When first they put the name of king upon me, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, Only for them; and mine eternal jewel To make them kings; the seed of Banquo kings! And champion me to the utterance! 2 -Who's there ? Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers. Now go to the door, and stay there till we call. [Exit Attendant. Was it not yesterday we spoke together? Well then, now Know, Have you considered of my speeches? struments; 4 Who wrought with them; and all things else, that might, To half a soul, and to a notion crazed, Say, Thus did Banquo. 1 For defiled. 2 "To the utterance." This phrase, which is found in writers who preceded Shakspeare, is borrowed from the French; se battre a l'outrance, to fight desperately or to extremity, even to death. 3 i. e. "passed in proving to you." 4 To bear in hand is to delude by encouraging hope and holding out fair prospects, without any intention of performance. 1 Mur. Macb. I did so; and went further, which is now Our point of second meeting. Do you find Your patience so predominant in your nature, That you can let this go? Are you so gospelled1 To pray for that good man, and for his issue, Whose heavy hand has bowed you to the grave, And beggared yours forever? You made it known to us. 1 Mur. 2 4 3 We are men, my liege. That writes them all alike: and so of men. 2 Mur. I am one, my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incensed, that I am reckless what I do, to spite the world. 1 Mur. And I another, So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune, 1 i. e. "are you so obedient to the precept of the gospel, which teaches us to pray for those who despitefully use us? 2 Shoughs are probably what we now call shocks; dogs bred between wolves and dogs. 3 Cleped, called. 4 The valued file is the descriptive list wherein their value and peculiar qualities are set down. 5 Particular addition, title, description. That I would set my life on any chance, Macb. Both of you Know, Banquo was your enemy. 2 Mur. True, my lord. Macb. So is he mine; and in such bloody distance, That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near'st of life. And though I could 2 Mur. Perform what you command us. 1 Mur. We shall, my lord, Though our lives Macb. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most, 2 I will advise you where to plant yourselves; 2 Mur. If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. [Exeunt. 1 i. e. the exact time when you may look out or lie in wait for him. 2 "Always remembering that I must stand clear of suspicion." SCENE II. The same. Another Room. Enter LADY MACBETH and a Servant. Lady M. Is Banquo gone from court? Lady M. Say to the king, I would attend his leisure For a few words. Serv. Madam, I will. Lady M. [Exit. Nought's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy, Than, by destruction, dwell in doubtful joy. Enter MACBETH. How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, Macb. We have scotched the snake, not killed it; She'll close, and be herself; whilst our poor malice Remains in danger of her former tooth. But let the frame of things disjoint, Both the worlds suffer, Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep In the affliction of these terrible dreams That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead, In restless ecstasy. 3 Duncan is in his grave; Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison, 1 Sorriest, most melancholy. 2 The first folio reads peace; the second folio place. 3 Ecstasy, in its general sense, signifies any violent emotion or alienation of the mind. The old dictionaries render it a trance, a dampe, a crampe. Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, Lady M. Come on, gentle my lord; Sleek o'er your rugged looks; be bright and jovial Macb. And so, I pray, be you. Let So shall I, love; your remembrance Apply to Banquo: present him eminence,1 both With eye and tongue: unsafe, the while, that we Must lave our honors in these flattering streams; And make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are. Lady M. You must leave this. Macb. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. Lady M. But in them nature's copy's not eterne. Macb. There's comfort yet; they are assailable Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown His cloistered flight; ere, to black Hecate's summons, The shard-borne beetle,3 with his drowsy hums, Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note. Lady M. 2 What's to be done? Macb. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest 4 chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Skarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And, with thy bloody and invisible hand, Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond 1 Present him eminence, do him the highest honor. 2 Ritson has observed, that "Nature's copy" alludes to copyhold tenure, in which the tenant holds an estate for life, having nothing but the copy of the rolls of his lord's court to show for it. A lifehold tenure may well be said to be not eternal. The subsequent speech of Macbeth, in which he says, "Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond," confirms this explanation. Many of Shakspeare's allusions are to legal customs. 3 That is, the beetle borne along the air by its shards or scaly wings. Steevens had the merit of first showing that shard or sherd was the ancient word for a scale or outward covering, a case or sheath. 4 i. e. blinding: to seel up the eyes of a hawk was to close them by sewing the eyelids together. |