Macbeth — Act 1, Scene 1in modern English, side by side

An open Place · First Witch, Second Witch, Third Witch

Scotland is at war, and somewhere nearby a battle is raging. On a stormy heath, three witches arrange to meet again once the fighting is over — this time to intercept a soldier named Macbeth.

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Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches

First Witch

When shall we three meet again?

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

When will the three of us meet again — in thunder, in lightning, or in rain?

Second Witch

When the hurlyburly’s done,

When the uproar is over.

When the battle’s lost and won.

When the battle has been lost by one side and won by the other.

Third Witch

That will be ere the set of sun.5

That will be before the sun sets.

First Witch

Where the place?

Where should we meet?

Second Witch

Upon the heath.

On the heath.

Third Witch

There to meet with Macbeth.

We'll meet Macbeth there.

First Witch

I come, Graymalkin!

I'm coming, Graymalkin, my cat!

Second Witch

Paddock calls.10

Paddock — my toad — is calling.

Third Witch

Anon.

Right away.

All

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:

Beautiful is ugly, and ugly is beautiful.

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Let's hover away through the fog and the filthy air.

_Exeunt._

Famous lines in this scene

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” line 12

The witches' chanted paradox announces the play's moral weather: appearances will deceive, and good and evil will trade places. Macbeth unknowingly echoes it in his own first line ('So foul and fair a day'), a sign that the witches' inverted values have already seeped into his world — and his mind.

Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.

Studying the language itself? Our Shakespearean English course teaches thou/thee, the verbs, and the meter — free through Unit 2. Or try the Shakespearean English translator.