"The Hand That Signed the Paper" appears in Dylan Thomas's second collection, Twenty-Five Poems (1936). A meditation on political power and violence, the poem focuses on the document-signing "hand" of a very powerful leader. The leader has signed some "treaty" that has shaken the world: it has caused the destruction of a city, the division of a country, the downfall of at least one ruler, and the deaths of countless people. The speaker explores the grim irony in the fact that a simple hand, attached to a vulnerable human body, could wield such godlike power and wreak so much destruction. The poem also comments on the way powerful leaders emotionally detach themselves from the consequences of their policies.

• 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.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 5-8

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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 9-12

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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 13-16

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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• “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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    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

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-12
    • Line 15

  • Synecdoche

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where synecdoche appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-6
    • Lines 9-16

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    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

Cite This Page