charges of plagiarism against Smith, comparing his works to those by Tennyson and Keats. His last attempt at poetry wasEdwin of Deira (1861), a story of England's first Christian king. This work was initially accepted by critics and could have rid Smith of the Spasmodic label if it had not been published soon after Tennyson's epic, Idylls of the King. (Idylls of the King is also based on a historical background—the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—and comments on social problems of the time.) Cries of plagiarism were renewed, even though Smith had been working on Edwin before Idylls was published. The plagiarism charges again focused negative attention on Smith and the poem was not popularly received. Smith had married Flora Macdonald from Skye in 1857, and, in order to supplement his income from the university and support his growing family, he now turned to writing essays, contributing to magazines such as Argosy, North British Review, Good Words, and West of Scotland. His income was more consistent from the publication of his prose than it had been with the publication of his poetry, although biographers agree that prose did not provide Smith with the same personal satisfaction as poetry had. His first prose collection was Dreamthorp (1863), in which he commented on the role of an essayist; A Summer in Skye (1865), his second, contains essays about the island where his family spent their vacations. Smith became ill in 1865 but continued to write even as his condition deteriorated. He died in 1867 and a year later, friend Patrick P. Alexander published Smith's final collection of poetry and essays, Last Leaves.

Major Works

Although Smith often incorporated nature into his poetry, most of his poems contain urban backgrounds. His most popular poetic work, A Life Drama, is noted for its Spasmodic characteristics, including the autobiographical poet-hero who longs for fame. Additional Spasmodic elements, such as long allegorical digressions, oddly juxtaposed themes, and extreme emotional outbursts, are common in other works included in Poems, his first collection. From this point on, Smith, recognizing the negative effect that the Spasmodic label would have on his career, made efforts to tone down his poetic excesses in order to shake himself free of the title. City Poems, consequently, is simpler than previous works and includes the noted poem "Glasgow," which reflects the mixed feelings Smith had toward his hometown. This poem is often considered one of his best because of the balanced way in which he presents images he perceived as negative with those he found favorable. "Glasgow" also contains fewer nature allusions, reflecting his growing maturity as a poet. The nature references that he does include are thought to be appropriate and to reflect an accurate sense of living in urban Scotland. Other evidence of maturity in his writing at this time is his poetic voice, which critics have found distinctly less English and more Scottish, as Smith began drawing more from his own Scottish experiences and less from the styles of the English poets. Edwin of Deira, with a historical background, was seen by the public as a conscious effort to avoid the Spasmodic style. However, critics suggest that in his struggle to change his form of writing, Smith lost his poetic voice and individuality. By this time he was again a little-known poet and the piece received little attention, save the charges of plagiarism. Smith did not totally abandon his poetic style when he began writing essays. In Dreamthorp, he wrote that an essay writer is a "kind of poet in prose" and stressed that style is the most important element to a writer. An essay, he explained, is a work of art and must be able to stand on its own as such. This poet-prose style also emerges in A Summer in Skye, which Smith offered not as a travel guide, but as a reflection of his observations on the culture and customs of the inhabitants on the island. Smith also wrote a novel in installments for Good Words magazine, titled Alfred Hagart's Household (1865). This, too, was autobiographical and was popular enough for the editor to ask Smith to extend it to two volumes. The follow-up, Miss Oona McQuarrie: A Sequel to Alfred Hagart's Household, was published serially in 1866.

Critical Reception

Smith was initially acclaimed for the images of nature in his poems and his ability to combine natural and urban images. It was over-use of these same devices, however, that caused his downfall. Smith was highly criticized for his displaced references to nature and for poetic digressions within digressions as well as for his lack of form. Moreover, critics questioned the morality of Spasmodic poetry in general pointing in particular to the hero of Smith's A Life Drama, who rapes a girl who is in love with him. Smith also suffered from charges of plagiarism—although early critics praised the young poet for admiring Keats and following Keats' style, within months, and for the rest of his career, critics argued over whether Smith patterned his style after influential poets or simply stole their ideas and structure. This led to a debate among contemporary critics, who began questioning whether any writer can possibly have a completely original thought. In the early twentieth century, critics revisited Smith's work and praised him not only for his essays, but also for his roles as a proponent of the essay as its own genre, and as a critic. Author Herbert B. Grimsditch wrote, "Smith can enter in to the spirit of a writer, giving a good interpretation of his work and his point of view, fulfilling one of the primary aims of criticism by arousing the desire to read the books criticised." In the last half of the century, critics returned to examining Smith's poetry, focusing both on plagiarism charges and on Smith's use of personal experience. Today, his work is viewed as a window to urban nineteenth-century life.