And Did those Feet
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And did those feet in ancient time is an English patriotic poem written by William Blake in the 19th Century. It tells of the legend that the Lord Jesus traveled to England, then under heathen Roman rule. 'Jerusalem' is used as a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven, and the poem exhorts the audience to fight for a reassertion of God's rule on earth. The poem can also be seen as a lament for a time in which decency, tolerance and respect for fellow man were present among all.
The Hymn Jerusalem, based upon the poem, is often sung at the annual conferences of the Conservative Party.
Text
The text is as follows:
- 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 chariot 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.