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All Site ContentMacbethAct 4Scene 2
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"Poor bird"
Wordplay
Act 4,
Scene 2
Lines 35-37

An explanation of Lady Macduff and Son's affectionate exchange of wordplay in Act 4, Scene 2 of myShakespeare's Macbeth. 

Lady Macduff

Poor bird, thou'ldst never fear the net, nor lime,
The pitfall, nor the gin.

Son

Why should I, mother — poor birds they are not set for.

Lady Macbeth affectionately calls her son a “poor bird”—one who is too naive to fear the dangers in life. He jokingly responds that he has nothing to fear since they don’t set traps for poor scrawny birds—just rich fat ones.