Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd

First Witch
    Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.

Second Witch
    Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.

Third Witch
    Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time.

First Witch
    Round about the cauldron go;
    In the poison'd entrails throw.
    Toad, that under cold stone
    Days and nights has thirty-one
    Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
    Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.

ALL
    Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch
    Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the cauldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

ALL
    Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Third Witch
    Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
    Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
    Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
    Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
    Liver of blaspheming Jew,
    Gall of goat, and slips of yew
    Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,
    Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
    Finger of birth-strangled babe
    Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
    Make the gruel thick and slab:
    Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
    For the ingredients of our cauldron.

ALL
    Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch
    Cool it with a baboon's blood,
    Then the charm is firm and good.

Translation(s): FRE FRE JPN

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Arden Edition of the Works of William Shakespeare: Macbeth, Second Series, ed. by Kenneth Muir, London, Methuen Drama, 1951.

Authorship

• by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Song of the witches", 2010, lines 10-21,37-38 [counter-tenor and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ethan Haimo (b. 1950), "Scene from Macbeth", 1970, first performed 1971, lines 1-25,37-38 [soprano, instrumental ensemble] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Adel Verna Heinrich (b. 1926), "Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd", op. 11 (1979), first performed 1979, lines 1-11 [soprano, alto, piccolo, 2 flutes, violin, piano], from Shakespearean Women [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Libby Larsen.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title [an adaptation] ENG ; composed by Florent Schmitt.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Japanese (日本語), a translation by Yushi Odashima (b. 1930) , copyright © ENG FRE FRE and by Tsuneari Fukuda (1912 - 1994) , copyright © ENG FRE FRE ; composed by Kyoko Hagi.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title

Text added to the website: 2019-05-09 00:00:00.

Last modified: 2019-05-09 19:18:04

Line count: 48
Word count: 226

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