ANGUS,
CAITHNESS,
FLEANCE, son to Banquo.
Siward, earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces.
Young SIWARD, his son.
SEYTON, an officer attending on Macbeth.
Boy, son to Macduff.
An English Doctor.
A Scotch Doctor.
A Sergeant.
A Porter
An Old Man.

Lady MACBETH.
Lady MacDUFF.
Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth.

HECATE.
Three Witches.
Apparitions.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants,

and Messengers.

SCENE: Scotland; England.

The Tragedy of

Macbeth.

Act First

Scene I.

A desert place.
Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches.
First Witch. When shall we three meet again

In thunder, lightning, or in rain ?
Sec. Witch. When the hurlyburly's done,

When the battle's lost and won.
Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch. Where the place ?
Sec. Witch.

Upon the heath.
Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch. I come, Graymalkin.
All. Paddock calls :-anon !

10
Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt.

Scene II.

A camp near Forres. Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain,

Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant. Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report,

As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt

The newest state.
Mal.

This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil

As thou didst leave it.
Ser.

Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald-
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that

10
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him—from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied ;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel

Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;

20 Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,

And fix'd his head upon our battlements.
Dun. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman !
Ser. As whence the sun 'ging his reflection

Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark :
No sooner justice had, with valour arm’d,
Compellid these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, 31
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men,

Began a fresh assault.
Dun.

Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Ser.

Yes ;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks; so they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,

I cannot tell

But I am faint; my gashes cry for help. Dun. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds ; They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons.

[Exit Sergeant, attended. Who comes here?

. Enter Ross. Mal.

The worthy thane of Ross. Len. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he

look That seems to speak things strange. Ross.

God save the king !
Dun. Whence camest thou, worthy thane?.
Ross.

From Fife, great king ;
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself 50
With terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict ;
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,

The victory fell on us.