Editing Christopher Smart (section)

{{short description|English poet (1722–1771)}}
{{for|the Australian cricketer|Chris Smart}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Christopher Smart
| image            = Christopher Smart.jpg
| pseudonym        = Mrs Mary Midnight, Ebenezer Pentweazle
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1722|4|11|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Shipbourne]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1771|05|20|1722|4|11|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[King's Bench Prison]], London
| occupation       = Actor, Editor, Playwright, Poet, Translator
| movement         = [[Augustan literature|The Augustans]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Anna Maria Carnan|1752}}
| children         = 3; including [[Elizabeth Anne Le Noir|Elizabeth]]
}}

'''Christopher Smart''' (11 April 1722&nbsp;– 20 May 1771) was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines, ''The Midwife'' and ''The Student'', and a friend to influential cultural icons like [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Henry Fielding]]. Smart, a [[high church]] [[Anglican]], was widely known throughout London.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=281}}</ref>

Smart was infamous as the pseudonymous midwife "Mrs. Mary Midnight" and for widespread accounts of his father-in-law, [[John Newbery]], locking him away in a [[Psychiatric hospital|mental asylum]] for many years over Smart's supposed religious "mania". Even after Smart's eventual release, a negative reputation continued to pursue him as he was known for incurring more debt than he could repay; this ultimately led to his confinement in debtors' prison until his death.

His two most widely known works are ''[[A Song to David]]'' and ''[[Jubilate Agno]]'', which are believed to have been written during his confinement in St. Luke's Asylum, although this is still debated by scholars as there is no record of when they were written. It is even more unclear when the works were written, as ''Jubilate Agno'' was not published until 1939 when it was found in a library archive, and ''A Song to David'' received mixed reviews until the 19th century. To his contemporaries, Smart was known mainly for his many contributions in the journals ''The Midwife'' and ''The Student'', along with his famous ''Seaton Prize poems'' and his mock epic ''[[The Hilliad]]''. Although he is recognized primarily as a religious poet, his poetry includes various other themes, such as his theories on nature and his promotion of [[English nationalism]].