I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Off-Topic => Off-Topic: Talk about anything you want. => Topic started by: kristina on July 28, 2014, 06:52:28 AM
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The poem “Jerusalem” was supposed to be written by William Blake and the music was composed by Hubert Parry.
This text by William Blake (1757-1827) has always perplexed me, because William Blake was well known to be against wars,
in fact, he was known to be an outspoken pacifist.
Why then did he come up with the text to such a poem, which is a “call to arms”?
Was the text to "Jerusalem" really and truly thought out and written by William Blake?
Hubert Parry (1848-1918) was also known to be an outspoken pacifist,
but the melody to “Jerusalem” was composed by him in 1916, in the midst of the First World Disaster.
How come, that this “call to arms and war” was written and composed by two such outspoken pacifists?
Has anyone any explanation for this enigma? Does anyone know?
Has anyone researched about this enigma?
The text leaves no one in any doubt what it really means...
Here is the text:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's 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 England's green and pleasant land.
Thanks from Kristina.
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Oh wow...and here I was thinking that it was just a lovely song! Didn't realize it was so "controversial".
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So sorry MooseMom... and thank you very much noahvale, I am so glad that you helped to solve this riddle...
Reading the Preface, it becomes very clear that William Blake meant it in a completely different way ...
... and Parry, well, Parry might have been a composer, but his character is now left wanting,
... because he should not have been party to such a fraudulent act...
... especially at this crucial time, when thousands of youngsters were being misguided
and slaughtered in 1916 (when Parry’s propaganda composition was first aired) ...
Thanks again from Kristina.
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That's really interesting, noahvale! Thanks so much for your post! :2thumbsup;
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Thank you noahvale for your in-depth research and great explanation, I appreciate and respect it very much.
The following is a quote from “Wikipedia”, so I cannot vouch for its integrity...
... But from this article we can see that Hugo Parry understood what “Jerusalem” was going to be used for:
a war and peace situation in the middle of the 1914-1918 First World Disaster.
It was obviously from the outset meant as a national inspiration, which went in several other directions.
Parry had the opportunity, before he died in 1918, to voice any opinion he might have had, but I cannot find any opinions by him about this.
So, if we are to believe this information in "Wikipedia", it appears that Parry knew "Jerusalem" was being used for the war effort,
even though it might have been used in other contexts.
So I feel still shocked at the misuse of Blake’s words and Parry’s complicity in using these words in connection with a war effort...
Here is the text about Parry's "Jerusalem" in “Wikepedia”:
“The poem, which was little known during the century which followed its writing, was included in the patriotic anthology of verse The Spirit of Man, edited by the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Robert Bridges, and published in 1916, at a time when morale had begun to decline because of the high number of casualties in World War I and the perception that there was no end in sight.
Under these circumstances, Bridges, finding the poem an appropriate hymn text to "brace the spirit of the nation [to] accept with cheerfulnes all the sacrifices necessary," asked Sir Hubert Parry to put it to music for a Fight for Right campaign meeting in London's Queen's Hall. (The aims of this organisation were "to brace the spirit of the nation, that the people of Great Britain, knowing that they are fighting for the best interests of humanity, may refuse any temptation, however insidious, to conclude a premature peace, and may accept with cheerfulness all the sacrifices necessary to bring the war to a satisfactory conclusion".) Bridges asked Parry to supply "suitable, simple music to Blake's stanzas – music that an audience could take up and join in", and added that, if Parry could not do it himself, he might delegate the task to George Butterworth.
The poem's idealistic theme or subtext accounts for its popularity across the philosophical spectrum. It was used as a campaign slogan by the Labour Party in the 1945 general election; Clement Attlee said they would build "a new Jerusalem". It has been sung at conferences of the Conservative Party, at the Glee Club of the British Liberal Assembly, the Labour Party and by the Liberal Democrats.”
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Well, it looks as though there is no real answer to the Parry question,
but it is good to get some facts aired and I appreciate this discussion.
What I am against is the misuse of the masses by the few, because the few always have their own agenda.
Music should not be part of the misuse by the few for their own personal gain...
The point is though, how one avoids or stops the few misusing the masses;
this is a problem which seems sadly unresolvable...
As regards to Karl Orff, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, it is immensely complicated to delve into these matters,
because like Hubert Parry, time has gone by and we cannot possibly learn enough of the truth,
to form a proper opinion about their thoughts...
... It is always sad and disturbing, when we come across such contradictory elements, which collide into one person...
... We look for a reason to explain this and satisfy us. But it appears we can never be satisfied... Such is life...
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Hello noahvale,
My question here was about to understand the origin of the Parry-Blake “Jerusalem” ...
... and not about composers like Richard Wagner, Karl Orff and Richard Strauss...
Best wishes from Kristina.