This edition was prepared by Andrew Sims — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Jerusalem
Staff Notation • Secular, Art songs
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7 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
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Jerusalem by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry — Lyrics
1.
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?
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About Jerusalem
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s Jerusalem is often sung at moments of national significance or communal gathering. Setting words by William Blake, it poses a powerful question: can a spiritual ideal be realised in the physical landscape? The first stanza imagines Christ walking in England, contrasting the beauty of the natural world with the 'dark satanic mills' of industrialisation. The second stanza transforms into a call to action, a spiritual and mental struggle to build a better, more perfect Jerusalem on Earth. This arrangement for unison voices and piano offers a direct and stirring delivery of Blake’s prophetic text, making it suitable for a wide range of occasions where a message of hope and aspiration is desired.
