Introduction

Biography

Smart was edu­cat­ed at Pem­broke Hall, Cam­bridge (BA 1747), where he won the Sea­ton­ian prize for five years (four years in suc­cess­ion).

He moved to Lon­don in 1753, and gave some at­ten­tion to li­te­ra­ture, but ne­glect­ing both his fi­nanc­es and his health, he be­came poor and in­sane, and ended up in debt­or’s pri­son.

Smart was a ma­jor con­tri­but­or to two po­pu­lar ma­ga­zines and a friend to cul­tur­al icons like Sam­uel John­son and Hen­ry Field­ing. A high church An­gli­can, he was wide­ly known through­out London.

Works

• Poems, in two vol­umes, 1771
• A Song to Da­vid
• Jubilate Ag­no