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 owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ATTRIBUTION:
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), British dramatist, poet. 2nd Witch, in Macbeth, act 4, sc. 1, l. 14-9.
The parts of creatures include the forked tongue of the poisonous adder, and the “sting” of the blind-worm, a lizard that is in fact harmless.
