by punishing with his own hand the tyrant who had murdered his wife and children. Banquo, by an early death, atones for the ambitious curiosity which prompted the wish to know his glorious descendants, as he thereby has roused Macbeth's jealousy; but he preserved his mind pure from the evil suggestions of the witches his name is blessed in his race, destined to enjoy for a long succession of ages that royal dignity which Macbeth could only hold for his own life. In the progress of the action, this piece is altogether the reverse of Hamlet; it strides forward with amazing rapidity, from the first catastrophe (for Duncan's murder may be called a catastrophe) to the last. Thought and done! is the general motto; for as Macbeth says: "The flighty purpose never is o'ertook, Unless the deed go with it." In every feature we see an energetic heroic age, in the hardy North, which steels every nerve. The precise duration of the action cannot be ascertained-years, perhaps, according to the story; but we know that to the imagination the most crowded time appears always the shortest. Here we can hardly conceive how so very much could ever have been compressed into so narrow a space; not merely external events-the very inmost recesses in the minds of the dramatic personages are laid open to us. It is as if the drags were taken from the wheels of time, and they rolled along without interruption in their descent. Nothing can equal this picture in its power to excite terror. We need only allude to the circumstances attending the murder of Duncan, the dagger that hovers before the eyes of Macbeth, the vision of Banquo at the feast, the madness of Lady Macbeth; what can possibly be said on the subject that will not rather weaken the impression they naturally leave? Such scenes stand alone, and are to be found only in this poet; otherwise the tragic muse might exchange her mask for the head of Medusa.'SCHLEGEL. SIWARD, Earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces. Young SIWARD, his son. SEYTON, an officer attending on Macbeth. ROY, son to Macduff. An English Doctor. A Scottish Doctor. A Soldier. A Porter. An Old Man. LADY MACBETH. LADY MACDUFF. Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth, Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants, and Messengers. HECATE. Three Witches. SCENE-IN THE END OF THE FOURTH ACT IN ENGLAND; THROUGH THE REST OF THE PLAY IN SCOTLAND. SCENE I-An open Place. Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches. FIRST WITCH. When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's done,1 When the battle 's lost and won. Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. First Witch. Where the place? Second Witch. Upon the heath: Third Witch. There to meet with great Macbeth.2 First Witch. I come, Graymalkin! 3 Second Witch. Paddock calls:-anon. All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Witches vanish. SCENE II-A Camp near Forres. Alarum within. Enter KING DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier. Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought As two spent swimmers, that do cling together, And choke their art. The merciless Macdonald (Worthy to be a rebel-for, to that, The multiplying villanies of nature Do swarm upon him) from the western isles Of kernes and gallowglasses is supplied: And Fortune on his quarrel® smil'd; but all's too weak: For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Like valour's minion, Carv'd out his passage till he fac'd the slave; And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Dun. O, valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! |