Fifty-One Tales · Chapter
The Prayer of the Flowers explained
The flowers lament to Pan from the edge of a Midland city, where industrial progress has replaced the woods and fields, and they feel forgotten and lonely.
What happens
The flowers lament to Pan from the edge of a Midland city, where industrial progress has replaced the woods and fields, and they feel forgotten and lonely. Pan's voice from Arcady reassures them that these changes are temporary.
Themes in this chapter
Nature vs. Civilization
The flowers represent nature's vulnerability as cities and railways spread, while Pan's voice offers a counterpoint of enduring wildness.
The Power of Myth and Imagination
Pan's mythical presence and his reassurance from Arcady invoke the power of imagination to transcend industrial reality.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“The woods have gone away, they have fallen and left us; men love us no longer, we are lonely by moonlight.”
The forests have been destroyed, and people have forgotten the flowers, leaving them isolated under the moon.
The flowers express their abandonment and grief over the loss of the natural world.
“Great engines rush over the beautiful fields, their ways lie hard and terrible up and down the land.”
Machines tear across the once-beautiful countryside, leaving harsh and dreadful paths in their wake.
This highlights the destructive impact of industrialization on the landscape.
“Be patient a little, these things are not for long.”
Wait a while; this industrial age will pass quickly.
Pan's reassurance that the current era of destruction is temporary.