Jerusalem.....

'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.'

I thought it was 'strife'. but look at this

(Sorry, meant to add written by William Blake)

That's why I'm confused, it wouid appear to be 'fight' but I'm so sure we sang 'strife' at school.

I've sung both. I've always thought it was either or.

This was our school's song and I have loved it since. I sing with gusto on Last Night of the Proms, something the new neighbours don't know yet.

It was DDs' school song. DD1 had it at her wedding which was a trifle difficult as she was married in Scotland . I love it - it always gives me a good feeling.....

We sing 'fight' at WI.

It was our school song as well, and we sang "fight".

The answer to the question posed within the hymn is probably "No"

I absolutely can't stand 'Jerusalem'! Don't know quite why -something about the words "and did those feet? etc demands the answer "No. Don't be silly"! Sorry everyone. Now Cwm Rhondda -that's another matter. I love belting that one out. Bread of heaven anyone?

We sang fight.

Poor, beleaguered Jerusalem. Who'd want to recreate it in England?

To me the words mental strife sounds a lot better musically than mental "fight".
It puts more alliterative "S" sounds into the verse.

I will not Cease from mental Strife,
Nor shall my Sword Sleep in my hand"

Sorry Mr W Blake I don't think you got that quite right first time.

It might have been changed by whoever set it to music.

Anya "Poor, beleaguered Jerusalem??" do you mean the actual city or the hymn/poem?

We sing Jerusalem at Towns Women's Guild.

It all makes me tearful because it sums life up so well. Blake along with many others believed that Jesus came to Glastonbury which could explain the "mountains green" because of the Tor.

Pretty sure it's "Mental Fight" which makes more sense than "strife" because Blake was very religious and was always struggling to keep his equilibrium for want of a better word.

PS. A brilliant book about William Blake is Burning Bright by Tracey Chevalier. It's a light but informative read.

We sang this in grammar school although I didn't (and still don't ) understand it. Would anyone care to explain please? [ignoramous emoticon]

I studied Blake at Uni but it's all a bit of a blur now.

Basically Jerusalem is a song against industrialisation "dark satanic mills" Blake was a fascinating character and saw visions of angels when he was a child. You can always Google Blake - lots about him there.

This thread has got my aging brain working again Thanks Katek.

Just sounding worse and worse the more you try to explain it! Maybe your emotional response is more to the music as the words don't make sense

Thanks for the link, jingl. Very interesting!

I always thought it was a rather ridiculous question (whilst loving the song) but then I read that there is a strong possibility of Jesus having been brought to these islands as a youngster, by his uncle, Joseph of Aramethea.

Who knows?

If you google Glastonbury on wikipaedia Jings - it gives more on this story. I think there's a thorn tree there which is supposed to have been planted by Joseph of Aramethea during the visit with Jesus.

Jings I thought that was the connection too.
Jane 10 Jerusalem was my school song too. My grandmother worked in those dark satanic mills, and the song made me profoundly grateful that I wasn't born in the 1880s and that life presented me with so many opportunities.