J is for Jerusalem
If this is an alphabet of the British countryside, why are we talking about Jerusalem? Well, we’re thinking of an idea that harks back a few millennia: that this nation (well, England, at any rate) is ‘a new Jerusalem’ – a paradise fit for the Second Coming of the Lord. Just ask the WI: at every meeting of that venerable society for over 100 years, they’ve been singing the words penned by William Blake in 1804: “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.” Blake was inspired by the fable that Jesus visited Glastonbury as a young man before beginning his ministry. There’s no historical account of the jaunt; it was most likely invented as a moneyspinner by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey. But that idea that England is some sort of second Eden, with a sublime destiny somewhere on the horizon, has inspired poets and songwriters (like Hubert Parry, who turned Blake’s poem into the hymn Jerusalem) for centuries. And if your feet happen to walk upon England’s mountains green at some point (or up to Glastonbury Tor, below), you may suddenly understand where it all came from…
WALK HERE: Download your Glastonbury walk at www.lfto.com/bonusroutes