Where does dark satanic mills come from?

Answer 1

The phrase 'dark satanic mills' comes from the poem 'Jerusalem' by William Blake, often sung as a hymn to the tune written by Hubert Parry. It is the hymn sung by the British Women's Institute, and is always sung at the British Last Night of the Proms.

Blake's poem starts off with the legend that Jesus visited England as a boy, brought here by Joseph of Arimathea, who, as a merchant, traded spices for lead ore mined in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. Legend has it that he sailed up to the town of Glastonbury, with the boy Jesus, planted his walking stick there (which grew, and whose descendents are now the 'Glastonbury Thorn Trees') and, after the crucifixion and resurrection, came back and hid the Holy Grail (the cup from which Jesus drank at the last supper) somewhere in the hills around Glastonbury.

Blake's poem then goes on to contrast the holy city of Jeusalem with the dark Satanic mills of England - mills that produced iron and steel for military purposes, as London was a hub of the machinery of war in those days. He ends with a promise that the reader will shun evil and warfare and attempt to bring peace to the world by building 'Jerusalem' in England's green and pleasant land.

Here is the powm in full:

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land.