"Jerusalem" is a hymn melody written by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) in 1916 as a setting for the lyrics "And did those feet in ancient time" by William Blake (1757-1827), a poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton: A Poem in Two Books, one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books, printed c. 1808. It is often assumed that the poem was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by Joseph of Arimathea, a tin merchant, travelled to what is now England and visited Glastonbury during his unknown years. Instead, the poem draws on an older story, repeated in Milton's History of Britain, that Joseph of Arimathea, alone, travelled to preach to the ancient Britons after the death of Jesus.
According to some English legends, Joseph brought with him the spear that pierced Jesus' side and a chalice that became the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend.
The phrase "dark Satanic Mills", which entered the English language from this poem, is often interpreted as referring to the early Industrial Revolution and its destruction of nature and human relationships.
The phrase "chariot of fire" has become a byword for divine energy, and inspired the title of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which the hymn "Jerusalem" is sung during the final scenes. The plural phrase "chariots of fire" refers to 2 Kings 6:17.
It has been published in 28 hymnals.