He was conscious of motion. encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum. then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. the power of thought was restored; he knew that the rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream. "an occurrence at owl creek bridge," ambrose bierce how does farquhar’s "oscillation, like a vast pendulum" foreshadow a real event in the story? it represents farquhar’s return to his plantation. it indicates that farquhar is dizzyingly moving forward in time. it shows how difficult the journey ahead of farquhar will be. it suggests how farquhar’s body will swing at the end of the rope.