It's just the past participle of "smite," which is a strange old word that we associate with God striking someone dead. We think of it used comically, affecting an old-time locution.
Here are some uses of "smitten" I found in the (unlinkable) OED:
1819 Shelley Lines Castlereagh Admin. ii, The abortion with which she travaileth Is Liberty, smitten to death.Here's the Shelley poem in full:
1671 Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 559 But Satan smitten with amazement fell.
1848 Thackeray Vanity Fair xvii. 149 Young..Lieutenant Spatterdash..was evidently and quickly smitten by Mrs. Crawley.
Lines Written During The Castlereagh Administration.ADDED: After receiving email about the Spanish words spoken by the Pope, I wrote another post.
1.
Corpses are cold in the tomb;
Stones on the pavement are dumb;
Abortions are dead in the womb,
And their mothers look pale--like the death-white shore
Of Albion, free no more. 5
2.
Her sons are as stones in the way--
They are masses of senseless clay--
They are trodden, and move not away,--
The abortion with which SHE travaileth
Is Liberty, smitten to death. 10
3.
Then trample and dance, thou Oppressor!
For thy victim is no redresser;
Thou art sole lord and possessor
Of her corpses, and clods, and abortions--they pave
Thy path to the grave. 15
4.
Hearest thou the festival din
Of Death, and Destruction, and Sin,
And Wealth crying "Havoc!" within?
'Tis the bacchanal triumph that makes Truth dumb,
Thine Epithalamium. 20
5.
Ay, marry thy ghastly wife!
Let Fear and Disquiet and Strife
Spread thy couch in the chamber of Life!
Marry Ruin, thou Tyrant! and Hell be thy guide
To the bed of the bride!
पोस्ट्स
