The fierce joy of Merry England (from Storm Jameson's The Decline of Merry England)
Channel: English Readings
Date: 2018-04-28

Merry England - a visionary, idyllic and mainly pastoral idea of “deep” England that still persists.

“At last, England had some inkling of her strength, the power drawn from a well-knit body and young muscle...This consciousness, this pride of strength was what made England merry: not merry in the sense of pleasant, but a fierce joy, a merriness as of Samson when he bore away the gates from Gaza.”

The extract is from the opening chapter of The Decline of Merry England by Storm Jameson, better known for her novels and other writings. 

The Decline of Merry England, Cassel and Company, London, 1930.

Storm Jameson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Jameson
Merry England/Deep England - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_England

The image is ℅ ALAMY.

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