Is there a more iconic moment in literature than Macbeth finding his way to the dark hovel of the witches? This scene is the embodiment of symbolism and theme in literary analysis. It’s also why one should tread lightly around witches and their bulging eyes and haggish faces. The following poem is from Macbeth Act IV, Scene I). It features a recital from the three evil witches shortly before Macbeth enters the scene. The witches’ song is a fantastic one, and understanding its lyricism sheds light on the story of Macbeth and his prophecy.

The Witches’ Song Lyrics

Round about the cauldron go:
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Sweated venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

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

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.

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

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch’s 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
Sliver’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.

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

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

Analysis

To begin, the witches’ song in Macbeth acts as a prophecy for Macbeth. The anti-hero of the play, Macbeth, has entered their cave on the heath to glean information about his own rise to power. The Witches tell him the truth–though it is shrouded in obstruse language and riddles.

Furthermore, the lines are written in trochaic tetrameter, which acts as the progenitor for such chants and spells. The lyrics themselves are vile, but reflect the actions that are about to occur in the play. Macbeth will murder King Duncan shortly thereafter, and then hire assassins to kill Banquo and his son Fleance.

As Jacqueline Peveto states in “Sounding and Dressing the Part: Understanding Macbeth through Language and Costume“: “The witches, in giving Macbeth the prediction that he would become thane of Cawdor and then king, are the instigators of the play’s main action. After receiving confirmation of his new title, Macbeth’s thoughts immediately turn to murder to attain the second part of the prediction.”

Whether intentional or not, consider stanza one: “In the poisoned entrails throw. /
Toad, that under cold stone.” The words poison and cold are symbolic of danger and death. More so, the refrain states: “Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” The word choice is particularly subtle but telling. For example, “Trouble,” and “Fire burn,” tell the reader that there is peril ahead for those who dare. Take note that the items going into the cauldron go from animal (“eye of newt”) to human (“Finger of a birth-strangled babe“). The shift from innocuous to murder is thematically important.

Conclusion

The witches’ evil song is a lot more than just a chant about dumping disgusting ingredients into a pot. It actually symbolizes the play’s themes of violence, death, and shift from morality to immorality. The repetition of the language itself even factors into Macbeth’s repeated transgressions. The witches show the reader that while they are seemingly evil themselves, the true evil exists in the actions committed by Macbeth.