Ere the bat hath flown
His cloister’d flight, ere, to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2. Macbeth hints to his wife of his plan to kill Banquo and Fleance before nightfall. The passage references the supernatural, a goddess associated with witches, bats and beatles. Hecate was goddess of witchcraft, night, moon and ghosts. She is described as black, a symbol for evil in the play. Macbeth’s “deed of dreadful note” is the murder of Banquo and his son. We also find an example of personification in “The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums Hath rung night’s yawning peal.”