Song of the Witches: “Double, Double Toil and Trouble”
by William Shakespeare (From Macbeth)
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.
Meanings of Double Double Toil and Trouble
The song of witches by William Shakespeare presents rhyming couplets to show the magic and magic weaving techniques. The main idea of these lines is the collection of different ingredients considered integral for weaving magic and the incantation of words and their impacts on the victim.
Meanings of Lines 1-4
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Spoken by the first witch, these words form part of her song. She repeats the first phrase at the beginning and at the end. In fact, the first line is to advise her colleagues to make double efforts in weaving magic that would create double trouble for the victim. A double effort is made to burn more fire and make the cauldron bubble. After saying this, she goes on to enumerate different ingredients necessary for this magic, such as the fillet of the fenny snake, which bakes in the cauldron when the water boils in it. This is part of the magic that all of them are weaving. These four verses form part of the long magic that all the witches weave to trap Macbeth.
Meanings of Lines 5-10
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.
The first witch continues enumerating different things that she asks her colleagues to throw in the cauldron. She asks them to throw the eye of the newt, the toe of the frog, the wool of a bat, a tongue of a dog, a fork of an adder, a sting of a blind worm, a leg of a lizard, and a wing of a howlet. After counting these things, she states that this would create a powerful charm, and the trouble ensuing from that charm would be disruptive. It would be akin to boiling broth in hell and bubbling in the cauldron. This would create powerful magic for Macbeth and lady Macbeth to create troubles in the kingdom. These verses add further to the main idea, which is to weave magic through different means.
Meanings of Lines 10-14
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
The first witch repeats the lines, creating a refrain by which she wants to stress upon the main idea that the although it takes double hard work to create this mess in the cauldron, it creates double trouble when fire burns and bubbles emerge from the cauldron. She states that when it is done, it would have to be cooled down with the blood of the baboon. This would seal the fate of the victims, making the charm good and strong. She means that the charm is complete, and magic is done. Now it is the turn of the victim to show the signs. These verses complete the main idea of the lines.
Summary of Double, Double Toil and Trouble
- Popularity: “The Song of the Witches” is taken from Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, a famous playwright. This composition is highly popular in English literature and was first published in 1623. These poetic words are spoken by three Scottish witches when they are casting the spell. However, its popularity lies in the subject of supernatural phenomena.
- “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” as a Representative of Evil: This poem predicts Macbeth as a king, but the witches continue to cast their spells to create more trouble in his life. These supernatural creatures play a significant role in the advancement of the play. They successfully deceive Macbeth by filling his mind with evil thoughts and greed. Their prophecies derail him from the right path and make him stand amid pure evil. Their appearance is always a bad omen, and their spells are tricky. They take advantage of Macbeth’s weakness and tempt him to make the wrong choices.
- Major Themes in “Double, Double Toil and Trouble”: Magic and evil are the major themes of the poem. The witches prepare a cauldron by adding animal bodies, foreshadowing the imminent evil. In fact, the whole text revolves around their wickedness and prophecies. Their constant appearance creates mystery and tension. They mislead Macbeth, who in turn kills everyone who is a threat to the crown. They make him stand at the verge of destruction. It is due to their foul words Macbeth loses his purity, goodness, and loyalty toward the king and meets his tragic end.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Double Double Toil and Trouble”
literary devices allow writers to choose their words, create layers of meaning, and convey their ideas, feelings, and emotions to the readers. Shakespeare also employed some literary devices in this piece of poetic recitation to show the wickedness of the witches. The analysis of some of the literary devices used is given below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as /ou/ sound in “Double, double toil and trouble”.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /f/ in “Fillet of a fenny snake” and /b/ sound in “Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
- Imagery: The entire poem contains vivid imagery to help the reader visualize the witches’ actions and spells as they throw animals in the cauldron. For example:
“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.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. Shakespeare used the word “cauldron” as the symbol of witchcraft.
- Simile: A simile is a figure of speech used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Shakespeare uses simile in the tenth line of the poem where he compares “charm” with “hell-broth”.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as /b/ and /l/ sounds in “Double, double toil and trouble”.
Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Double Double Toil and Trouble”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Rhyme Scheme: The whole piece follows the ABAB rhyme scheme.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Shakespeare has used end rhyme in this poem such as in the first and second lines of the first stanza, the rhyming words are, “double”, “trouble”, “snake” and “bake.”
- Stressed and Unstressed Syllables: These two types of syllables are used in trochee such as the first is stressed and second is unstressed syllable in “Double Double Toil and Trouble” and this pattern continues throughout the poem.
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “Double Double Toil and Trouble” which creates musical quality in the poem.
- Refrain: The lines that are repeated in the poem at some distance in the poem are called a refrain. The lines, “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble” are repeated with the same words in the first and last stanza of the poem. Hence, they are considered as a refrain.
Quotes to be Used
- These lines can be used to scare anyone or for Halloween.
“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.”
2. These lines can be used for teaching phonics and also use as an example for alliteration.
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.”
