And did those feet in recent times
Walk Upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy developer
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the accountants decide
The company could foot the bills?
And was the contractor summoned here
To build upon these age old hills?
Build me those houses to make me gold
Gold to fulfil every desire
I cannot wait till flats unfold
And all's insured third party fire
You shall all work from day to night
Your trowel will never sleep in your hand
Till we have built a housing estate
On England's green and pleasant lands.
Author notes
I wrote this after reading a quote from John Prescott, that I cannot remember or can be bothered to find, but it was basically a slip of the tongue that implied that the government would be building on the green belt land. But even though he didn't mean for it to come out like that, similar things are happening, so I thought I'd adapt a piece of Blake to suit. It's almost like protest poetry, and I do feel like some kind of online Janis Joplin. Only without the heroin addiction, or, indeed, the breasts. And I know it's not that funny, but never mind.
Written October 10th, 2005
What did you think
Comments
1 - 44 of 44
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wow....i liked this one. Great poem. You truly are a protest poet in this one. Great job. I loved the Janis Joplin comment-that was funny.
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I like the revolt in this poem. Although, considering that William Blake is one of my favorite poets, I feel that you should have indicated that your poem was based off his. It's only fair to the original rhymer...
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I really didn't care for your parody.
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Ah yes, The Chemical Wedding. One of the finest metal albums of the 90s. I must commend your exquisite taste.
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Ah! a great use of words....and William Blake would approve of the cynicism and wry observations too!!! While I was reading this I was humming Bruce Dickinson's 'Jerusalem' in my head! Clever.....Peace, Sharon x
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nice poem I like this I cant realy say that I relate in any way but I still like this great job your a talented poet nice work
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It's a great poem, but I think it's very metaphorical and full of meaning.
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I'm American, so I don't know too much about Mother England, but I liked how you entertained me with your parody...I still can't figure out if I like the poem or the author's comments better. Great job, I look forward to reading more of your work soon. Much love to you and yours,
Nicole
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Liked your author comments as much as your poem. Both are very entertaining. Quite the protester, you are. Continue marching on!
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lol, I found your comment funnny and I found that your poem was very well written with very good rhyme as well, good lcuk with your protest
nice write, Keep writing....
~^~Tiya~^~
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this isi wonderful I love the way you show the peace of the land and the progress that is taking place every day keep up the great work hope to be aable to reply to a comment from you soon
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shit did i forget to applaud??
I cant remember * smacks self in the "arse" 
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You are such a wonderful writer, you always put so much into everything you write, no matter what the topic.You are very talented,Thats why I made you mine
awesome write.From a brilliant man
always
~ vini ~ -
I don't get it. But it was nicely written! *embarrassed smile*
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heh. Applause, poet.
Elizabeth
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I really enjoyed reading this piece it is interesting original and very funny. Like a breath of fresh air to AP. Well done and keep up the good work. My favourite today.
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I clicked so had better leave a comment… or face the wrath of the point police. Ooooowwww¡!
It is good to see a parody, a pleasant change from the piles of pithless prose – but as you rightly said, it is not that funny, nor a particularly good skit of Blake’s great poem. I think if the words can mimic the sound of the original, while still following the new theme you achieve a better effect. So something like – ‘and was the holy lamb of god’ – becomes ‘and was the wholly land of hod…’ as a very off the cuff for instance.
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It's a poem, fool.
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What the hell is this?
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Urban blight, the age-old problem!
I like your style. You have a touch for the antiquated approach, which I am partial to. You also have a great flair for commenting on society, which I like.
Your word usage is great and has a neat off-balance approach that doesn't interfere with the flow, but kind of accents your piece; very appealing, provocative and original.
I only have one question, and I may be showing my ignorance here. I am curious as to why you added the name of the city of Jerusalem here, when it is a comment on London? -
GREAT ASPIRATIONAL WRITE UP. Good Job, Why not do this in a more simplified form for the benifit of them that desire things like this. Thanks
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wonderful poem
interesting poem, Id love to see that land there. -
this is excellant what a brilliant write and soo true! i love where i live in Devon i adore waking in the morning and looking out to the fields seeing all the beauty of nature in my back garden, life wouldnt be as serene and peaceful without the beatiful calm of green around me thankyou for thios write it is brilliant xx Cheryl
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great
oooooooooooooh.. this is cooooooool and descriptive and loooooooooovely.. do you understand loooooooooovely... in short its very good... and i hope you have realized that after soooo many comments!:-) -
powerful piece of political/protest poetry Power...but that which makes its statement eloquently so as the reader can see and then leaves its impression on the reader's mind.
until now I really thought the best political poem i had ever read was one by Sharon Olds called "The Issues." this one ranks right up there with that one, so please accept this as the compliment it is truly intended. very excellent writing!!!
Jo -
Very well done. I understood and identified with what you expressed here. Here in the States it seems you either have the greedy developer mentality or the environmental worshipper. Rare to find the happy medium. Personally I love to find some green out of sight and earshot of cars. It's like heaven. Oh...I also like the comment on Janice. Old enough to remember her.
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I come from Greater London and it seems that every piece of available green land is being occupied by over expensive property, so I understand where your coming from. This is strong.
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Excellent
A wonderfully written example of depicting clear-eyed anger in this poem, it has an appealing, strong tone that gathers impact from its mimicry of Blake's work rather than looking too clever by a half. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for Blake. Probably both. Anyway, I really, really liked this alot and applaud this rant and homage of sorts. Thanks for sharing this with me.
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OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I lurve this
It is amazing and all oh so true ... I live in Englad (out in the sticks somewhat) and all I see are houses being built around me so I definately related to this one and I DO remember that comment made by Prescott (politics aint me so im very very surprised I remembered it ) Loved the title to this too, really fitted the poem very well I thought.
Had to check you out as you're on Vini's page Thought you must be good but didnt think this good (and that cute too WOW hehe)
Thanks for sharing, keep it up. Love Tinker x -
Yeah, that's quite true. I once got kicked out of my local charades club for trying to describe Tom Cruise using hand signals alone. Silly me eh?
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Yeah and i bet you know some really creative sign language too No, dont bother showing me....
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Oh yeah, I got the Russian, it's sooo much easier than French. 17 languages you say? That's quite impressive. Well I can speak 33 different languages, but 32 of them I made up myself
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Of course ÿ ãîâîðþ ôðàíöóçñêîå dickon... I äóìàë âû çíàëî òî î ìíå. Ôàêòè÷åñê ÿ ãîâîðþ 17 ïî-ðàçíîìó languages
That's Russian..it might be a tad easier to understand then French
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Naturellement je parle le dickon français... I ai pensé que vous avez su cela au sujet de moi. En fait je parle 17 languages différents
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Oh, you know French now do you? Is there no end to your super moderating tallents? Or do you just speak it over there to confuse the tourists? I cant speak a word of French. Well, maybe I lie, because I can just about get my tongue around "bonjour", but if the conversation was to progress any further then I'd just nd up maing stupid sounds and hoping for the best. Much like I do when talking in English
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Well just like Jerusalem you should have 3 wise men to advise youse on what to do. I think yours may be Curly Larry and Mo
Protesting eh...well you take that cap off..shake all that hair loose, pick up a guitar..run to the top of one of those hills and start singing Me And Bobby Mctree
I'll make up a picket sign for you "Save Our Pastures You Rotten Bastures" <--that's french for bastards 
Loved this dickon
Edited on Oct 11, 8:06 because ''. -
It seems that America is not the only place eating up land as fast as we can cut trees to build this is a well written piece of political poetry and it sends a strong message good job
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I like the concept too.
Actually I get it because of where it says in the bible about building a new Jeruseleum and you know even then the government of fact tried their darnest to show how the city should be built. One has to read further into to this poem and know the history of each period in order to see what lies beneath. -
I like the concept behind this poem, the destruction of what nature is left in London, a thought provoking poem if nothing else, and enjoyable write
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Sad tale of government gone amok. It is happening here in the states, also. Eminent Domain. A sad day when the powers that be can take your land to build a shopping mall.
One line confused me:"And all's insures third party fire"
I did not understand the reference. And, I am with the above poster, what does Jerusalem have to do with this? Otherwise, a nice read if a little uneven in places.
Thank you for sharing.
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Great
I enjoyed this. You did very well. Keep it up, for I will definately enjoy reading more. -
Hi, perhaps to build upon those aged hills,lol, needs a touch of work on meter but the idea is a good one,liked it very much, I think the author of Jerusalem might turn in his grave but what the hell,lol, good write, hugs Di
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yea, its not all that funny, but its got concept behind it.
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i didn't see it as funny.... but what does it have to do with "jeruselam" in the title
nice flow
and about building on the green lands... the government is way stupid here... they know its wrong and write that in all school books... but do the exact opposite...
anyways good poem...
keep on writing
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