Jubilate Agno - Critical Interpretation

Critical Interpretation

Many critics have focused on the unique language of Jubilate Agno. Christopher Smart's constant emphasis on the force of poetry in the poem takes on the qualities of the Ars Poetica tradition. As such, Christopher is attempting to develop a poetic language that will connect him to the "one true, eternal poem" of God. This poetic language connects Christopher to Orpheus and David, but also relates him to Adam's "onomathetic" tradition, or the idea that names hold significant weight in the universe and that Adam was able to join in with creation by naming objects.

However, many critics have focused on the possible sexual images present in Jubilate Agno. The image of "horns" in Jubilate Agno is commonly viewed as a sexual image. Easton puts particular emphasis on the image of horns as a phallic image and contends that there are masculine and feminine horns throughout Christopher's poem. Hawes picks up this theme and goes on to claim that the poem shows "that had been ‘feminized’ as a cuckold." In response to this possible cuckolding, Jubilate Agno predicts a misogynistic future while simultaneously undermining this effort with his constant associations to female creation.