If thou speak'st false, Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much. I pull in resolution, and begin To doubt the equivocation of the fiend That lies like truth: 'Fear not, till Birnam wood Do come to Dunsinane:' and now a wood Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out! If this which he avouches does appear, There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. I gin to be aweary of the sun, And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. Ring the alarum-bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back.

Question

Keshawn Blanchard

English

23 October, 07:41

If thou speak'st false, Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much. I pull in resolution, and begin To doubt the equivocation of the fiend That lies like truth: 'Fear not, till Birnam wood Do come to Dunsinane:' and now a wood Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out! If this which he avouches does appear, There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. I gin to be aweary of the sun, And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. Ring the alarum-bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back.

+2

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Kash Buckley · Answer 1

This question is incomplete, but I will proceed to explain the meaning of these words.

Answer:

Summary of the quote:

This quote is said by Macbeth in Act 5 lines 37 - 51, the final act of this tragedy. Macbeth is talking to a guard, who informes him that he sees a "moving grove", in other words, a forest moving. This makes Macbeth realize that the witches lied to him, and that there is a chance that he would die, something that he thought to be impossible just a couple of lines above. He warns everybody that they should leave, but he assumes the role of the brave and honorable soldier that he used to be, and tells everyone to fight courageously.

Line by line explanation:

"If thou speak'st false, upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, till famine cling thee:" If what you said is false, I will hang you alive on a tree until you starve to death.

"If thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much" If what you are saying is true, then I don't care so much (because we will all die anyway)

"I pull in resolution, and begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth:" I begin to lose my confidence and doubt the words of the witches, that make lies look like truths.

"Fear not, till Birnam wood comes toward Dunsinane: and now a wood comes toward Dunsinane." These words are a reference to the witches' prophecy that said that Macbeth wouldn't be defeated until Birnam Wood would move towards Dunsinane.

"Arm, arm, and out!" "Grab your armour and swords, get ready to fight"

"If this which he avouches does appear, there is nor flying hence nor tarrying here." If what the guard is saying is true, then there is no way out of here"

"I 'gin to be aweary of the sun, and wish the estate o'the world were now undone" I begin to feel tired of this life and I wish the world would dissapear

"Ring the alarum bell, blow wind! Come wrack" Ring the alarm, let the storm rage"

"At least we'll die with harness on our back" At least we will die a couragous death.