Passage 039 · 1606
Macbeth "Tomorrow" Soliloquy
Main effectThrough anaphoric repetition, polysyndeton, and tense shifts, Shakespeare creates syntax of nihilistic despair. The form performs Macbeth's state: the repeated tomorrows that go nowhere, the slow creep of meaningless time, the syntax itself trapped in repetitive structures. This is grammar as existential crisis.
Device index
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Tropes
Attribution of human qualities to non-human things.
Implicit comparison.
No words highlightedAdjective logically belonging to one noun applied to another.
Schemes
Repetition at beginning of successive clauses.
Use of multiple conjunctions.
Syntax
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"—the three-fold repetition with polysyndeton creates what Tufte calls syntactic monotony-as-meaning. The form IS the futility.
"Creeps"—shifts from future (tomorrow) to present tense, suggesting all time creeps, always. The verb choice "creeps" (not "moves" or "goes") emphasizes slowness, stealthiness, something unpleasant.
"in this petty pace from day to day"—stacked prepositional phrases create the sense of being trapped in syntactic structure itself, moving from one preposition to another with no escape.
"To the last syllable of recorded time"—the infinitive of purpose/destination suggests this is where time goes: to ending, to silence (last syllable), to the end of the text/record of existence. The metaphor of "syllable of recorded time" makes life textual—we're words in a book reaching the last syllable, then silence.
"And all our yesterdays"—the coordinating conjunction shifts from future (tomorrows) to past (yesterdays), suggesting time surrounds us from both directions.
"have lighted"—the present perfect connects past action to present consequence. The past has created our current situation: leading to death.
"lighted fools / The way to dusty death"—the syntax makes "fools" the object (we are the fools) and "way to dusty death" the destination. The adjective "dusty" makes death not glorious but dirty, dry, crumbling.
Close reading
1Close Reading
Triple Repetition
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"—the three-fold repetition with polysyndeton creates what Tufte calls syntactic monotony-as-meaning. The form IS the futility.
Present Tense Verb
"Creeps"—shifts from future (tomorrow) to present tense, suggesting all time creeps, always. The verb choice "creeps" (not "moves" or "goes") emphasizes slowness, stealthiness, something unpleasant.
Prepositional Phrase Chain
"in this petty pace from day to day"—stacked prepositional phrases create the sense of being trapped in syntactic structure itself, moving from one preposition to another with no escape.
Infinitive of Destination
"To the last syllable of recorded time"—the infinitive of purpose/destination suggests this is where time goes: to ending, to silence (last syllable), to the end of the text/record of existence.
The metaphor of "syllable of recorded time" makes life textual—we're words in a book reaching the last syllable, then silence.
Coordinating Turn
"And all our yesterdays"—the coordinating conjunction shifts from future (tomorrows) to past (yesterdays), suggesting time surrounds us from both directions.
Perfect Tense
"have lighted"—the present perfect connects past action to present consequence. The past has created our current situation: leading to death.
Object and Destination
"lighted fools / The way to dusty death"—the syntax makes "fools" the object (we are the fools) and "way to dusty death" the destination. The adjective "dusty" makes death not glorious but dirty, dry, crumbling.
Stylistic Effect
Through anaphoric repetition, polysyndeton, and tense shifts, Shakespeare creates syntax of nihilistic despair. The form performs Macbeth's state: the repeated tomorrows that go nowhere, the slow creep of meaningless time, the syntax itself trapped in repetitive structures. This is grammar as existential crisis.