"something wicked this way comes"

isn't that a cool phrase? it evokes a feeling of something sinister and foreboding, yet it's so poetic. what a great line...

i finally figured out where the phrase originated from... it's from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" play, where the wicked figure is none other than Macbeth himself, who is a traitor and murderer. the full line is "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes," spoken by one of the three witches/weird sisters. i watched "Macbeth" two weekends ago in NYC for Shakespeare in the Park, an annual free summertime performance of a selected Shakespeare play in Central Park. Liev Schreiber played the role of Macbeth and did an incredible job.

i remember reading "Macbeth" during high school, but for the life of me, i just couldn't understand any Shakespeare at the time. i simply didn't get it. it wasn't until i got to college where i finally understood a few Shakespeare plays that we read. it was as though an "Understanding Shakespeare" switch had finally been turned on inside my head. ding! oh, i GET it!

even now, i don't find Shakespeare plays to be easy reading, it requires focused concentration to understand and get through. thank god, i'm out of school and don't have to worry about reading lists that include Shakespeare. ;)