Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1. Working up the courage to kill Duncan, Macbeth calls on the earth not to listen to his footsteps or what direction he walks. He fears that the stones will echo his whereabouts and reveal where he is, and so break the terrible silence that suits his murderous deed. The earth and stones are personified here, as if one is a human being with ears and the other has the power of speech.