The wood of Birnam

Tears For Fears
Tract
Tree 
Wood
Bosque
Alameda
Grove
Manglar
Mangrove
Swamp
Moore
Bayou
Ciénaga

Prov.21:24
"Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath."

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WOOD: cypress knee lamp with two-tier atomic fiberglass shade

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Macbeth // Wiktor Sadowski

"We hear of a battle that is even now being fought, we hear of the trysting-place of the witches at the conclusion of the fray, and last of all we hear the name of the man they are planning to meet. No sooner has the name "Macbeth" been uttered than the calls of the attendant spirits are heard and the witches hurry off. The action of the scene is over with the naming of the man against whose soul these ministers of darkness are plotting."  

Macbeth

The ingredients used for the witch’s brew in Shakespeare’s Macbeth were likely just traditional herbs going by other names, intended to intimidate the masses. For example,
Eye of Newt:  Mustard Seed                                                                 Toe of Frog:  ButtercupWool of Bat:  Holly LeavesTongue of Dog:  HoundstongueAdders Fork:  Adders tongueLizard Leg:  Ivy
A Hawk’s Heart: WormwoodAss’s Foot or Bull’s Foot:  ColtsfootBear’s Foot: Lady’s MantleCalf’s Snout: SnapdragonGraveyard Dust: MulleinSparrow’s Tongue: Knotweed

? 

2nd Witch:
"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."
Macbeth (IV, i, 14-15)

This line, uttered by the three ugly witches in Macbeth as they stir their boiling cauldron, is one of the most familiar phrases associated with traditional witchcraft. It is the infamous recipe for spell-casting, curse-inducing witchery. People believed in witches in Shakespeare's time, and thought of them as powerful practitioners of evil. Yet while these witches in Macbeth did possess the ability to conjure up spirits, they did not really control Macbeth but rather tricked him into acting in certain ways. Having correctly predicted he would be king, they now produce ghosts who allow him to conclude that he will not be killed by anyone. These ghosts have been called into our world by the use of the infamous recipe given above, which continues with "adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, lizard's leg and owlet's wing," and an assortment of other colorful ingredients.
Themes: supernatural phenomena

Chess:  "Tears For Fears" "Tract" "Tree " "Wood" "Bosque" Alameda" "Grove" "Manglar" "Mangrove " "Swamp" "Moore" "Bayou" "Ciénaga" 

Macbeth

Please see the bottom of this page for full explanatory notes and helpful Macbeth resources.

ACT V SCENE IV	Country near Burnam wood.
[ Drum and colours. Enter MALCOLM, SIWARD and YOUNG SIWARD, MACDUFF, MENTEITH, CAITHNESS, ANGUS, LENNOX, ROSS, and Soldiers, marching ]
MALCOLM	Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand
	That chambers will be safe.
MENTEITH	We doubt it nothing.
SIWARD	What wood is this before us?
MENTEITH	The wood of Birnam.
MALCOLM	Let every soldier hew him down a bough
	And bear't before him: thereby shall we shadow
	The numbers of our host and make discovery
	Err in report of us.
Soldiers	It shall be done.
SIWARD	We learn no other but the confident tyrant
	Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure
	Our setting down before 't.
MALCOLM	'Tis his main hope:	10
	For where there is advantage to be given,
	Both more and less have given him the revolt,
	And none serve with him but constrained things
	Whose hearts are absent too.
MACDUFF	Let our just censures
	Attend the true event, and put we on
	Industrious soldiership.
SIWARD	The time approaches
	That will with due decision make us know
	What we shall say we have and what we owe.
	Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate,
	But certain issue strokes must arbitrate:	20
	Towards which advance the war.
[Exeunt, marching]

Next: Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5
___________

Explanatory Notes for Act 5, Scene 4
From Macbeth. Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
__________

This scene presents the union of the English forces with the Scottish lords near Birnam wood. Malcolm's order to the soldiers to cut down boughs in order to conceal the numbers of the army, points to the fulfilment of the witches' prophecy.

1. Cousins, kinsmen.

2. chambers, private rooms. Malcolm is thinking of the murder of Duncan in his bedchamber.

6. discovery, reconnaissance.

7. in report of us, in the report carried back concerning us.

8. but, but that.

9. keeps still, remains.

9, 10. endure ... before, stand a siege there.

11. advantage to be given, where an opportunity, i.e. to desert, has to be given them. If Macbeth led his army into the field, he would necessarily give the discontented spirits a better chance to desert than if he remained in his castle.

12. more and less, great and small.

14, 15. Let ... event, let our true opinion await the actual event. Macduff is not so sure that all Macbeth's soldiers are ready to desert. His next words show that he thinks the battle will demand all their efforts; "put on industrious soldiership" means "play the part of good soldiers." Siward carries on the idea in the next speech; "whatever we may fancy our hopes to be, blows alone will settle the matter."