"IN ENGLAND'S GREEN & PLEASANT LAND"
Have just returned from a family visit to London. It was at the tail end of a two month heat wave and drought, and didn’t look like the England I had known. I couldn’t help thinking of the most popular song, or hymn, written by William Blake in 1804, that I still remembered from my school days. To quote the final verse in this epic poem - which is considered by many to be the English unofficial national anthem: “I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand: Till we have built Jerusalem, In England’s green & pleasant Land.” The phrase "green and pleasant land" has become a common term for an identifiably English landscape and society . The landscape I knew and loved was damp and green. The one which greeted me on arrival was dry and brownish. As far as “ society ” is concerned, England is certainly a far cry from what it was in Blake’s day. I thought the newspapers would be a refreshing change from the news we get in ...