When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

To remember this quote use the following mnemonic.

Note: Wednesday is used to represent and help you remember the word "when". 

When shall we three meet again, Wednesday?

And on Wednesday when precisely should we three meet?

When in thunder?

No! In lightning.

No! Just in the rain.

When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? This quote is the opening line of Macbeth, act 1, scene 1, line 1, and is spoken by the first witch. 

Meaning

• "When shall we three meet again?" - The witches are planning their next meeting, signalling the future role and warning of their part in the play. 

• "In Thunder, in lightning, or in rain?" - Suggests that their meetings always happen in stormy, chaotic weather, symbolizing disorder and evil.

• Overall interpretation - The witches introduce the theme of the supernatural and set a dark, ominous tone for the play. Their presence suggests that unnatural forces are at work from the very beginning. 

Exam Advice

• Context - This is the first line of the play, immediately establishing an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. 

• Theme of the supernatural - The witches represent fate, manipulation and the disruption of natural order.

• Pathetic fallacy (the attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals) - The stormy weather reflects the chaos and violence that will follow in the play. 

• Foreshadowing (be a warning of a future event) - The witches' presence hints that they will influence Macbeth's downfall. 

• Structure and sound - The line is written in trochaic tetrameter (type of meter that consists of four trochees per line, made up of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (or it's just a fancy way of saying a sentence with eight syllables)). This gives a rhythmic pattern often  used for supernatural beings in Shakespeare's plays, making them sound eerie and otherworldly.