Editing Christopher Smart (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Christopher Smart was born in [[Shipbourne]] in Kent, England on the [[Fairlawne]] estate of [[William Vane, 1st Viscount Vane|William, Viscount Vane]], younger son of [[Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard|Lord Barnard]] of [[Barnard Castle]].<ref name="Mounsey p. 22">{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=22}}</ref> He was, according to his nephew, "of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period".<ref>{{harvnb|Hunter|1791|p=vi}}</ref>  He was baptized in [[Wrotham]] parish on 11 May 1722. His father was Peter Smart, [[Steward (office)|steward]]<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=4}}</ref> or [[Bailiff#England .26 Wales|bailiff]]<ref name="Mounsey p. 22" /> of Fairlawne. His mother, Winifred (née Griffiths) was from [[Radnorshire]], Wales.<ref name="Sherbo p. 5">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=5}}</ref> Before giving birth to Christopher, Winifred had two daughters, Margaret and Mary Anne.<ref name="Sherbo p. 5" />

During his younger years, Fairlawne was the residence of [[Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard]] and Lady Barnard, who bequeathed £200 to Smart.<ref name="Sherbo p. 6">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=6}}</ref> He supposedly received this sum due to his father's closeness to the Vane family, Smart being named after Christopher Vane, and the young boy being considered "the pride of Fairlawn".<ref name="Sherbo p. 6" /><ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=27}}</ref> In 1726, three 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.<ref name="Sherbo p. 6" /> From the age of four until eleven, he spent much time around the farms, but did not participate, leading to speculation that he had had asthma attacks.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=29}}</ref> However, not all scholars agree that he was a "sickly youth".<ref name="Sherbo p. 12">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=12}}</ref> The only written record of events during his childhood comes from his writing of a short poem, at the age of four, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of a twelve-year-old girl.<ref name="Sherbo p. 12" />

While at Hall-Place, Smart was sent to the local [[Maidstone Grammar School]] where he was taught by [[Charles Walwyn]], a scholar from [[Eton College]] who had received an [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA]] from [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in 1696.<ref name="Sherbo p. 9">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=9}}</ref> It was here that Smart received an intensive education in Latin and Greek.<ref name="Sherbo p. 9" /> He did not complete his education at Maidstone however, as his father died on 3 February 1733, and his mother took Smart and his siblings to live near relatives in Durham after selling off a large portion of the estate to pay off Peter Smart's debts.<ref name="Sherbo p. 19">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=19}}</ref>

Smart then attended [[Durham School]], where the Reverend Mr. Richard Dongworth was headmaster; it is not known whether he lived with his uncle, John Smart, or with a school master.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=13}}</ref> He spent vacations at [[Raby Castle]], which was owned by [[Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington]], the grandson of Christopher Vane.<ref name="Sherbo p. 16">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=16}}</ref> Henry Vane and his wife Grace, sister to William and Henrietta Fitzroy the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, had four children, Henry, Frederick, Anne, and Mary. They were only a few years younger than Smart and became playmates, with Anne and Henry "pairing off" with Christopher and his sister Margaret respectively.<ref name="Sherbo p. 16" /> Although nothing resulted from the match, Anne has been traditionally described as being his "first love".<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=17}}</ref> During his time with the Vane family, Smart dedicated many poems to Henrietta, the Duchess of Cleveland.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=40}}</ref> It was his closeness with the Vane family along with his skill for learning that encouraged Henrietta to allow him a pension of 40 pounds yearly, continued by her husband after her death in 1742.<ref name="Sherbo p. 19" /> This allowed Smart to attend [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=22}}</ref>

===College===
[[Image:Christopher Smart Pembroke portrait.JPG|thumb|right|Christopher Smart's Pembroke portrait showing a letter sent from [[Alexander Pope]]]]
Smart was admitted to Pembroke College on 20 October 1739 as a [[sizar]] under Leonard Addison.<ref>{{acad|id=SMRT739C|name=Smart, Christopher}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=24}}</ref> Although it is unclear why he chose Pembroke College, Addison was named in Peter Smart's trust deed (1729).<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=43}}</ref> As a sizar, he occasionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=25}}</ref> On 12 July 1740, he was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him six pounds a year until he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree.<ref name="Sherbo p. 26">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=26}}</ref> In addition to this income, he was also granted four pounds a year for scholarship.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=48}}</ref> Although he was successful academically, he began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle while at the college.<ref name="Sherbo p. 26" />

During his time at Pembroke, Smart borrowed numerous books spanning the fields of literature, religion, and science.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=44}}</ref> These works helped when he wrote the three "Tripos Verse" at the end of each year.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=47}}</ref> These poems were written in Latin and they, along with his other Latin poems like his translation of [[Alexander Pope]]'s ''Ode on St. Cecilia's Day'', led to him being awarded the [[John Craven, 1st Baron Craven of Ryton|Craven scholarship]] for classics on 10 June 1742, which paid £25 a year for 14 years.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=49}}</ref> These scholarships, combined with his becoming a [[fellow]] in 1743, justified Smart calling himself "Scholar of the University".<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=31}}</ref>

In 1743, Smart published his translation of Pope's ''Ode on St. Cecilia's Day'' as ''Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine Redditum'' and paid for the publication himself.<ref name="Mounsey p. 50">{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=50}}</ref> With this translation, he wanted to win Pope's favor and translate Pope's ''Essay on Man'', but Pope rejected the idea and, after a lettered response and a possible meeting between the two, Smart translated Pope's ''An Essay on Criticism'' (''De Arte Critica'') instead.<ref name="Mounsey p. 50" /> The initial letter sent from Pope recommending the future translation was prized by Smart.<ref name="Sherbo p. 33">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=33}}</ref> In response to this letter and his budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke Fellows honoured 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.<ref name="Sherbo p. 33" /><ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=51}}</ref>

In October 1745, Smart was elected [[Praelector]] of Philosophy, which paid one pound a year, and made one of three Keepers of the Common Chest.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=36}}</ref> The next year, on 11 February 1746, he became a Master of Arts and was later elected on 10 October 1746, to Praelector of Philosophy, Praelector of Rhetoric, and Keeper of the Common Chest.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=42}}</ref> However, he had run up more debt of over twice his annual income, and he was not re-elected in 1747 to the Praelectorship and was denied his control over the Common Chest accounts.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|pp=44–45}}</ref> However, he was made a "Preacher before the Mayor of Cambridge" at the college under the title "Concionatori Coram Praetore oppidano", and his modest living during this year allowed him to regain Praelectorship in Philosophy along with being made a catechist, which suggests that he was ordained in the [[Anglican]] church.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=45}}</ref>

In 1746, Smart became tutor to [[John Delaval, 1st Baron Delaval|John Hussey Delaval]], but this was abruptly cancelled because Delaval was removed from Pembroke after a variation of broken rules and mischief.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|pp=54–55}}</ref> After recovering from this, Smart returned to studying. In April 1747, a comedy he wrote just months before, ''A Trip to Cambridge'', or ''The Grateful Fair'', was performed in Pembroke College Hall, with many parts, including female roles, played by Smart himself.<ref name="Sherbo p. 53-54">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|pp=53–54}}</ref>  The prologue was printed in ''The Cambridge Journal Weekly Flying-Post'', which claimed that the play received "Universal Applause".<ref name="Sherbo p. 54">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=54}}</ref>

During his final years at Pembroke, Smart was writing and publishing many poems.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=50}}</ref> On 9 January 1748, there were three 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.<ref name="Sherbo p. 51">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=51}}</ref> [[Thomas Gray]], on 17 March 1747, referred to this work as Smart's "Collection of Odes".<ref name="Sherbo p. 51" /> This collection was not printed in 1748 but was delayed until 1752, and was re-titled ''Poems on Several Occasions''.<ref name="Sherbo p. 51" />

Between 1740 and 1746, he was introduced to Harriot Pratt, and he began to write poetry about her.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=46}}</ref> By 1749, he was in love with her and wrote to his friend [[Charles Burney]] (father of [[Fanny Burney]]), "I am situated within a mile of my Harriote & Love has robd Friendship of her just dues&nbsp;... There was a great musical crash at Cambridge, which was greatly admired, but I was not there, being much better pleased with hearing my Harriote on her spinnet & organ at her ancient mansion", suggesting that he was living permanently in Market Downham, London.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=48}}</ref> Although he wrote many poems dedicated to Harriot, his poem "The Lass with the Golden Locks" (1752) claims that he was done with both Harriot, Polly, and other women.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=49}}</ref> The "lass with the golden locks" who replaced Smart's previous fancies was Anna Maria Carnan.<ref>''Poetical Works'' iv p. xxiii</ref> Anna would be Smart's future wife and she was the stepdaughter of [[John Newbery]], Smart's future publisher.<ref name="Sherbo p. 87">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=87}}</ref>

=== Influence ===
While Smart was prolific in his own right, he was influenced by many of his contemporaries, as well as those that came before him. His primary influences being [[Alexander Pope]], [[Virgil]] and [[Horace]].<ref name="Devlin 1961" /> Pope's influence can especially be seen in Smart's poem ''[[The Hilliad]],'' a play on Pope's poem ''[[The Dunciad]].''

Smart also left his mark on writers after him. In his book ''Poor Kit Smart,'' Christopher Devlin writes of Smart's influence "Robert Browning, however, D. G. Rossetti and Sir Francis Palgrave proclaimed aloud that this madman's ''Song to David'' was along the masterpieces of the English language."<ref name="Devlin 1961" />

===London===
Although Smart seemed to turn his life around at Pembroke, he slowly abandoned the college for London. During 1749, he listed himself on Pembroke's "Liber Absentiae" and would occasionally return to Pembroke throughout 1749 and 1750.<ref name="Sherbo p. 57">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=57}}</ref> Because of his relationship with those at Pembroke, he was allowed to keep his name in the college's records, which allowed him to participate and be charged as a member of the college.<ref name="Sherbo p. 57" /> By 1750 he was living near St. James's Park and was busy familiarising himself with [[Grub Street]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|pp=58–59}}</ref> It was this year that Smart developed a business relationship with [[John Newbery]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=59}}</ref> He worked for Newbery and married his stepdaughter in 1752.<ref name="Price, Martin, 1920-2010 1973">{{harvnb|Price|1973}}</ref> It is unknown how Smart and Newbery met, but Smart's daughter claimed Charles Burney introduced the two.<ref name="Sherbo p. 62">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=62}}</ref> Newbery was looking for a contributory to his ''The Midwife'' and ''The Student'' magazines, and it is possible that Smart's winning of Cambridge's [[Seatonian Prize]] on 25 March 1750 brought his poetic abilities to Newbery's attention.<ref name="Sherbo p. 62" />

The Seatonian Prize was a contest for one English poem each year on the topic of "the Perfections or Attributes of the Supreme Being" and the prize would be the "Rent of the [Kislingbury, Northamptonshire] estate"<ref name="Sherbo p. 62" /> It was established by the will of Thomas Seaton, an "Anglican divine and hymn writer".<ref>{{harvnb|Curry|2005|p=7}}</ref> Smart wrote in the "poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse.<ref name="Curry p. 8" /> In 1750, the poem he won the prize with was ''On the Eternity of the Supreme Being''.<ref name="Sherbo p. 62" /> The prize was only worth 17 pounds each year before 7 pounds were deducted for the publication of the poem.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=67}}</ref> However, after the publication of the poem, Smart became a regular contributor in ''The Student''.<ref name="Sherbo p. 68">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=68}}</ref>

''The Student'', before Smart's work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays.<ref name="Sherbo p. 68" /> However, once he joined and began writing under many pseudonyms, the magazine became filled with satire, parody, and humorous essays and poems.<ref name="Sherbo p. 68" /> Along with him composing 15 of the essays and the majority of the poems published in the two volumes of the magazine, he decided to append three of ''The Inspector'', a "humorous news report", to the second of the volumes.<ref name="Sherbo p. 69">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=69}}</ref> These reports included many "puff pieces" promoting Smart's works along with various stories written by his friends and associates, including the famous writers/poets [[Henry Fielding]], Samuel Johnson, [[William Collins (poet)|William Collins]], and [[Tobias Smollett]].<ref name="Sherbo p. 69" /> However, this was not the only important publication produced by him during this time.

During his time in London, Smart's work included ''Mother Midnight's Oratory'', a series of "wild tavern entertainments" to which Smart acted as writer and performer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2018 |title=Christopher Smart - Intro |url=https://allenginsberg.org/2018/04/monday-march-26/ |access-date=12 December 2019 |website=The Allen Ginsberg Project |language=en-US}}</ref>

===''The Midwife''===
[[Image:The Midwife titlepage.JPG|thumb|right|Title page of ''The Midwife'']]
''The Midwife'', first published on 16 October 1751 and lasting until April 1753, was produced primarily by Smart while he worked on ''The Student''.<ref name="Sherbo p. 70">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=70}}</ref> This magazine was popular enough to be published in four editions.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=99}}</ref> To hide his identity for practical and humorous reasons, he adopted the persona of a midwife, also known as a "Mrs. Midwife" in slang, and called this persona "Mrs. Mary Midnight".<ref name="Sherbo p. 70" />

When his poem "Night Piece" was attacked by [[William Kenrick (writer)|William Kenrick]] in ''Kapelion, or Poetical Ordinary'', possibly out of a prearranged publicity stunt, Smart used ''The Midwife'' in December 1750, to attack back at Kenrick and promised an ''Old Woman's Dunciad'' to be written against the other poet.<ref name="Sherbo p. 72">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=72}}</ref> However, Kenrick beat Smart to the use of the title and printed his own in January 1751.<ref name="Sherbo p. 72" /> This feud lasted as attacks published in a few issues of ''The Midwife'', but it soon died out when Smart focused his attention to writing a prologue and epilogue for a production of ''Othello'' and using the magazine to promote it.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=73}}</ref>

His attention slowly shifted away from ''The Midwife'' when he wrote for, and won, the "Seatonian Prize" for his ''On the Immensity of the Supreme Being'' and when he began working with Newbery's children's magazine, ''The Lilliputian Magazine''.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|pp=74–75}}</ref> However, Smart returned to this character full force when he established ''The Old Woman's Oratory; or Henley in Petticoats'' in December 1751.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=75}}</ref> The ''Oratory'' included Smart playing as Mrs. Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=119}}</ref> The ''Oratory'' was successful, and was completely redone on 21 January 1752.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=128}}</ref> However, not everyone enjoyed the show, and Horace Walpole described the performance as "the lowest buffoonery in the world even to me who am used to my uncle Horace."<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=80}}</ref> Late in 1752, Smart finished and published a collection of his works as ''Poems on Several Occasions'', which resulted in the end of the ''Oratory'' and ''The Midwife''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|pp=130–131}}</ref>

===Later career===
[[Image:The HopGarden illustration.JPG|thumb|right|Illustration of ''[[The Hop-Garden]]'']]
In 1752, Christopher Smart was slowly dragged into a large "[[Paper War of 1752–1753|paper war]]" that involved many of London's writers.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|pp=131–132}}</ref> After the publication of ''Poems on Several Occasions'', including ''[[The Hop-Garden]]'', in June 1752, [[John Hill (author)|John Hill]] launched a major attack upon Smart's poetry.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=131}}</ref> Smart responded with his mock-epic ''[[The Hilliad]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=134}}</ref>  Before the release of Smart's poem, Hill was engaged in a large literary battle between various members of Grub Street's and London's writing community, especially [[Henry Fielding]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bertelsen|1999|p=135}}</ref>  This battle may have been for publicity only and lasted over many months before Smart involved himself.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertelsen|1999|p=143}}</ref>  However, even with such a late entry, his ''Hilliad'' was the "loudest broadside" of the war.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertelsen|1999|p=144}}</ref>

Smart was incurring numerous debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family. He is said to have married Anna-Maria Carnan around 1752 or 1753, although the exact date is unknown; they initially kept their marriage a secret so Smart could continue to get money from his Cambridge fellowship, which ended shortly thereafter.<ref name="Devlin 1961">{{harvnb|Devlin|1961}}</ref> By 1754, the pair already had two daughters, Marianne (3 May 1753) and [[Elizabeth Anne Le Noir|Elizabeth Anne]] (27 October 1754).<ref name="Sherbo p. 100">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=100}}</ref>  As a married man, he could no longer remain enrolled at Pembroke and collect his scholarship money when his marriage and children were made apparent to the heads of the college.<ref name="Sherbo p. 100" />  Newbery allowed Smart, along with his wife and their children, to live at [[Canonbury House and Canonbury Tower|Canonbury House]], Islington.<ref name="Sherbo p. 87" /> Although Newbery had a strong reputation for charity, he was determined to have complete control over his writers.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=149}}</ref>  It is likely that such an attitude combined with monetary problems led to a rift forming between the two by 1753.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=157}}</ref>

Between 1753 and 1755, Smart published or republished at least 79 works.<ref>{{harvnb|Mahony|Rizzo|1984}}</ref> However, even if he received money from each of these publications, they were unable to provide enough of an income to support a family, especially to his standard of living.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=159}}</ref> While he was producing a poem each year for the ''Seatonian Prize'', this amounted to very little of his writing; he was forced into a life of "hack work", which was described by his contemporary, Arthur Murphy, as "a bookseller is his only friend, but for that bookseller, however liberal, he must toil and drudge."<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=167}}</ref> In December 1755, he finished ''The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into English Prose'', a translation of [[Horace]], which was widely used but brought him little profit.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=102}}</ref>

He signed a 99-year contract in November 1755 to produce a weekly paper entitled ''The Universal Visitor or Monthly Memorialist'' for Thomas Gardner and Edmund Allen.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=104}}</ref> However, the strain of publishing caused Smart to have a seizure, and he was unable to keep up with the publishing of the paper.<ref name="Sherbo p. 105">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=105}}</ref> Allen was a friend of [[Samuel Johnson]], and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Smart, who contributed to the magazine in order to help Smart keep up with his contract.<ref name="Sherbo p. 105" />  In March 1756, Newbery published, without Smart's authority, his final "Seatonian Prize" poem, ''On the Goodness of the Supreme Being'', and later, on 5 June, he published, again without Smart's authority, his ''Hymn to the Supreme Being'', a poem which thanked God for recovery from an illness of some kind, possibly a "disturbed mental state".<ref>{{harvnb|Curry|2005|p=5}}</ref>  The ''Hymn to the Supreme Being'' marks the time in Smart's life after the mysterious "fit" was resolved and the beginning of his obsession with religion and his praying "without ceasing".<ref name="Curry 6 7">{{harvnb|Curry|2005|pp=6–7}}</ref>

===Asylum confinement===
{{main|Christopher Smart's asylum confinement}}
[[Image:Amusement of Children three Foot High frontispiece.JPG|thumb|A [[caricature]] of Christopher Smart in [[Tommy Tagg]]'s book published by [[John Newbery]]]]

A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Smart, and he was admitted to [[St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics]] on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient".<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=112}}</ref> It is possible that Smart was confined by Newbery over old debts and a poor relationship between the two; Newbery had previously mocked Smart and his immorality in his ''A Collection of Pretty Poems for the Amusement of Children six Foot High.''<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=181}}</ref> Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery's admittance of Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness".<ref name="Mounsey p. 200">{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=200}}</ref> However, there is also evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St. James's Park in which Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company" (''Jubilate Agno'' B89).<ref name="Mounsey p. 200" />

It is not known what exactly happened during his confinement, but Smart did work on two of his most famous poems, ''Jubilate Agno'' and ''A Song to David''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=202}}</ref> What is known is that he may have been in a private madhouse before St Luke's and that he was later moved from St Luke's to Mr. Potter's asylum until his release.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=203}}</ref> At St Luke's, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and was moved to Mr. Potter's asylum for monetary reasons.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|pp=203–204}}</ref> During this time, Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=135}}</ref> His isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote ''Jubilate Agno''.<ref>{{harvnb|Guest|1989|p=123}}</ref> Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, his poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation".<ref>{{harvnb|Hawes|1996|p=140}}</ref> There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Smart and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects him to the Christian God.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawes|1996|p=141}}</ref>

Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffry and the occasional gawker.<ref>{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=130}}</ref> It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo&nbsp;… between public and private space".<ref>{{harvnb|Hawes|1996|p=155}}</ref> In London, only a few of his works were still being published.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=238}}</ref> However, not everyone viewed Smart's "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended him, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times.<ref>{{harvnb|Keymer|2003|p=190}}</ref> A century later, [[Robert Browning]] remarked that ''A Song to David'' was great because Smart was mad, and that the poem allowed him to rank alongside of Milton and Keats.<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobs|1998|p=193}}</ref>

He was discharged from St. Luke's asylum uncured after one year. He was thought to be confined elsewhere for the following seven years, during which time he wrote ''Jubilate Agno''.<ref name="Price, Martin, 1920-2010 1973" /> Elizabeth, his daughter, claimed: "He grew better, and some misjudging friends who misconstrued Mr Newbery's great kindness in placing him under necessary & salutary restriction which might possibly have eventually wrought a cure, invited him to dinner and he returned to his confinement no more."<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=239}}</ref> Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Smart did leave the asylum on 30 January 1763.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=240}}</ref>

===Final years===
''A Song to David'' was printed on 6 April 1763 along with a proposal for a new translation of the ''Psalms''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|pp=247–248}}</ref> It is said that Smart composed the poem during his second period of confinement to an asylum during an episode of religious mania<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1927}}</ref> The poem was received harshly, which was possibly just thinly veiled personal attacks over Smart being freed from the asylum just weeks before.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=249}}</ref> However, Kenrick, Smart's former rival, praised the poem in one of his own printed on 25 May 1763.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=250}}</ref> Also, John Lockman followed on 21 June 1763, with his own poem in praise of Smart's and [[Samuel Boyce]] followed this on 15 July 1763 with another.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=252}}</ref> Along with this support, Smart responded to his critics at the ''Critical Review''; in regards to Smart's response, the ''Critical Review'' claimed that they would "say no more of Mr. Smart".<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=257}}</ref>

After ''A Song to David'', he tried to publish a collection of his ''Psalms'' translations, and Newbery sought to ruin him by hiring James Merrick to produce his own translations.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=260}}</ref> Newbery then hired Smart's new publisher, James Fletcher, which in turn forced Smart to find a new publisher, delaying the printing of his ''Psalms''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=261}}</ref> Finally, on 12 August 1765, he printed ''A Translation of the Psalms of David'', which included ''Hymns and Spiritual Songs'' and a second edition of ''A Song to David''.<ref>''Poetical Works'' III p. xiii</ref> This work was criticised by Tobias Smollett who was working with Newbery at the time, and Newbery's edition by Merrick was constantly compared with Smart's.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=267}}</ref> However, modern criticism has received Smart's version in a more favourable light.<ref>{{harvnb|Davie|1990|p=828}}</ref> While working on this project, he was also working on a translation of the ''Phaedrus'' and a verse translation of ''Horace''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=268}}</ref> His verse ''Horace'' was published in July 1767 including a preface in which he attacked Newbery, but the attack was in vain because Newbery died soon after.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=269}}</ref>

On 20 April 1770, Smart was arrested for debt.<ref>{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=271}}</ref> On 11 January 1771, he was tried by Lord Mansfield, the gentleman who originally introduced Smart to Alexander Pope, and he was soon recommended to the [[King's Bench Prison]].<ref name="Mounsey p. 272">{{harvnb|Mounsey|2001|p=272}}</ref> Although he was in prison, Charles Burney purchased the "Rules" (allowing him some freedom), and Smart's final weeks may have been peaceful although pathetic.<ref>{{harvnb|Rizzo|1984|p=515}}</ref> In his final letter, Smart begged for money from Rev. Mr. Jackson, saying: "Being upon recovery from a fit of illness, and having nothing to eat, I beg you to send me two or three shillings which (God willing) I will return, with many thanks, in two or three days."<ref>{{harvnb|Dearnley|1969|p=11}}</ref> On 20 May 1771, Smart died from either liver failure or pneumonia shortly after completing his final work, ''Hymns, for the Amusement of Children''.<ref name="Mounsey p. 272" />

===Death===
In response to his uncle's death, Christopher Hunter wrote, "I trust he is now at peace; it was not his portion here."<ref>{{harvnb|Curry|2005|p=103}}</ref> Fanny Burney, in her journal, wrote:

{{blockquote|But now I speak of authors, let me pay the small tribute of regret and concern due to the memory of poor Mr. Smart, who died lately in the King's Bench Prison; a man by nature endowed with talents, wit, and vivacity, in an eminent degree; and whose unhappy loss of his sense was a public as well as private misfortune. I never knew him in his glory, but ever respected him in his ''decline'', from the fine proofs he had left of his better day, and from the account I have heard of his youth from my father, who was then his intimate companion; as, of late years, he has been his most active and generous friend, having raised a kind of fund for his relief, though he was ever in distress. His intellects, so cruelly impaired, I doubt not, affected his whole conduct.<ref name="Sherbo p. 265">{{harvnb|Sherbo|1967|p=265}}</ref>}}

On 22 May 1771, a jury of twelve fellow inmates of the King's Bench Prison declared that Smart "upon the Twentieth day of May Instant died a Natural Death within the Rules of the Prison."<ref name="Sherbo p. 265" /> He was buried on 26 May in [[St Paul's Covent Garden]].<ref name="Sherbo p. 265" />