Act 4, Scene 1

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron Boiling.

[Thunder. Enter the three Witches.]
First Witch
1418 Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Second Witch
1419 Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd.
Third Witch
1420 Harpier cries:—"tis time, 'tis time.
First Witch
1421 Round about the caldron go;
1422 In the poison'd entrails throw.—
1423 Toad, that under cold stone,
1424 Days and nights has thirty-one
1425 Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
1426 Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
All
1427 Double, double, toil and trouble;
1428 Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Second Witch
1429 Fillet of a fenny snake,
1430 In the caldron boil and bake;
1431 Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
1432 Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
1433 Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
1434 Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,—
1435 For a charm of powerful trouble,
1436 Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
All
1437 Double, double, toil and trouble;
1438 Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Third Witch
1439 Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
1440 Witch's mummy, maw and gulf
1441 Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
1442 Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
1443 Liver of blaspheming Jew,
1444 Gall of goat, and slips of yew
1445 Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
1446 Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips,
1447 Finger of birth-strangl'd babe
1448 Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
1449 Make the gruel thick and slab:
1450 Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
1451 For the ingredients of our caldron.
All
1452 Double, double, toil and trouble;
1453 Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Second Witch
1454 Cool it with a baboon's blood,
1455 Then the charm is firm and good.
[Enter Hecate.]
Hecate
1456 O, well done! I commend your pains;
1457 And everyone shall share i' the gains.
1458 And now about the cauldron sing,
1459 Like elves and fairies in a ring,
1460 Enchanting all that you put in.
Song
1461 Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray;
1462 Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may.
[Exit Hecate.]
Second Witch
1463 By the pricking of my thumbs,
1464 Something wicked this way comes:—
1465 Open, locks, whoever knocks!
[Enter Macbeth.]
Macbeth
1466 How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
1467 What is't you do?
All
1468 A deed without a name.
Macbeth
1469 I conjure you, by that which you profess,—
1470 Howe'er you come to know it,—answer me:
1471 Though you untie the winds, and let them fight
1472 Against the churches; though the yesty waves
1473 Confound and swallow navigation up;
1474 Though bladed corn be lodg'd, and trees blown down;
1475 Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
1476 Though palaces and pyramids do slope
1477 Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
1478 Of nature's germins tumble all together,
1479 Even till destruction sicken,—answer me
1480 To what I ask you.
First Witch
1481 Speak.
Second Witch
1482 Demand.
Third Witch
1483 We'll answer.
First Witch
1484 Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,
1485 Or from our masters?
Macbeth
1486 Call 'em, let me see 'em.
First Witch
1487 Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
1488 Her nine farrow; grease that's sweaten
1489 From the murderer's gibbet throw
1490 Into the flame.
All
1491 Come, high or low;
1492 Thyself and office deftly show!
[Thunder. An Apparition of an armed Head rises.]
Macbeth
1493 Tell me, thou unknown power,—
First Witch
1494 He knows thy thought:
1495 Hear his speech, but say thou naught.
Apparition
1496 Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff;
1497 Beware the Thane of Fife.—Dismiss me:—enough.
[Descends.]
Macbeth
1498 Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;
1499 Thou hast harp'd my fear aright:—but one word more,—
First Witch
1500 He will not be commanded: here's another,
1501 More potent than the first.
[Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises.]
Apparition
1502 Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
Macbeth
1503 Had I three ears, I'd hear thee.
Apparition
1504 Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
1505 The power of man, for none of woman born
1506 Shall harm Macbeth.
[Descends.]
Macbeth
1507 Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?
1508 But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
1509 And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;
1510 That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,
1511 And sleep in spite of thunder.—What is this,
[Thunder. An Apparition of a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand, rises.]
Macbeth
1512 That rises like the issue of a king,
1513 And wears upon his baby brow the round
1514 And top of sovereignty?
All
1515 Listen, but speak not to't.
Apparition
1516 Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care
1517 Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
1518 Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until
1519 Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
1520 Shall come against him.
[Descends.]
Macbeth
1521 That will never be:
1522 Who can impress the forest; bid the tree
1523 Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements, good!
1524 Rebellion's head, rise never till the wood
1525 Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth
1526 Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
1527 To time and mortal custom.—Yet my heart
1528 Throbs to know one thing: tell me,—if your art
1529 Can tell so much,—shall Banquo's issue ever
1530 Reign in this kingdom?
All
1531 Seek to know no more.
Macbeth
1532 I will be satisfied: deny me this,
1533 And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know:—
1534 Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?
[Hautboys.]
First Witch
1535 Show!
Second Witch
1536 Show!
Third Witch
1537 Show!
All
1538 Show his eyes, and grieve his heart;
1539 Come like shadows, so depart!
[Eight kings appear, and pass over in order, the last with a glass in his hand; Banquo following.]
Macbeth
1540 Thou are too like the spirit of Banquo; down!
1541 Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs:—and thy hair,
1542 Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first;—
1543 A third is like the former.—Filthy hags!
1544 Why do you show me this?—A fourth!—Start, eyes!
1545 What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
1546 Another yet!—A seventh!—I'll see no more:—
1547 And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass
1548 Which shows me many more; and some I see
1549 That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry:
1550 Horrible sight!—Now I see 'tis true;
1551 For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,
1552 And points at them for his.—What! is this so?
First Witch
1553 Ay, sir, all this is so:—but why
1554 Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?—
1555 Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites,
1556 And show the best of our delights;
1557 I'll charm the air to give a sound,
1558 While you perform your antic round;
1559 That this great king may kindly say,
1560 Our duties did his welcome pay.
[Music. The Witches dance, and then vanish.]
Macbeth
1561 Where are they? Gone?—Let this pernicious hour
1562 Stand aye accursed in the calendar!—
1563 Come in, without there!
[Enter Lennox.]
Lennox
1564 What's your grace's will?
Macbeth
1565 Saw you the weird sisters?
Lennox
1566 No, my lord.
Macbeth
1567 Came they not by you?
Lennox
1568 No indeed, my lord.
Macbeth
1569 Infected be the air whereon they ride;
1570 And damn'd all those that trust them!—I did hear
1571 The galloping of horse: who was't came by?
Lennox
1572 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word
1573 Macduff is fled to England.
Macbeth
1574 Fled to England!
Lennox
1575 Ay, my good lord.
Macbeth
1576 Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits:
1577 The flighty purpose never is o'ertook
1578 Unless the deed go with it: from this moment
1579 The very firstlings of my heart shall be
1580 The firstlings of my hand. And even now,
1581 To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done:
1582 The castle of Macduff I will surprise;
1583 Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword
1584 His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
1585 That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool;
1586 This deed I'll do before this purpose cool:
1587 But no more sights!—Where are these gentlemen?
1588 Come, bring me where they are.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 1418cultural context
“brinded cat hath mew'd”
Each witch names her familiar spirit: a 'brinded' (streaked or brindled) cat, a hedgehog ('hedge-pig'), and 'Harpier' — a spirit whose name suggests a harpy. In Jacobean witchcraft belief, a familiar was a small animal demon that attended and obeyed a witch in exchange for her blood. The cat and toad were the most common familiars named in the English witch trials of the period.
historical The weird sisters and Jacobean witchcraft
TLN 1425archaic vocab
“Swelter'd venom sleeping got”
'Swelter'd venom' means venom sweated or exuded during sleep: the toad, trapped under a cold stone for thirty-one days and nights, has been slowly sweating out its poison. 'Swelter' comes from Old English and means to be oppressively hot, to ooze with heat. The toad was considered venomous in Elizabethan natural lore, its sweat believed to be toxic.
TLN 1440cultural context
“Witch's mummy, maw and gulf”
The Third Witch's ingredient list packs multiple horrors: 'mummy' is powdered or preserved human flesh from a corpse (used in Renaissance medicine and magic); 'maw and gulf' is the stomach and gullet (swallowing throat) of a shark; 'ravin'd' means having gorged on prey; 'chaudron' (TLN 1450) is the entrails. The recipe draws on real materials that appeared in both magical texts and period apothecary trade.
TLN 1472archaic vocab
“yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up”
'Yesty' means frothy or foaming, like yeast fermenting — so 'yesty waves' are foam-crested storm seas. In this speech Macbeth demands the witches answer him even if it means untying the winds to wreck ships, flattening crops ('bladed corn be lodg'd'), toppling castles, and tumbling the very 'germins' (seeds, the stored genetic matter of all nature) into chaos. It is a declaration that he wants answers at any cost to the natural world.
historical The great chain of being (order and degree)
TLN 1505historical topical
“none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth”
The Second Apparition — a bloody child — promises Macbeth that no one 'of woman born' can harm him. Macbeth reads this as an absolute guarantee of safety. The prophecy is equivocal: Macduff was 'from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd' (5.8) — delivered by what we would now call a caesarean section — and so was not, in the strict technical sense, born of woman in the normal way. The promise is true but designed to mislead.
historical Equivocation and the Gunpowder Plot
TLN 1508archaic vocab
“make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate”
A 'bond' is a legal contract or deed of surety. Macbeth means he will not merely trust the prophecy but will enforce it himself — he will kill Macduff and thereby 'bind' fate to the outcome he wants, making the guarantee legally watertight. The legal metaphor runs through the play (the 'lease of nature' at TLN 1526 belongs to the same cluster): Macbeth thinks of fate and destiny as instruments he can contract and control.
TLN 1519historical topical
“Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him”
Birnam Wood is a real forest in Perthshire, Scotland; Dunsinane (or Dunsinnan) Hill, about twelve miles away, is where Macbeth's castle stood. The prophecy seems impossible — forests do not move — which is why Macbeth hears it as absolute safety. In Act 5 Malcolm orders his soldiers to cut branches from Birnam Wood and carry them as camouflage, making the forest appear to move. The prophecy is literally fulfilled while remaining a trick.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 1523archaic vocab
“Sweet bodements, good”
'Bodements' means omens or prophecies, specifically favorable ones. Macbeth exclaims that these are 'sweet bodements' — welcome, good-news prophecies. The word is rare in Shakespeare; here it marks Macbeth's relief at an apparently watertight promise of safety, a relief the audience knows is misplaced.
TLN 1545biblical allusion
“stretch out to the crack of doom”
The 'crack of doom' is the thunderclap of the Last Judgment — the Day of Doom, the end of the world, when God's judgment splits the sky with a thunderous crack. Macbeth is horrified that the line of kings descending from Banquo extends past any visible end, all the way to the very last moment of time. The phrase draws on Protestant apocalyptic imagery familiar from the Bible and from popular sermons.
TLN 1551archaic vocab
“blood-bolter'd Banquo”
'Blood-bolter'd' means having the hair matted and clotted with blood. 'Bolter'd' comes from 'bolter,' a sieve used to clot or entangle — so blood-bolter'd describes hair stuck together with dried blood. The image recalls Banquo's ghost as Macbeth saw it at the banquet (3.4), with 'twenty mortal murders on his crown' — gory wounds covering his head.
TLN 1579rhetorical device
“firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand”
'Firstlings' means first-born or first-formed things — the initial impulse of each faculty. Macbeth resolves that whatever his heart first thinks will be immediately enacted by his hand, with no deliberation in between. The repetition of 'firstlings' in consecutive lines (a device called anaphora) enacts the very instantaneity Macbeth is promising: the word itself doubles without pause, just as thought will double into deed.