Jubilate Agno
A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Christopher Smart, and he was admitted in St. Luke's Hospital on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient" by his wife Anna's stepfather John Newbery.
[10] Using Williamson's combining of the two halves as a model, Guest argues that the "For" verses explore religion with a "personal tone" and the "Let" are "unambiguous" and deal with public matters.
[15] Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought.
[20] 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).
[24] The last section, "Fragment D", relies on personal friends and those known by Smart to be paired with various stones, gems, minerals and a few herbs.
[16] However, some have claimed that Smart was uninvolved with science and did not care about scientific principles since, for example, he relies on mythical creatures such as the "Leucrocuta" that come from pagan pseudo-scientific works like those of Pliny the Elder.
[26] Moreover, Jubilate Agno criticizes contemporary scientific theories, saying "Newton is ignorant for if a man consult not the WORD how should he understand the WORK?
This "new science"[16] that Smart seems to express in his poetry rewrites Newton's laws of motion to include the divine (B159–B168):[27] The problem with Newtonian physics according to Smart, Harriet Guest argues, is that "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.
[34] The themes of animals and language are thus merged in Jubilate Agno, and Jeoffry is transformed into a manifestation of the Ars Poetica tradition.
Smart's constant emphasis on the force of poetry in the poem takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica tradition.
"[41] In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.
[42] The text of Jubilate Agno is the source for Rejoice in the Lamb, a festival cantata composed by Benjamin Britten in 1943 for four soloists, a soprano, alto, tenor and bass choir, and organ.
The cantata was commissioned by the Reverend Canon Walter Hussey for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew's Church, Northampton.
