Letter: Blake's love for England

Sir: The recent correspondence on the subject of William Blake's "Jerusalem" demonstrates how easy it is to sneer.

The poem was part of a larger work, and it is not Blake's fault that it has subsequently been taken out of context, set to music and used in all manner of situations which he could have no knowledge of.

It is a "what if?" poem, in which he speculates upon what might be the imaginative and spiritual significance for him if it were true that Jesus Christ, whom he loved, had actually visited England, which he also loved - and where he everywhere saw acts of exploitation and cruelty.

Victor Watson

Cambridge