Christopher Smart,
Hymns for the Amusement of Children…
(1791)
“ Our Saviour still supplies — 15 Ha! ha! the soul regains her place, And sweetens all the skies. Notes ↑ 1-2. One hundred feet from off the ground / That noble Aloe blows... — Regarding these two lines Karina Williamson notes that “the American Aloe was famed for its size but one hundred feet is an exaggeration.” She continues regarding the line 5: “An account of a giant specimen appeared in Gentl. Mag., 1759: described as the largest ever seen in England, it was said to be 104 years old, ‘and it is thought it will be 40 feet high’ (p. 291) . ”
