New Jerusalem, The Analysis

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear!O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my charriot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

.: :.

It is hard to disassociate Blake's original poem from the music to which it was later attached; however i believe, whether intentionally or not, the music is a poor match which has distorted and reduced the sentiments Blake intended. Rather than a patriotic celebration as it is usually performed, i think the poem begins as a deeply cynical and reproachful appraisal of the emerging industrial landscape. His rhetorical, 'And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?' implies he sees this dirty and oppressive culture as completely incapable of accomodating the ultimate purity and righteousness of the 'Lamb of God.' Though the last two stanzas do become as rousing as the music suggests issuing a rallying cry against what he considers to be a new economic oppression of the industrial revolution. A message perfectly epitomised with the metaphor, 'I will not cease from mental fight... Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land.'even if this is a slightly romantic notion of contemporary events.

| Posted on 2009-06-19 | by a guest