The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak Ban. Very gladly. Macb. Till then, enough.-Come, friends. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Fores. A Room in the Palace. Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, and Attendants. Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor; or not Those in commission yet return'd®? Mal. My liege, They are not yet come back; but I have spoke Dun. There's no art, To find the mind's construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust. Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSSE, and ANGUS. Those in commission yet returned?] The folio of 1632 alters "or" into are, a change which all modern editors have adopted, but without sufficient reason. Duncan asks whether execution has been done on Cawdor, or whether the tidings had not yet been received by the return of those commissioned for the purpose? I owe this restoration to the Rev. Mr. Barry. The sin of my ingratitude even now Was heavy on me. Thou art so far before, To overtake thee: would thou hadst less deserv'd, Are to your throne and state, children, and servants; Dun. Welcome hither: I have begun to plant thee, and will labour Ban. The harvest is your own. Dun. There if I grow, My plenteous joys, Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter, But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine And bind us farther to you. Macb. The rest is labour, which is not us'd for you: I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful Dun. My worthy Cawdor! [Aside. Mach. The prince of Cumberland'! That is a step, [Exit. Dun. True, worthy Banquo: he is full so valiant, And in his commendations I am fed; It is a banquet to me. Let us after him, Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome: It is a peerless kinsman. [Flourish. Exeunt. SCENE V. Inverness. A Room in MACBETH'S Castle. Enter Lady MACBETH, reading a letter. Lady M. "They met me in the day of success; and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them farther, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed me, 'Thane of Cawdor;' by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with, Hail, king that shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightest not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell." 7 The prince of Cumberland !] The crown of Scotland (as Steevens remarks) was originally not hereditary. When the successor was declared in the lifetime of a king, (as was often the case) the title of Prince of Cumberland was immediately bestowed on him as a mark of his designation. Cumberland was at that time held by Scotland of the crown of England as a fief. This incident is from Holinshed. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature: To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; That which cries, "Thus thou must do, if thou have it; Than wishest should be undone." Hie thee hither, Enter an Attendant. What is your tidings? Thou'rt mad to say it. Atten. The king comes here to-night. Lady M. Is not thy master with him? who, wer't so, Would have inform'd for preparation. Atten. So please you, it is true: our thane is coming. One of my fellows had the speed of him ; Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more Than would make up his message. Lady M. Give him tending: He brings great news. [Exit Attendant.] The raven himself is hoarse, That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits 8 The raven himself is hoarse, That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements] These lines have produced a good deal of comment, but the meaning seems to be, that Lady Macbeth considers the fate of That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night, Enter MACBETH. Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter ! Thy letters have transported me beyond This ignorant present, and I feel now The future in the instant. Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men Duncan so certain, that the ominous raven is hoarse with proclaiming it. Warburton would read, “The raven himself's not hoarse,” which appears to be the direct opposite of what was intended by the poet. Drayton, in his “Barons' Wars,” 1603, b. v. st. 42, has these lines : "The ominous raven with a dismal cheer, Through his hoarse beak of following horror tells." 9 And PALL thee-] i. e. Wrap thyself as in a pall. VOL. VII. I |