“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Hand That Signed the Paper”

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Summary

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Themes

• 

  Power and Political Crisis

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-16
• 

  Callousness vs. Compassion

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 13-16

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Hand That Signed the Paper”

• Lines 1-4

  The hand that ...
  ... king to death.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  The mighty hand ...
  ... end to talk.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  The hand that ...
  ... a scribbled name.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  The five kings ...
  ... tears to flow.

  

  

  

  

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“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Symbols

• 

  The Hand

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2
  • Line 4
  • Lines 5-6
  • Line 9
  • Lines 11-12
  • Lines 13-16

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,”
  • Line 3: “Doubled the globe of dead”
  • Line 4: “These five kings”
  • Line 13: “The five kings”
  • Line 15: “A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “The hand that signed the,” “a”
  • Line 2: “Five,” “fingers”
  • Line 3: “dead”
  • Line 4: “five kings,” “king,” “death”
  • Line 5: “hand”
  • Line 6: “finger”
  • Line 7: “put an end to”
  • Line 8: “put an end to”
  • Line 9: “The hand that signed the,” “a”
  • Line 10: “And,” “and”
  • Line 11: “the hand”
  • Line 13: “five kings,” “dead”
  • Line 15: “A hand rules,” “a hand rules”
  • Line 16: “Hands”

• Irony

  

  

  

  

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  Where irony appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-12
  • Line 15

• Synecdoche

  

  

  

  

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  Where synecdoche appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-6
  • Lines 9-16

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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  Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-6
  • Lines 8-10
  • Line 12
  • Lines 14-16

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Felled
• Sovereign
• Taxed
• The globe of dead
• Five kings
• Goose's quill
• Locusts
• Dominion
• Crusted

• (Location in poem: Line 1: “The hand that signed the paper felled a city;”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Hand That Signed the Paper”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Speaker

“The Hand That Signed the Paper” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Hand That Signed the Paper”

More “The Hand That Signed the Paper” Resources

• External Resources

  • "Twenty-Five Poems" — More information about the collection in which the poem first appeared.

  • The Poet's Life — A biography of Dylan Thomas from the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to actor Richard Burton read "The Hand That Signed the Paper."

  • A Dylan Thomas Documentary — Watch a film about Thomas's life and work.

  • Dylan Thomas in Conversation — Thomas discusses poetry and film in a 1953 symposium with other writers.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas

  • A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London

  • Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

  • Fern Hill

  • In My Craft or Sullen Art

  • Poem in October

  • The force that through the green fuse drives the flower