In "Jerusalem," the speaker is obsessed with a potentially legendary past, when Jesus visited England. Man, those were the days. All this reflection on that past gets him thinking that things really need to change in England. The New Jerusalem, the speaker's symbol of a reborn, holy, pure, and better England, must be built again. In other words, the time is ripe for revolution, only it doesn't have to be a huge, bloody mess like the 1789 French Revolution. While the speaker doesn't go into a whole lot of detail about just how to bring the changes that are necessary, he does clearly state that England is full of "Satanic mills" (evil, dirty factories and other bad things) and some weaponry will be necessary (a bow and arrow, for example). At the same time, he does also imply that some type of mental action will be necessary to bring about the changes he thinks are necessary.
Questions About Change
- What do you think the phrase "Mental Fight" means, really?
- Does the speaker expect things to change too much? In other words, does it seem like he's being unreasonable? What parts of the poem support your view?
- Is revolution the wrong word to describe what the speaker wants to happen? Why or why not?
- What is the speaker doing to help bring about the changes he thinks are necessary?
Chew on This
Change must come to England, no doubt about it. Even though the speaker talks about weapons, the change can be as simple as looking at things differently.
When things get so bad that the only way to describe them is with the word "Satanic," something must be done. Everything must be completely burned away, destroyed, and remade.