Friday Poem: 'Song of the Witches'

A Friday poem for All Hallows from the Scottish Play.


Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn and caldron bubble. 

Fillet of a fenny snake, 

In the caldron 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 howlet's wing, 

For a charm of powerful trouble, 

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

 

Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn and caldron bubble. 

Cool it with a baboon's blood, 

Then the charm is firm and good.


Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

Book cover for Macbeth

Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king to ensure his ambitions are realized.  Shakespeare's classic tragedy is a story of war, witchcraft and the relationship between husband and wife, and the risks they are prepared to take to achieve their desires.