Our School Song

William Blake's "Jerusalem" was set to music in 1918. It makes its first appearance at The Concert of Sacred Music in 1947. It doesn't become a program "staple" until 1970, and in fact only appears in 5 programs between 1947 and 1970. Students in the early 1970's chose it as the school song and in this part of her Convocation address Jane E. Robinson, Head of School, explains why the song fits our school so well.

Sunday, September 24, 1978 

"Unlike LONDON, the chartered city which confines man, JERUSALEM is a free city built by the imagination which men can inhabit if they choose. Blake had what one of his editors describes as "An unappeasable longing for the absolute integration of man in his total nature with the Universe." His JERUSALEM, our JERUSALEM, is not only an idealistic replacement for LONDON—not only a creative replacement for materialism—but a manual of how to get there from here. And the key to that sketch, is to look at the questions he asks and the weapons he summons to the quest.

One of the things that it is important to understand is that for Blake the image of Jesus in the first verse of the poem is not the traditional figure of the New Testament or of Christian tradition. It is not Jesus, the Son of God, but Jesus, the son of man, epitomizing the supreme heights to which man can rise. The first verse refers to the so-called Glastonbury Legend, that has Jesus spending about twenty years of his early life in England, working with his uncle, a trader. Whether this legend is in fact true or not is irrelevant. The point is that Blake is asking the question was it possible and assuming the answer 'yes'. Did the son of man walk upon England's mountains? Was the light of his smile shed upon the chartered round of the dark satanic mills? And it is from this question that Blake takes off. The first task is to ask, "Is it possible?" Yes, it is possible. It could have happened. It can happen. And to believe that is for Blake to transform humanity with a new light. And the first thing to do is to ask the right question: "Is it possible?" Once the question is asked, new vistas of the imagination and the mind are opened up. For Blake, man, by his creative imagining, can create the holy city of Jerusalem here on earth—not after death. And having asked the question and said "Yes, it is possible," Blake then summons to his help every weapon in the armory to build that city. At the end of the poem Blake says, "I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand." The heart has asked the question, "Is it possible?" The mind and the hand are summoned to respond to that question and answer it. Those three elements—the head, the heart and the hand—are the three key elements of the human being that we, as a school, have, for 99 years dedicated ourselves to nurturing and developing. That in itself is one good reason why this is ideally the song for Northfield Mount Hermon School.

There is another reason too. We have always tried to stress that life at Northfield Mount Hermon should not focus on the school, but should focus beyond the school. We have always tried to ensure that our students will not regard their experiences here as limiting or as an end in themselves. This part of your life is only a part of a life-long process of striving towards an ideal. Blake's JERUSALEM is a city independent of time and space. It is a state of mind, or heart. Jerusalem can be built by a cooperative venture which brings rewards to the individual and to his fellow men. The whole idea of service to others has always been an important part of this school's tradition and one which I hope you will join in re-affirming as we approach our Centennial.

Our students showed good sense and good taste in choosing this as their school song. Your challenge, as Northfield Mount Hermon students, is to go out to help build that City which can bring about the integration of man in his total nature with the Universe. You have inherited that tradition. That is why JERUSALEM is the best song I can think of for this school; and that is why when we sing it in a moment, you will be joining in a tradition that Mr. Moody started, and a tradition that symbolizes all that we hope this school and its present and future students can achieve—not just in our 99th year—but for the centuries to come."

Part of the Convocation address given by Jane E. Robinson, Head of School
The Auditorium
Sunday, September 24, 1978