The three witches, casting a spell

Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I [Round about the cauldron go]

by William Shakespeare

The three witches, casting a spell

Round about the cauldron go;   

In the poison'd entrails throw.   

Toad, that under cold stone    

Days and nights hast thirty one   

Swelter'd 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 howlet'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,  

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  

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.

I have always enjoyed this passage from Macbeth.  It's such a wonderful mixture of words, and is perfect as Halloween approaches.