Jerusalem Themes
Memory and the Past
The speaker of "Jerusalem" looks forward to a new era, but also backwards to an "ancient time." He wonders if Jesus ever visited England, and if Jerusalem was once built there. While the speaker is...
Change
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 reall...
Perseverance
"Jerusalem" is a poem about perseverance if there ever was one. Think about it. In the poem's third and fourth stanzas, the speaker is essentially getting ready for battle (bring me my bow, bring m...