Cat-erwauling. Quirijn de Lang as Tom Cat and Wallis Giunta as the Child in Opera Northâs staging of LâEnfant et Les Sortilèges by Ravel. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/the Guardian
Is there a choral singer anywhere who doesnât know Christopher Smartâs cat, Jeoffry? Smartâs feline companion is the subject of 74 enchanting lines of his visionary poem Jubilate Agno (1759-63), set to music by Benjamin Britten in his cantata Rejoice in the Lamb. Smartâs poem was written in an asylum where he had been incarcerated â for mania â with only Jeoffry for company.
This real-life feline is the subject of my book, Jeoffry: The Poetâs Cat, in which I wanted to capture how a cat could be both solace and muse to the creative artist.