There is a famous song in England. It's a sort of national song (written in 1916 so not very "traditional" yet) and is heard frequently at sporting events (since we have no artistic events in this country at which to hear singing).
The thing is, the words are by William Blake. He was quite good with satire but I'm not sure many people have noticed. Look at what it says:
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands 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 Englands green & pleasant Land
I think what is happening is that when he writes a
question in the text, the common approach is to read it instead as a
statement. "Ah, yes, those feet in ancient time walked upon England's mountains green, and also the holy Lamb of God was seen on England's pleasant pastures, etc.
Look at what he thinks of England: it has clouded hills (no Countenance Divine to shine on them here, no divine inspiration). It has Satanic Mills - heavy industry and consequent environmental and human damage. Hmm, so, what does he mean by "England's green and pleasant land"?
He could mean it literally. Fair enough, if so. He thinks England is green and pleasant and so is a fit place to make something good.
He could not mean it at all. England is fairly green, true. Pleasant? This is a feeble word aimed at a mediocre place. Look at the other language - Blake has many words for great things but none of them is weak like "pleasant".
So what does it mean? I think it might mean "England is horrible, please make it better" (to put it crudely). When it is sung I think people intend "England is great, greater than other countries, and will be for ever". So I'm glad that all makes sense (as much sense as usual...)
Probably the main point to make about the song is that nobody means anything when they sing it. It's just words, and all the other nonsense we learnt over the years was made of similar-sounding words, all equally unexamined and repeated like parrots would. And that is what we believe in. Well, I hope none of it comes true. "I made a wish, don't know what it was, but I'm hoping...!" Oh-oh. Could turn out green and pleasant...
