Philip Hensher

‘Jerusalem’ is a rousing anthem – but who knows what the words mean?

We now belt it out on countless occasions – but whose feet are they, and what is the burning bow?

Thomas Phillips’s portrait of William Blake, 1807. Credit: Getty Images
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  • Jerusalem: Blake, Parry and the Fight for Englishness

    Jason Whittaker

    OUP, pp. 256, £25

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