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Poetic Theory, Enlightenment, British History - Pre-17th Century - General & Miscellaneous
Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment by Clement Hawes — book cover

Christopher Smart and the Enlightenment

by Clement Hawes
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Overview

In this new collection, an impressive group of critics and literary scholars reappraises Smart’s legacy and his remarkable impact on twentieth-century poetry. Often considered a minor poet, notable mainly for his reputed madness, his dazzling "Song to David," and his friendship with Samuel Johnson, Smart has begun to emerge as a figure of interest as the demand has grown for historically nuanced studies of the Enlightenment and its values. This volume offers a finely historicized approach to Smart’s work, highlighting the markedly transitional quality of the eighteenth-century moment as regards the Enlightenment project. The book also analyzes the generative impact of Smart on modern poetry and music, demonstrating the reach of Smart’s contemporary resonance.

About the Author, Clement Hawes

Clement Hawes is Associate Professor of English at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

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Editorials

Booknews

New perspectives on the 18th-century British poet, long considered of minor importance but now gaining interest as a window into the period, and especially its transitional nature. The 14 topics include syntax and paradigm in , poetics, the Papers Wars of 1752-53, madness and Samuel Johnson, and 20th-century encounters with Smart. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Robert Wells

I have a particular debt to William Kumbier's essay here, a sensitive and illuminating analysis of this (so I discovered) staggeringly beautiful masterpiece, since it was a work I didn't previously know.
Times Literary Supplement

Book Details

Published
September 1, 1999
Publisher
New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999.
Pages
320
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780312213695

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