Ban.: How far is t call'd to Forres? What are these So wither'd and so wild in their attire, 40 That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, That man may question? You seem to understand me, That you are so. Macb.: Speak, if you can: what are you? 45 First Witch: All hail, Macbeth hail to thee, thane of Glamis ! Sec. Witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! Ban.: Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner 51 55 That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not. If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 60 First Witch: Hail! Sec. Witch: Hail! Third Witch: Hail! First Witch: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 65 41. the inhabitants, etc. The the is elided in each case in this line. 42. aught. A.S. a wiht = a creature, anything. 44. choppy, chapped, cracked with exposure to the weather. 45. you should be, etc. You have the general appearance of women, but your beards make it doubtful whether I may call you so. 53. Are ye fantastical, are ye creations of fancy; are ye creations of our imagination, or are ye really what ye seem to be. Fantastical and fanciful are doublets. Gr. phantasia= fancy. 55-57. You greet with present grace, etc. You so greet my noble partner with his present title and with prediction of noble and even royal honours to come, that he seems absorbed in thought thereon. 58. seeds of time. Notice how aptly the metaphor is carried out. 60, 61. neither beg nor fear, etc. Neither beg your favours nor fear your hate. 65. Lesser. The form less is now generally used, but lesser is quite correct. A.S. lytl, læsra, læst. 65. greater, i.e., in your offspring. Anexample of Oxymoron. Sec. Witch: Not so happy, yet much happier. Third Witch: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! First Witch: Banquo and Macbeth, all hail! By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. 70 75 [Witches vanish. Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, 80 As breath into the wind. Ban.: Were such things here as we do speak about? 67. Thou shalt get kings. There is no historic foundation for this prophecy, and the use made of it, but Shakespeare follows Holinshed. 67. though thou be none, though thou become not king thyself. 70. imperfect speakers. Imperfect, as only hinting, instead of speaking plainly their meaning. 71. Sinel, should be Finlay, who was Macbeth's father. The mistake is Holinshed's. I am is one syllable. 72. Cawdor. The first Cawdor has its last syllable hypermetric. See Intro., "Metre." There is some looseness, here, as Macbeth should know that Cawdor had fought against him as a rebel. See I. ii. 53. 74. within the prospect, etc., within the region of possibility. 75. from whence is a Pleonasm or Tautology, as whence means 85 The "from where." words hence, whence, thence, whither, hither, thither, have, unfortunately, dropped out of our common language. 76. owe, possess, obtain. "To possess is the proper meaning of owe. A.S., agan= to own. 79. hath has. A good example of the struggle between old and new forms. In I. ii. 67, hath is used in both instances. 80. are they vanish'd, have they vanished. The verb "to be " 82. Would, for I would, or wish, that. 84. on, for the modern of. 84. insane root, henbane, a root which causes insanity when eaten. It is called "insana " in one of the old Herbals. Macb.: Your children shall be kings. Ban.: You shall be king. Ross: The king hath happily received, Macbeth, Which should be thine or his silenced with that, We are sent Not pay thee. Ross: And, for an earnest of a greater honour, He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor: 86. Your children shall be kings. The first suggestion of Macbeth's envy of Banquo. 89. happily, in happiness, with joy. 90-97. when he reads, etc. When he reads of thine own personal prowess in the fight against the rebels, he has to struggle between the expression of his wonder at thy deeds and of his praise of thy merit; that struggle over, in viewing again the deeds of this same day, he finds thee fighting against the fierce Norweyans, afraid not even of death, of which thou madest so many examples with thy sword. This 96. afeard, afraid. transposition of "r" is not uncommon, as in brast for burst, brid for bird. 98. post with post, messenger after messenger. 90 95 100 105 99. in his kingdom's great defence, for the great defence of his kingdom. 102, 103. Only to herald, etc. We are sent to thank thee, but only as messengers sent to bring thee to him, not as full payment for thy merits. Herald is from Fr., héraut. 104. an earnest. Whenever any agreement was come to, or any bargain made, a small sum was paid down to ratify the agreement. The sum was called 66 earnest money." We now call it a deposit. The title of Thane of Cawdor was therefore to be but a small portion of the honours to be bestowed upon Macbeth. This noun, earnest, is of Welsh origin, and is a different word from the adjective. See Glossary. |