Showing posts with label William Blake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William Blake. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

William Blake's "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time"

Last week, I listened to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery, on which the first track is "Jerusalem," ELP's version of Hubert Parry's setting of William Blake's "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time."  I noticed a couple rhetorical features.
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands 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.
(I followed the formatting as it appears in The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman.)

The phrase "pleasant pastures" near the end of the first verse exhibits alliteration and syllabic balance, and the combination of these two characteristics results in a euphony that matches the meaning of "pleasant."

The third verse demonstrates anaphora (the repeated "Bring me my...").  The sense of constancy that this repetition creates demonstrates the "not ceas[ing]" at the beginning of the following verse.