A row of copper nails driven flush into a plank, with the last nail still standing up.

Original artwork, not a still

Macbeth  ·  1623

William Shakespeare

What's done cannot be undone.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Once an act has been carried out, the speaker says, no wish or regret can reverse it. The line accepts the permanence of the past and the weight of consequences. It has the flat finality of someone recognizing that only the future remains open to change.

Context reviewed

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