"Where Knock is Open Wide": Christopher Smart's Transatlantic Crossings, 1950-1986 Symbiosis 12.1

Description

‘Where Knock is Open Wide’: Christopher Smart’s Transatlantic Crossings, 1950–1986 by Karina Williamson explores the remarkable influence of the 18th-century poet Christopher Smart on mid-20th-century American poets. This scholarly essay, originally published in Symbiosis: A Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, examines how Smart's works, especially his Jubilate Agno and A Song to David, resonated with American poets like Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, Theodore Roethke, and Allen Ginsberg. Williamson provides a detailed analysis of Smart's impact on the American poetic landscape, highlighting the intersections of madness, faith, and poetic innovation. This essay is an essential read for literature students, scholars, and anyone interested in the transatlantic literary dialogue between American and British poetry.