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Christopher Smart

The English poet Christopher Smart was confined to mental asylums from 1757 until 1763. Smart was admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on 6 May 1757. While in St Luke's he wrote Jubilate Agno and A Song to David, the poems considered to be his greatest works. Although many of his contemporaries agreed that Smart was "mad", accounts of his condition and its ramifications varied, and some felt that he had been committed unfairly. Smart was diagnosed as "incurable" while at St Luke's, and when they ran out of funds for his care he was moved to Mr Potter's asylum. Smart's isolation led him to abandon the poetic genres of the 18th century that had marked his earlier work, and to write religious poetry. His asylum poetry reveals a desire for "unmediated revelation", and it is possible that the self-evaluation found in his poetry represents an expression of evangelical Christianity. Late 18th-century critics felt that Smart's madness justified them in ignoring his A Song to David, but during the following century Robert Browning and his contemporaries considered his condition to be the source of his genius. It was not until the 20th century that critics reconsidered Smart's case and began to see him as a revolutionary poet. (more...)


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  • In the news

  • Asteroid 2010 TK7 is confirmed as the first Earth trojan asteroid discovered.
  • Truong Tan Sang becomes the new President of Vietnam and nominates Nguyen Tan Dung to another term as Prime Minister.
  • In cycling, Cadel Evans (pictured) wins the 2011 Tour de France, becoming the first Australian Tour de France winner.
  • Protests against rising house prices in Israel continue, with thousands gathering in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
  • Thousands of protesters encounter violence while marching toward the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in Cairo.
  • Singer Amy Winehouse is found dead at her London home.
  • On this day...

    July 29: Ólavsøka in the Faroe Islands

    The Arc de Triomphe

  • 1014Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Forces of the Byzantine Empire defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the Belasica Mountains near present-day Klyuch, Bulgaria.
  • 1693Nine Years' War: France won a pyrrhic victory over the Allied forces of William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium.
  • 1836 – The Arc de Triomphe (pictured) in Paris, commemorating those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, was formally inaugurated.
  • 1967Vietnam War: During preparation for another strike in the Gulf of Tonkin, the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was hit by a series of chain-reaction explosions caused by an unusual electrical anomaly on its flight deck, killing 134 sailors and injuring 161 others.
  • 1987 – Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to resolve the ongoing Sri Lankan Civil War.
  • More anniversaries: July 28July 29July 30

    It is now July 29, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured picture

    Kingswear, England

    The village of Kingswear, located in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon, as seen from across the River Dart in Dartmouth. It is mostly noted as being the railhead for Dartmouth, a role it continues to this day as the terminus for the the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, a seasonally operated heritage railway.

    Photo: Herbythyme

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