And did those feet in ancient time, commonly known as Jerusalem, is a short poem by William Blake that appears in the preface to his prophetic work Milton. Its opening questions imagine whether Jesus might once have walked in England and whether a sacred Jerusalem could have existed among its landscape. The poem contrasts this vision with the mysterious image of the “dark Satanic Mills”.

In its second half, questioning gives way to determination. The speaker calls for symbolic weapons, including a bow, arrows, spear and chariot of fire, and commits himself to a continuing “Mental Fight”. Jerusalem becomes an image of a transformed society to be created through sustained imaginative and spiritual effort.

The poem later became widely known as Jerusalem after Hubert Parry set Blake’s words to music in 1916, giving the text a prominent place in British public and ceremonial life.