by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd
Language: English
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.
G. Bachlund sets lines 10-21, 37-38
E. Haimo sets lines 1-25, 37-38
A. Heinrich sets lines 1-11
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.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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 Alison Bauld (b. 1944), "The Witches' Song", 1990 [ soprano and piano ], from Two Shakespeare Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- 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]
- by Adel Verna Heinrich (b. 1926), no title, op. 11 (1979), first performed 1979, lines 1-11 [ soprano, alto, piccolo, 2 flutes, violin, piano ], from Shakespearean Women [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Libby Larsen.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title [an adaptation] ; composed by Florent Schmitt.
- Also set in Japanese (日本語), a translation by Yushi Odashima (b. 1930) , copyright © and by Tsuneari Fukuda (1912 - 1994) , copyright © ; composed by Kyoko Hagi.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- 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
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-09
Line count: 48
Word count: 226