Jerusalem – an analysis

By Stuart Ironside

and

James Clark

The PoemAnd 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 Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:Till we have built Jerusalem,In Englands green & pleasant Land

About it

• Jerusalem was written in 1804 by William Blake and became a well known hymn.

• At first glance it seems patriotic, but it isn’t.

• At this time, Britain was becoming more industrialised and was moving away from caring about it’s natural beauty.

• Blake is in fact questioning the current Britain

and shows he is disappointed in what the country has become.

19th century Jerusalem

19th century Britain

Poetic devices• Personification – “Nor shall my

Sword sleep in my hand:”• Alliteration – “Bring me my bow

of burning gold”• Rhyming – “Walk upon

England's mountains green: …. On England's pleasant pastures seen!”

• Ambiguity – “Bring me my Chariot of fire!”

Their Effect

• These poetic devices give the effect that the poet is really being patriotic, but he is using these words to disguise his true feelings. His feelings could be compared to those expressed in ‘Slough’, although the poet shows his opinions in a very different way.

Slough

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!

It isn't fit for humans now,

There isn't grass to graze a cow.

Swarm over, Death!

What is it about?

There was a similar industrial revolution in Britain in Slough as in Jerusalem, and the author of Slough shows similar views to the author of Jerusalem, but expresses his views much more openly than the author of Jerusalem. He shows this in various places e.g.

“Those air -conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath.”

Thanks for watching!

Writing by Stuart

Pictures by James

Put together by James

Editing by Stuart