Macbeth — Act 5, Scene 4

original text and modern English, side by side

Country near Dunsinane: a Wood in view · Malcolm, Siward, Young Siward, Macduff, Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, Ross, Soldiers

Malcolm's combined English and Scottish army has reached Birnam Wood, the landmark from the witches' prophecy that Macbeth cannot fall until the wood itself comes to Dunsinane. Malcolm now gives the order that will unknowingly make the impossible prophecy come true.

Enter, with drum and colours Malcolm, old Siward and his Son, Macduff,

Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, Ross and Soldiers, marching

Malcolm

Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand

That chambers will be safe.

Cousins, I hope the days are close at hand when people will be safe in their own bedrooms.

Menteith

We doubt it nothing.

We don't doubt it at all.

Siward

What wood is this before us?

What wood is this in front of us?

Menteith

The wood of Birnam.

Malcolm

Let every soldier hew him down a bough,

And bear’t before him.

Have every soldier cut himself a branch and carry it in front of him.

Thereby shall we shadow

The numbers of our host, and make discovery

Err in report of us.

That way we'll hide the true numbers of our army, and Macbeth's scouts will report us wrongly.

Soldiers

It shall be done.

It will be done.

Siward

We learn no other but the confident tyrant

Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure

Our setting down before’t.

All we hear is that the confident tyrant is staying put in Dunsinane and will let us settle in for a siege in front of it.

Malcolm

’Tis his main hope;

That's his main hope

For where there is advantage to be given,

Both more and less have given him the revolt,

— because wherever men have had any opening to do it, both the great and the humble have deserted him.

And none serve with him but constrained things,

Whose hearts are absent too.

No one serves him now but conscripts, and their hearts aren't in it either.

Macduff

Let our just censures

Attend the true event, and put we on

Industrious soldiership.

Let's hold off passing judgment until the actual outcome, and in the meantime apply ourselves to hard, disciplined soldiering.

Siward

The time approaches,

That will with due decision make us know

What we shall say we have, and what we owe.

The time is approaching that will settle the account and show us what we can truly claim to have and what we still owe.

Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate,

But certain issue strokes must arbitrate;

Speculating only tells us our shaky hopes; actual blows must decide the certain result

Towards which advance the war.

— so advance the army toward it.

Exeunt, marching.

Macbeth Act 5, Scene 4 summary

Who appears in this scene

Malcolm, Siward, Young Siward, Macduff, Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, Ross, Soldiers — Country near Dunsinane: a Wood in view.

Famous lines in Macbeth Act 5, Scene 4, explained

“Let every soldier hew him down a bough, / And bear’t before him.” (line 6): Malcolm orders every soldier to carry a branch cut from Birnam Wood, camouflaging the army's true size. Without realizing it, he fulfills the witches' 'impossible' prophecy — Birnam Wood really is coming to Dunsinane. The moment shows how the supernatural predictions come true through completely ordinary, human means.

Keep reading

About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 4. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/macbeth/act-5-scene-4.”

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.