Nebuchadnezzar appear in close juxtaposition in Jer.46.23 and 26.)


Let Ithiel bless with the Baboon, whose motions are regular in the wilderness, and who defendeth himself with a staff against the assailant. (A, 74, The baboon defending himself with a staff is frequent in 18th c natural history. S.)


Let Ucal bless with the Cameleon, which feedeth on the Flowers and washeth himself in the dew. (A, 75)


Let Lemuel bless with the Wolf, which is a dog without a master, but the Lord hears his cries and feeds him in the desert. (A, 76)


Let Jebus bless with the Camelopard, which is good to carry and to parry and to kneel. (A, 84)


Let Huz bless with the Polypus—lively subtlety is acceptable to the Lord.
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Let Buz bless with the Jackall—but the Lord is the Lion’s provider. (A, 84-5)


Let Juldah bless with the Silkworm—the ornaments of the Proud are from the bowels of their Betters.
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Let Susanna bless with the Butterfly—beauty hath wings, but chastity is the Cherub. (A, 91-2)


Let Malchiah bless with the Gnat—it is good for man and beast to mend their pace.
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Let Pedaiah bless with the Humble-Bee, who loves himself in solitude and makes his honey alone. (A, 96-7)


Let Zorobabel bless with the Wasp, who is the Lord’s architect, and buildeth his edifice in armour.
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Let Jehu bless with the Hornet, who is the soldier of the Lord to extirpate abomination and to prepare the way of peace. (A, 101-2)


Let Ehud rejoice with Onocrotalus, whose braying is for the glory of God, because he makes the best musick in his power. (B, 19, Onocrotalus, a large waterfowl, supposed to be the bittern or cormorant. S[mart].)


For I am a little fellow, which is intitled to the great mess by the benevolence of God my father. (B, 45, Smart was acutely conscious of his small stature; see ‘The Author Apologizes to a Lady for His being a Little Man,’ Callan, I, 112.)


Let Hur rejoice with the Water-wag-tail, who is a neighbour, and loves to be looked at. (B, 63)


Let Shephatiah rejoice with the little Owl, which is the wingged Cat. (B, 68)


Let Shobab rejoice with Evech who is of the goat kind which is meditation and pleasentry. (B, 73)



For I am possessed of a cat, surpassing in beauty, from whom I take occasion to bless Almighty God. (B1, 68)


Let Ahimaaz rejoice with the Silver-Worm who is a living mineral. (B, 88, Silver-Worm, the glow-worm.)


For grey hairs are honourable and tell every one of them to the glory of God. (B1, 83)


Let Eglah rejoice with Phalaris who is a pleasant object upon the water. (B, 102, Phalaris, a water-hen or coot. S.)


For I am the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart. (B1, 91)


For the learning of the Lord increases daily, as the sun is an improving angel. (B1, 102)


Let James rejoice with the Skuttle-Fish, who foils his foe by the effusion of his ink.
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Let John rejoice with Nautilus who spreads his sail & plies his oar, and the Lord is his pilot. (B, 125-6)


Let Thomas rejoice with the Sword-Fish, whose aim is perpetual & strength insuperable. (B, 129)


Let Stephen rejoice with Remora—The Lord remove all obstacles to his glory.
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Let Paul rejoice with the Seale, who is pleasant & faithfull, like God’s good ENGLISHMAN. (B, 135-6)


Let Onesimus rejoice with the Cod—blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus for a miraculous draught of men. (B, 158)


For the tides arethe life of God in the ocean, and he sends his angel to trouble the great DEEP.
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For he hath fixed the earth upon arches & pillars, and the flames of hell flow under it. (B1, 157-8, This notion appears to spring from the Seven Pillars of Wisdom in Prov. 9.1, as embroidered and expanded by cabbalistic and hermetic writers. In S.D. Smart construes the Seven Pillars as the seven days of the Creation.)


Let Cosam rejoice with the Perch, who is a little tyrant, because he is not liable to that, which he inflicts.
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Let Levi rejoice with the Pike—God be merciful to all dumb creatures in respect of pain.
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Let Melchi rejoice with the Char, who cheweth the cud. (B, 182-4)


Let Susanna rejoice with the Lamprey, who is an eel with a title. (B, 193)


For the rising in the BAROMETER is not effected by pressure but by sympathy.
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For it cannot be separated from the creature with which it is intimately & eternally connected. (B1, 213-4)


Let Crispus rejoice with Leviathan—God be gracious to the soul of HOBBES, who was no atheist, but a servant of Christ, and died in the Lord—I wronged him God forgive me. (B, 227, Once again Smart recalls his old Tripos poem, ‘Materies guadet vi inertiae,’ where in the Temple of Dulness he linked Hobbes with Epicurus, Spinoza, and other ‘atheists’ See Poems (1791), II, 142-3)


For IRELAND was without these creatures, till of late, because of the simplicity of the people. (B1, 223)


For all whispers and unmusical sounds in general are of the Adversary. (B1, 231)


For GOD the father Almighty plays upon the HARP of stupendous magnitude and melody.
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For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation.
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For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace.
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For this time is perceptible to man by a remarkable stillness and serenity of soul. (B1, 246-9)


Let Nereus rejoice with the Calamary—God give success to our fleets. (B, 260)


For the Aeolian harp is improveable into regularity.
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For when it is so improved it will be known to be the SHAWM.
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For it would be better if the LITURGY were musically performed.
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For the strings of the SHAWM were upon a cylinder which turned to the wind.
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For this was the spiritual musick altogether, as the wind is a spirit. (B1, 250-4)


Let Silvanus rejoice with the Black-Fish—Oliver Cromwell himself was the murderer in the Mask. (B, 274, The murdered in the mask is a reference to the masked executioner of Charles I. S. Smart evidently had pronounced Jacobite sympathies; see B1.71.)


Let Epaphroditus rejoice with Ophthalmias—The Lord increase the Cambridge collection of fossils. (B, 279)


For the devil hath most power in winter, because darkness prevails. (B2, 296)


For Justice infinitely beneath Mercy in nature and office.
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For the Devil himself may be just in accusation and punishment. (B2, 320-1)


For the Devil can set a house on fire, when the inhabitants find combustibles. (B2, 366)


For there was no rain in Paradise because of the delicate construction of the spiritual herbs and flowers. (B2, 376)


For a TOAD can dwell in the centre of a stone, because—there are stones whose constituent life is of those creatures. (B2, 412, It was still quite generally believed that toads could live in stones. The idea in this and the next line are repeated in B2.580-3)


For the Romans clipped their words in the Augustan thro idleness and effeminacy and paid foreign actors for speaking them out. (B2, 417, The romans clipped their words: the dandies minced their words and inserted or dropped the letter H. The Greek paidagogos was usual and often served as secretary or librarian. S.)


For shaving of the beard was an invention of the people of Sodom to make men look like women. (B2, 419, Virtually repeated in B2.579)


For the Ethiopian question is already is already solved in that the Blacks are the children of Cain.
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For the phenomenon of the horizontal moon is the truth—she appears bigger in the horizon because she actually is so. (B2, 425-6)


For the Poles are the children of Magog.


For there is no Height in which there are not flowers.
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For flowers have great virtues for all the senses.
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For the flower glorifies God and the root parries the adversary.
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For the flowers have their angels even the words of God’s Creation.
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For the warp & woof of flowers are worked by perpetual moving spirits.
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For flowers are good both for the living and the dead.
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For there is a language of flowers.
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For there is a sound reasoning upon all flowers.
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For elegant phrases are nothing but flowers.
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For flowers are peculiarly the poetry of Christ.
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For flowers are medicinal.
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For Flowers are musical in ocular harmony.
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For the right names of flowers are yet in heaven. God make gardners better nomenclators. (B2, 497-509)


For the harp rhimes are sing ring, string & the like.
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For the cymbal rhimes are bell well toll soul & the like.
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For the flute rhimes are tooth youth suit mute & the like. (B2, 589-91)


For Rye is food rather for fowls than men.
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For Rye-bread is not taken with thankfulness. (B2, 623-4)


For the power of some animal is predominant in every language.
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For the power and spirit of CAT is in the Greek. (B2, 627-8)


For the pleasantry of a cat at pranks is in the language of ten thousand times over. (B2, 630)


For the Greek is thrown from heaven and falls upon its feet.
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For the Greek when distracted from the line is sooner restored to rank & rallied into some form than any other. (B2, 634-5)


For his cry is in ovai, which I am sorry for. (B2, 637)


For the Moust (Mus) prevails in the Latin.
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For Edi-mus, bibi-mus, vivi-mus—ore-mus.
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For the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour. (B2, 638-40)


For two creatures the Bull & the Dog prevail in the English.
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For all the words ending in ble are in the creature. Invisi-ble, Incomprehensi-ble, ineffa-ble, A-ble. (B2, 645-6)


For can is (canis) is cause & effect a dog.
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For the English is concise & strong. Dog & Bull again. (B2, 648-50)


For the colours are spiritual.
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For WHITE is the first and the best.
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For there are many intermediate colours before you come to SILVER.
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For the next colour is a lively GREY.
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For the next colour is BLUE.
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For the next is GREEN of which there are ten thousand distinct sorts.
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For the next is YELLOW wch is more excellent than red, tho Newton makes red the prime. God be gracious to John Delap.
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For RED is the ext working round the Orange.
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For Red is of sundry sorts till it deepens to BLACK.
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For black blooms and it is PURPLE.
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For purple works off to BROWN which is of ten thousand acceptable shades.
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For the next is PALE. God be gracious to William Whitehead.
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For pale works about to White again.
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NOW that colour is spiritual appears inasmuch as the blessing of God upon all things descends in colour.
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For the blessing of health upon the human face is in colour.
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For the blessing of God upon purity is in the Virgin’s blushes. (B2, 651-66)


For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
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For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
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For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
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For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
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For then he leaps up to catch the musk, wch is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
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For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
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For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
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For this he performs in ten degrees.
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For first he looks upon his fore-paws to see if they are clean.
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For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
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For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the fore paws extended.
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For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
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For fifthly he washes himself.
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For Sixthly he rolls upon his wash.
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For Seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat. [That he may not be interrupted upon the beat, so that he will not have to interrupt his activities (by scratching)]
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For Eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
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For Ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
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For Tenthly he goes in quest of food.
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For having consider’d God and himself he will consider his neighbour.
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For if he meets antoher cat he will kiss her in kindness.
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For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
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For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
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For when his day’s work is done his business more properly begins.
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For he keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary.
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For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin & glaring eyes.
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For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
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For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
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For he is of the tribe of the Tiger.
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For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
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For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
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For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
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For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he’s a good Cat.
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For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
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For every house is incompleat without him & a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
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For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt. [the cat does not appear in the bible]
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For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
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For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
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For he is the cleanest in the use of his fore-paws of any quadrupede.
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For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
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For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
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For he is tenacious of his point.
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For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
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For he knows that God is his Saviour.
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For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
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For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
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For he is of the Lord’s poor and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually—Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
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For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus thus Jeoffry is better.
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For the diving spirit comes about his body to sustain it in compleat cat.
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For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in musick.
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For he is docile and can learn certain things.
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For he can set up with gravity which is patience upon approbation.
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For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
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For he can jump over a stick which is patience upon proof positive.
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For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
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For he can jump from an eminence into his master’s bosom.
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For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
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For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
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For the former is afraid of detection.
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For the latter refuses the charge.
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For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
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For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
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For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
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For he killed the Icneumon-rat very pernicious by land.
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for his ears are so acute that they sting again.
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For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
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For by stroaking of him I have found out electricity.
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For I perceived God’s light about him both wax and fire.
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For the Electrical fire is the spiritual substance, which God sends from heaven to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
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For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
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For, tho he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
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For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadrupede.
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For he can tread to all the measures upon the musick.
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For he can swim for life.
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For he can creep. (B2, 696-770)


For Five is not so good in itself but works well in combination.
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For Five is not so good in itself as it consists of two and three. (C, 28-9)


For I prophecy that there will be more mercy for criminals.
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For I prophecy that there will be less mischief concerning women.
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For I prophecy that they will be cooped up and kept under due controul.
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For I prophecy that there will be full churches and empty play-houses. (C, 65-9)


For I prophecy that men will live to a much greater age, this ripens apace God be praised.
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For I prophecy that they will grow taller and stronger.
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For degeneracy has done a great deal more than is in general imagined.
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For men in David’s time were ten feet high in general.
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For they had degenerated also from the strength of their fathers. (C, 89-92)


For I prophecy that the Reformation will make way in France when Moab is made meek by being well drubbed by the English.
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For I prophecy that the Reformation will make great way by means of the Venetians. [Here Smart is thinking of the strained relations between the Venetian Republic and the Papacy. S.]
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For the Venetian will know that the Englishman is his brother.
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For the Liturgy will obtain in all languages.
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For England is the head and not the tail.
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For England is the head of Europe in the spirit.
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For Spain, Portugal and France are the heart.
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For Holland and Germany are the middle.
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For Italy is one of the legs. (C, 97-105)


For I prophecy that all Englishmen will wear their beards again.
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For a beard is a good step to a horn.
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For when men get their horns again, they will delight to go uncovered.
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For it is not good to wear any thing upon the head.
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For a man should put no obstacle between his head and the blessing of Almighty God.
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For a hat was an abomination of the heathen. Lord have mercy upon the Quakers.
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For the ceiling of the house is an obstacle and therefore we pray on the house-top. (C, 130-136)


Let Dew, house of Dew rejoice with Xanthenes a precious stone of an amber colour. (D, 10, The choice of names in this fragment appears to be almost completely random and unsystematic, and usually they have no real association with the natural objects to which they are linked. Some are names out of Smart’s mpast, like Richard Dongworth or Lord Vane; some were subscribers to the translation of the Psalms, for which the subscription-books were currently open; some were suggested merely by jingles, like Hook and Crook, Bracegirlde and Girdlestone, Graves and Tombs, or more subtly, Pelham and Holles.)


Let Freeman, house of Freeman rejoice with Carcinias a precious stone the colour of a sea-crab. The Lord raise the landed interest. (D, 17)


Let Fage, house of Fage rejoice with the Fiddlefish—Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus in the fish’s mouth. (D, 20)


Let Osborne, house of Osborne rejoice with Lithizontes a sort of carbuncle. God be gracious to the Duke of Leeds & his family. (D, 30, Osborne, the family name of the Dukes of Leeds.)


Let Holles, house of Holles rejoice with Pyriasis a black stone that burns by friction. The Lord kindle amongst Englishmen a sense of their name. (D, 40)


Let Egerton, house of Egerton rejoice with Sphragis green but not pellucid. (D, 45)


Let Johnson, house of Johnson rejoice with Omphalocarpa a kind of bur. God be gracious to Samuel Johnson. (D, 74, Samuel Johnson had not yet become the Doctor; the date of his visit to Smart in the asylum is not knon, but it may well have occurred near this time (August-September 1762), prompting this entry. S.)