Ban.: How far is t call'd to Forres? What are these So wither'd and so wild in their attire,

That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught

That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret

Speak, if you can: what are you?

First Witch: All hail, Macbeth hail to thee, thane of

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?

Are ye fantastical, or that indeed

Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,

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
Your favours nor your hate.

First Witch: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

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!
Macb.: Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:

By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis;

But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,

No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way

With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.

70

75

[Witches vanish.

Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?
Macb.: Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted
Would they had stay'd!

80

As breath into the wind.

Ban.: Were such things here as we do speak about?
Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?

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 "
is still frequently used
instead of "to have" with verbs
of motion, as in Modern French.
81. corporal, solid flesh.
Pronounced corp-ral.

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.
Macb.: And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so ?
Ban.: To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here?
(Enter Ross and ANGUS.)

Ross: The king hath happily received, Macbeth,
The news of thy success; and when he reads
Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight,
His wonders and his praises do contend

Which should be thine or his silenced with that,
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as hail
Came post with post; and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.
Ang.:

We are sent
To give thee from our royal master thanks;
Only to herald thee into his sight,

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.