My Cat Jeoffry by Christopher Smart

by Christopher Smart

Hardcover book with dust jacket

Genres: Poetry, Cats

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Christopher Smart 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.
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 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.

Reviews

[Sarah Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short poem taken from a much larger poem written by its author when he was in an institution. It is a religious song of praise for the cat. The cat a product of the divine that serves it.

[Sam Cox]

“he believed that he saw and felt the presence of God in everything, including Jeoffry.” and this, too, is the gift

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excerpt from the longer "Jubilate Agno," this poem is available online:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/pr...

Christopher "Kit" Smart wrote this poem while locked in an asylum, with a cat as his unique companion. The pain of solitary confinement and the comfort of housecats are, here, inextricable:

"For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep."

[MollyK · Rating 5 out of 5]

For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep.

*Upon reread I bump this up to all the stars!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this by reading Siobhan Carroll‘s Tor short story ‘For He Can Creep’ which is the last line of Smart’s poem ‘For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry’. The story was enjoyable and made me seek out Smart's poem, also a satisfying read.

[Angela Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book. Lovely illustrations. A poem dedicated to a much loved cat, but with obvious religious overtones.

[Simran Sakshi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In isolation, he was overthinking about a Cat. At least better than overthinking about people.

[Catalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't find the larger short story so this one will have to do. Cats fighting demons. Cats. What more do you want ❤

[Jennifer Kubenka · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excerpt from a longer work, poetry, lovely.

The illustrations are what make this edition so spectacular