Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914. An undistinguished student, he left school at 16, becoming a journalist for a short time. Although many of his works appeared in print while he was still a teenager, it was the publication of "Light breaks where no sun shines", in 1934, that caught the attention of the literary world. While living in London, Thomas met Caitlin Macnamara, whom he married in 1937. Their relationship was defined by alcoholism and was mutually destructive. In the early part of his marriage, Thomas and his family lived hand-to-mouth, settling in the Welsh fishing village of Laugharne.
Although Thomas was appreciated as a popular poet in his lifetime, he found earning a living as a writer difficult, which resulted in him augmenting his income with reading tours and broadcasts. His radio recordings for the BBC during the latter half of the 1940s brought him a level of celebrity. In the 1950s, Thomas travelled to America, where his readings brought him a level of fame, though his erratic behaviour and drinking worsened. His time in America cemented Thomas' legend, where he recorded to vinyl works such as A Child's Christmas in Wales. During his fourth trip to New York in 1953, Thomas became gravely ill and fell into a coma from which he did not recover. Thomas died on 9 November 1953 and his body was returned to Wales where he was buried at the village churchyard in Laugharne.
Although writing exclusively in the English language, Thomas has been acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century. Noted for his original, rhythmic and ingenious use of words and imagery, Thomas' position as one of the great modern poets has been much discussed, though this has not tarnished his popularity amongst the general public, who find his work accessible.
---------------------------------------------------
2) A singer-songwriter based in Sydney.
Pieces Of An Overhead View
Grace to Begin
http://www.waterfrontrecords.com/product/71196
--------------------------------------------------
The Hand That Signed The Paper
Dylan Thomas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.
The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder,
The finger joints are cramped with chalk;
A goose's quill has put an end to murder
The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever,
And famine grew, and locusts came;
Great is the hand that holds dominion over
Man by a scribbled name.
The five kings count the dead but do not soften
The crusted wound nor pat the brow;
A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;
Hands have no tears to flow.
In "The Hand That Signed the Paper," Dylan Thomas paints a haunting picture of the devastating consequences of a single signature. The poem hints that the treaty that was signed by "five sovereign fingers" contributed to the loss of human life, the crushing of countries, and the rise of famine and disease. The treaty that was supposedly intended to bring peace and order ultimately brought chaos and destruction.
The hand that signed the treaty is personified as a monstrous force that unleashes destruction on the world. Thomas describes it as a mighty hand that leads to a sloping shoulder, with finger joints that are cramped with chalk. The image suggests that the hand belongs to a bureaucrat, a scribe, or a politician who wields great power over others. The hand's power is so great that it can decree life and death with nothing more than a stroke of a pen.
At the same time, the poem suggests that the hand that signed the paper is ultimately powerless to heal the wounds it creates. Although it is capable of inflicting great pain and suffering, it lacks the ability to feel pity or compassion. Hands might rule over people, but they do not have the capacity to shed tears, be moved by emotion, or be guided by mercy. In this sense, the poem is a commentary on the dangers of unchecked power, and the importance of considering the human consequences of every decision we make.
Line by Line Meaning
The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
The decision made with the hand that signed the paper caused the destruction of an entire city.
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
The power of the five fingers was used to oppress the people and extract taxes that made it hard for them to breathe.
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
The impact of the decision led to the doubling of the number of dead people and the halving of the country's size.
These five kings did a king to death.
The five powerful people who made the decision caused the death of another king who opposed them.
The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder,
The power that the hand wields leads to a posture that shows the burden of responsibility.
The finger joints are cramped with chalk;
The writer's joints have become cramped from writing too much with a chalk.
A goose's quill has put an end to murder
The power of the written word has been used to put an end to the act of murder.
That put an end to talk.
The power of the written word stopped talk and brought about a final decision.
The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever,
The decision made by the powerful hand led to the spread of a fever that caused much suffering.
And famine grew, and locusts came;
As a result, famine spread, and locusts also appeared to destroy crops, leading to starvation.
Great is the hand that holds dominion over
Great is the power that the hand wields over others.
Man by a scribbled name.
The fate of peoples' lives is determined by a scribbled name on a piece of paper signed by powerful people.
The five kings count the dead but do not soften
The powerful kings count the death and destruction caused by their decisions but do nothing to alleviate the suffering.
The crusted wound nor pat the brow;
They do nothing to heal the wounds or soothe the people who have suffered.
A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;
The hand that wields great power has the ability to show pity and mercy like it has the power to rule heaven.
Hands have no tears to flow.
The hand that wields great power does not shed tears for the suffering that it has caused.
Contributed by Andrew N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Linda Harr
I got this on cd from ebay. Thanks for posting this so I know that such things exist, and how wonderful to hear his voice again. We miss you Richard, and thanks again!
mingo09able
Love it - thanks for posting. I used to have these on cassette and am glad they are available.
San Francisco Professor
Thank you for posting this. I'll show it to classes.
Peter Thompson
I have the tape featured unable to play now thank you for the video Burton certainly had a great VOICE, we should all remember D.Thomas.
X
This might interest you. It's a song that uses the poem as its lyrics: https://soundcloud.com/rogers-and-clarke/the-hand
AAH Replies
this reading is cross referenced from http://www.allaboutheaven.org/observations/10618/127/thomas-dylan-the-hand-that-signed-the-paper-012588 which also has a bio of Thomas http://www.allaboutheaven.org/sources/844/135/thomas-dylan