It’s been a while since there was a sporting weekend like this – the weight of expectation heavy on such young shoulders, the dreams of a nation to be played out on the Wembley turf, only the edge of seats will be used on Sunday evening – the streets outside will be quiet whilst the emotional roller-coaster goes on indoors, one last push – ‘For England & St.George!’
The poem ‘Jerusalem’, penned by William Blake in the early 19th century and then set to music a hundred years later by Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar is perhaps the quintessential anthem for orchestrating a nation’s pride. Blake’s words may not have been intended for such a purpose, but as a rallying call at times like these, it’s a tough one to beat – although Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is the more likely tune to be ringing out of west London tomorrow evening!
Jerusalem by William Blake
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.
We have a capacity crowd of Coles Signed Editions this week – on the pitch there’s a smashing Pre-Order for the memoir of former professional footballer Patrice Evra; the beautiful game forms the backdrop for a novel by sports writer Duncan Hamilton; we’re down on the farm with John Lewis-Stempel; Matt Sewell & Charlie Corbett are our ‘twitchers’ this week; Olympian Alistair Brownlee shows what it takes to succeed; a post-match soothing balm is provided by Matt Haig; we take to the mountains in a tale of derring-do with Ed Caesar; Candice Brown is cooking with a smile; best-selling author James Ellroy is back with another blockbuster; we have fabulous fiction from Cathy Rentzenbrink, Eimear Ryan, Emma Straub, Miranda Cowley Heller and Jeff Vandermeer; Santa Montefiore returns to the Deverill family in ‘The Distant Shores’; young readers will delight in Cat Weldon’s ‘Land of Lost Things’; even younger readers will love having ‘Little Echo’ read to them; for teens there’s ‘Any Way the Wind Blows’ by Rainbow Rowell; we blast off with astronaut Tim Peake who has sent some bookplates for his memoir, and finally we get up and dance with a Pre-Order for what is bound to be a heartwarming tale of lasting friendship and big hair from 1980s pop stars Pepsi & Shirlie.
