Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep!” the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2. After Duncan’s murder, a troubled Macbeth begins to hear voices in his head. He imagines one speaking to him about his evil deed of murdering sleep – the King was killed while asleep in his bed. The voice predicts that Macbeth himself will never rest peacefully again, foreshadowing his problems sleeping from this moment on. In this passage sleep is personified as a knitter of a “sleave of care,” that soothes our hurt minds and is the most nourishing thing in life. Macbeth’s mind is starting to unravel here because of his guilt.