Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Dylan Thomas - The Hand That Signed The Paper

 

 

The hand that signed the paper felled a city;

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;

goose's quill has put an end to murder

That put an end to talk.

 

The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever,

And famine grew, and locusts came;

Great is the hand the 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.

No comments:

Post a Comment