“Prayer” makes several allusions to British geography and culture. First, the speaker describes a “lodger,” or visitor, “looking out across / a Midlands town.” The Midlands is a region in central England. Additionally, in the last line, the speaker’s list of “Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre” alludes to the British shipping forecast. Broadcast nightly on the radio, this shipping broadcast would describe weather conditions along the coast to warn ships of potential dangers.
These allusions make it clear that the poem is set in an actual place—the UK—in a contemporary timeframe. This is important, because it means that the people within the poem experience prayer and faith within all the specificity and familiarity of their daily lives. Their experiences of faith don’t occur outside their immediate world, but within it.
At the same time, the poem also alludes to language and imagery from traditional religious narratives. For instance, when the speaker says, “the truth / enters our hearts,” this statement clearly calls to mind the idea of religious “truth” and a divine presence “enter[ing] our hearts.” Similarly, the speaker’s description of the sound of the train as “Latin chanting” alludes to the Latin of prayer and Catholic mass.
Finally, the image of the “lodger” in stanza 3 subtly alludes to the Biblical narrative in which Joseph and Mary are traveling and searching for a place to stay. Ultimately, they are allowed to stay in a humble manger, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. Similarly, the “lodger” in the poem seems alone and is unexpectedly comforted by the humble sound of piano scales.
These allusions to contemporary British life, on the one hand, and religious language and imagery, on the other, balance the poem and help to convey its meaning. They imply that the oldest forms of faith still underlie modern life, but that people can experience prayer and faith in different ways beyond the bounds of traditional religious conventions.