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"answer me"
Imagery
Act 4,
Scene 1
Lines 51-62

An explanation of weather imagery in Act 4, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.

Macbeth

I conjure you by that which you profess,
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me.
Though you untie the winds and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yeasty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up;
Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
Though palaces and pyramids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germens tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken; answer me
To what I ask you.

Using weather imagery, Macbeth demands that the witches use all their supernatural powers to answer his questions, even at the costs of a horrible storm: waves swallowing ships, winds blowing down palaces and pyramids, and gales destroying crops and preventing future harvests by tumbling down the “treasure”, or treasury building used for storing the seeds for next year’s crops.