While politicians argue at the pulpit over which laws and policies are best for their respective countries, or their own pocketbooks, poets and artists have been writing about utopian possibilities for centuries. William Blake, born in a time when religion had an even greater grasp on societal views than now, used the imagery of religion to question history, his present time and the future of England.
From the first line in his poem, “Jerusalem,” Blake makes reference to “Ancient time.” Here, he references a legend that suggests that Jesus had traveled to England before it was an established country, along with Joseph of Aramathea. Jesus is used, then, to suggest that England was once a sort of heaven on earth. The language in this first stanza reflects this intention in that the landscape of England is described in pleasant terms, “England’s mountain green” and “England’s pleasant pastures” (2, 4) Even when referring to Jesus, Blake chose to refer to the concept of him as the “Lamb of God” (3), drawing on the ideals of a gentle and humble savior. It is clear from these decisions that Blake was using the idea of Jesus in England to create the concept that the country was at one point peaceful and utopian. Throughout the poem Blake also selectively uses capitalization on words to draw emphasis, such as the already mentioned word “Ancient.” In the first stanza, this stylistic choice puts emphasis on the past and on religion.
In direct opposition to this state of utopia, William Blake quickly moves on to the current state of England in the second stanza. It is obvious, here, that Blake has switched from the past to the present in the way that descriptions are no longer attributed to the country as “England’s” but as “our” (5). This creates a feeling that the pleasant attributes are naturally a part of England, but that the “clouded hills” (6) and “Satanic mills” (8) are created by man. The reason for this is made clear when considering the time in which Blake lived. While certainly it may be taken as a metaphorical slight against the state of the church, the description could also be taken literally. Blake, living from 1757 to 1827, grew up entirely within the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, the phrase “Satanic mills” can be taken to be disapproval of the switch from hand labor to machinery, with the “clouded hills” referring to the smoky atmosphere created by industrial work and factories.
Whether Blake intends to judge the landscape of his religion in a metaphorical sense, or the literally changing landscape and the change in industry in England, it is clear from the second stanza that William Blake is using religion and this reference to the myth that Jesus had once been to England in order to show that whatever utopia may be supposed to have existed, it does not exist currently in the England he knows. Additionally, it is noteworthy to consider the question marks present in this second stanza, which are absent from any others. Since this is the only stanza that is negative about the state of England, this use of punctuation seems to set a tone of instability. The purpose, then, isn’t to question whether Jesus had every walked the land of England, but really to question the direction in which the country itself is situated. This prepares the reader for the following lines, which clearly indicate an appeal for the future.
Having expressed the possibility of a past utopia and contrasted the past with a present that he considers less than perfect, Blake moves forth in “Jerusalem” with words depicting a holy war. In the third stanza he once again uses capitalization to emphasize his point. This time, the words capitalized are all those of weapons, with exclamation points to enhance his meaning. In choosing these stylistic options, Blake not only creates a battle cry, but seems to suggest the support of the heavens. In particular, the phrase “O clouds, unfold!” (11) followed by the reference to his “Chariot of fire” (12) seems to call forth religious imagery.
Here, Blake imagines the possibility of taking up arms, metaphorically, against an England that is no longer a perfect heaven on Earth. The enthusiasm and emphasis he creates in this stanza seem to be created to appeal to the audience in a nationalistic sense. He chooses at this point in the poem to remove some of the distance created by referring to the country alone, but actually uses the first person. By setting the poem up in this way, beginning with using the possessive “England’s,” switching to a plural possessive “our” and moving onto a first person, Blake has successful brought the meaning of the poem closer and closer. The first person, then, isn’t Blake himself, but the citizens of England. This is what creates the nationalistic tone. Since this poem has since been put together with music as an anthem by Sir Hubert Parry, this intention seems to have gained a strong following.
Finally, William Blake ends his poem with the strong assertion of a fight to make England the utopia it once was, as implied by the possibility that Jesus had been there in the past. In this last stanza the “fight” created in the previous one is defined now as a “Mental Fight,” (13) with capitalization used to once again show emphasis. In this second line in the fourth stanza “Sword” (14) is also capitalized, linking it to “Mental Fight” and making it clear that the fight is meant to be metaphorical. Perhaps the sword of his poem stands in place of the pen. In any case, it is clear that William Blake is suggesting that England cannot be the utopia it once was if citizens are silent about the problems the country is facing.
Having analyzed the use of capitalization, punctuation, religious symbolism and the use of pronouns, William Blake’s “Jerusalem” is shown to successfully create a metaphorical message about the past, present, and future of England based on the story that Jesus had once visited the country before it was established.
