# Epigraph explained — In the Days of the Comet

> Chapter companion for In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

The epigraph sets a prophetic and hopeful tone, invoking the renewal of the world and the return of a golden age, with imagery of the Earth shedding its worn skin like a snake and faiths and empires fading like dissolving dreams.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Renewal

The epigraph directly announces a new world age and the renewal of the Earth, echoing the theme of transformation.

### The Natural World and Cosmic Perspective

Imagery of the Earth shedding its skin and the dissolution of empires into dreams suggests a cosmic perspective on change.

## Key lines

> The World's Great Age begins anew, The Golden Years return, The Earth doth like a Snake renew Her Winter Skin outworn: Heaven smiles, and Faiths and Empires gleam Like Wrecks of a Dissolving Dream.

A new era of greatness and prosperity is dawning; the planet rejuvenates itself as a snake sheds its old skin, while religious and political structures appear as mere remnants of a fading illusion.

_The epigraph encapsulates the novel's central promise of a transformative, almost utopian change._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters