by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
I give you the end of a golden string
Language: English
To the Christians I give you the end of a golden string; Only wind it into a ball, It will lead you in at Heaven's gate, Built in Jerusalem's wall... England! awake! awake! awake! Jerusalem thy Sister calls! Why wilt thou sleep the sleep of death And close her from thy ancient walls? Thy hills and valleys felt her feet Gently upon their bosoms move: Thy gates beheld sweet Zion's ways: Then was a time of joy and love. And now the time returns again: Our souls exult, and London's towers Receive the Lamb of God to dwell In England's green and pleasant bowers.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), no title, written 1804?, appears in Jerusalem, first published 1818 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Edgar Leslie Bainton (1880 - 1956), "The golden skein", published c1928 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harold Edwin Darke (1888 - 1977), "England! Awake!", published c1919 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London: Stainer & Bell; note: the sung text begins with stanza 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Heaven's Gate", op. 47, published 1917 [ mezzo-soprano, chorus, and small orchestra ], London : Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012), "I give you the end of a golden string", 1971 [ ST soli, speaker, chorus, orchestra, and tape ], from Cantata VII - On Vision [sung text not yet checked]
- by Susan Frances Perrin , "England! awake!", published c1948 [ unison chorus and piano ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-15
Line count: 17
Word count: 105