The most misread poem in England is William Blake's Jerusalem. It was written two centuries ago and put to music a century later. It is the unofficial national

The most misread poem in England is William Blake's Jerusalem. It was written two centuries ago and put to music a century later. It is the unofficial national anthem and you can hear it everywhere that English football, rugby and cricket teams go. All three of the main political parties sing it at their conferences. It gets an airing every time there is a royal wedding. It was the first thing one billion people got to hear at the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games - a solo performance by a child who happened to be born with only one hand. This poem has an extraordinary story, Blake was not famous in his time and only thirty years after his death did someone come along to write a biography of him. There were many other happenings that had to happen before Jerusalem became what it is today. The words appear to be patriotic but on further examination and with the right education the poem can be understood. It is an anti-capitalist, anti-church, anti-establishment masterpiece. Yet vast crowds of people can sing along with it, knowing all the words. It is in a different league of being misread to anything else. Study it.