Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare

SCENE III.

Enter three Murderers.

1 Mur. But who bid thee join with us?

3 Mur. Macbeth.

2 Mur. He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers

Our offices, and what we have to do,

To the direction just.

1 Mur. Then stand with us.

The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day:
Now spurs the lated traveller apace,

To gain the timely inn; and near approaches
The subject of our watch.

3 Mur. Hark! I hear horses.

[Banquo within.] Give us a light there, ho! 2 Mur. Then it is he; the rest That are within the note of expectation, Already are i' the court.

1 Mur. His horses go about.

3 Mur. Almost a mile: but he does usually, So all men do, from hence to the palace gate, Make it their walk.

Enter Banquo, and Fleance with a torch. 2 Mur. A light, a light!

3 Mur. 'Tis he.

1 Mur. Stand to't.

Ban. It will be rain to-night.

1Mur. Let it come down. [They assault Banquo. Bun. Oh,treachery!Fly,goodFleance, fly,fly,fly: 30 Thou may'st revenge.-O slave!

[Dies. Fleance escapes.

3 Mur. Who did strike out the light?
1 Mur. Was't not the way'?

3 Mur. There's but one down; the son is fled.
2 Mur. We have lost best half of our affair.
1 Mur. Well, let's away, and say how much
done.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

[Enterthe Ghost of Banquo, and sits in Mac-
beth's place.]

Mach. Sweet remembrancer!-
Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both!

Len. May it please your highness sit? [roof'd,
Mach. Here had we now our country's honour
Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present;
35 Who may I rather challenge for unkindness,
Than pity for mischance!

And play the humble host.

Our hostess keeps her state; but, in best time,
We will require her welcome.

Lady. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends;|
For my heart speaks, they are welcome.

Enter first Murderer to the door.

Macb. See, they encounter thee with their
hearts' thanks:-

Both sides are even: Here I'll sit i' the midst:
Be large in mirth; anon, we'll drink a measure
The table round.-There's blood upon thy face.
Mur. 'Tis Banquo's then.

Macb. 'Tis better thee without, than he within.
Is he dispatch'd?

Rosse. His absence, sir,

[ness

Lays blame upon his promise. Please it your high-
To grace us with your royal company?
Macb. The table's full.

Len. Here is a place reserv'd, sir.
Macb. Where?

[your highness?

Len. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves
Macb. Which of you have done this?

Lords. What, my good lord?

Macb. Thou canst not say, I did it: never shake Thy goary locks at me.

Rosse. Gentlemen, rise; his highness is not well. Lady. Sit, worthy friends:-my lord is often thus, 50And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat; The fit is momentary; upon a thought

1551

Mur. My lord,his throat is cut; that I did for him. 60

He will again be well: if much you note him,
You shall offend him, and extend his passion *;
Feed, and regard him not.-Are you a man?
Macb. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appal the devil,

Lady. O proper stuff!

This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger, which, you said,
Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws', and starts,
The meaning is,

That is, the best means to evade discovery. 2 From trancher, to cut.
that which is not given cheerfully, cannot be called a gift.”
Flaws are sudden gusts,

i, e. prolong his suffering. (Impostors

Impostors to true fear,) would well become
A woman's story, at a winter's fire,
Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.
[say you?
Macb. Pr'ythee,see there! behold! look! lo how
Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.-
If charnel-houses, and our graves, must send
Those that we bury, back; our monuments
Shall be the maws of kites.

Lady. What! quite unmann'd in folly?
Macb. If I stand here, I saw him.
Lady. Fie, for shame!

[time,

Macb. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the older
Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal';
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd
Too terrible for un cor. the times have been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end: but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools: This is more strange
Than such a murder is.

Lady. My worthy lord,
Your noble friends do lack you.

Mach. I do forget.

[all:

Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends;
I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing
To those that know me. Come, love and health to
Then I'll sit down:-Give me some wine, fill full:-
I drink to the general joy of the whole table,
Re-enter Ghost.

And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss ; Would he were here! To all, and him, we thirst, And all to all 3.

Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. [hide thee! Macb. Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with!

Lady. Think of this, good peers,

But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other;
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.

Macb. What man dare, I dare: Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tyger, 'Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble: or, be alive again, And dare me to the desert with thy sword; If trembling I inhabit, then protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow ! Unreal mockery, hence!-Why,so;—being gone, am a man again.-Pray you, sit still.

Lady. You have displac'd the mirth, broke the With most admir'd disorder. [good meeting,

Len. Good night, and better health, Attend his majesty!

have blood:

Lady. A kind good-night to all! [Exeunt Lords. Macb. It will have blood, they say; blood will [speak; Stones have been known to move, and trees to Augurs, and understood relations', have [forth 20 By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought The secret'st man of blood.-What is the night? Lady. Almost at odds with morning, which is which. [person, Mach. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his 25 At our great bidding?

Lady. Did you send to him, sir?

Mach. I heard it by the way: but I will send: There's not a one of them, but in his house I keep a servant fee'd. will to-morrow 30(And betimes I will) unto the weird sisters: More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know, By the worst means, the worst: for mine own good, All causes shall give way; I am in blood Stept in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:

Strange things I have in head, that will to hand;
Which must be acted, ere they may be scann'd'.
Lady. You lack the season of all natures, sleep.
Macb. Come, we'll to sleep: My strange and
self-abuse

Is the initiate fear, that wants hard use:-
We are yet but young in deed.

SCENE V.

[Exeunt.

The gentle weal is the peaceable community. 2 i. e. wonder. i. e. all good wishes to all; such as he had named above, love, health, and joy. 4 Pope reads, and we think properly, inhibit; that is, if I refuse, or evade thee. Meaning, pass over us like a summer's cloud. Mr. Steevens elucidates this passage thus: "You prove to me that I am a stranger even to my own disposition, "when I perceive that the very object which steals the colour from my cheek, permits it to remain "in yours. In other words,- You prove to me how false an opinion I have hitherto maintained "of my own courage, when yours on the trial is found to exceed it." By relation is here meant the connection of effects with causes. i. e. magpies. Mugot-pie is the original name of the bird, from magot, Fr. and hence also the modern abbreviation of mag, applied to pies. ? To scan is to examine nicely. 10 i. e. refreshment.

Was

Was never call'd to bear my part,

Or shew the glory of our art?

And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spightful and wrathful; who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: Get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron

Meet me i' the morning; thither he
Will come to know his destiny.

Your vessels, and your spells, provide,
Your charms, and every thing beside:
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal and a fatal end.

Great business must be wrought ere noon:
Upon the corner of the moon

There hangs a vaporous drop profound';
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that, distill'd by magic sleights2,
Shall raise such artificial sprights,
As, by the strength of their illusion,
Shall draw him on to his confusion:

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear:
And you all know, security

Is mortals' chiefest enemy. [Music and a song.
Hark, I am call'd; my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.

How did it grieve Macbeth! did he not straight, In pious rage, the two delinquents tear, That were the slaves of drink, and thralls of sleep? Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too; 5 For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive, To hear the men deny it. So that, I say,

He has borne all things well: and I do think, That, had he Duncan's sons under his key, [find (As, an't please heaven, he shall not) they should 10 What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance. But, peace!-for from broad words, and 'cause he His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear, [fail'd Macduff lives in disgrace: Sir, can you tell Where he bestows himself?

Lord. The son of Duncan, From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, Lives in the English court; and is receiv'd Of the most pious Edward with such grace, That the malevolence of fortune nothing

[gone

20 Takes from his high respect: Thither Macduff is To pray the holy king, upon his aid

To wake Northumberland, and warlike Siward:
That, by the help of these, (with Him above
To ratify the work) we may again

25 Give to our tables ineat, sleep to our nights;
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives;
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours,
All which we pine for now: And this report
Hath so exasperate the king, that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.

[Singing within. Come away, come away, &c.
Witch. Come, let's make haste, she'll soon be 30
back again.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.

Len. Sent he to Macduff?

Lord. He did: and with an absolute, "Sir, not I," The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums; as who should say, "You'll rue the time That clogs me with this answer."

Enter Lenox, and another Lord.
Len. My former speeches have but hit your
Which can interpret further: only, Isay. [thoughts, 35"
Things have been strangely borne: The gracious

Duncan

Was pitied of Macbeth:-marry, he was dead:-
And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late;
Whom, you may say,if it please you, Fleance kill'd, 40
For Fleance fled. Men must not walk too late.
Who cannot want the thought, how monsterous
It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain,
To kill their gracious father? damined fact !

Len. And that well might

Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel
Fly to the court of England, and unfold
His message ere he come; that a swift blessing.
May soon return to this our suffering country,
Under a hand accurs'd!

Lord. I'll send my prayers with him.

[Exeunt.

'Meaning, a drop that has deep or hidden qualities. 2 i. e. magic arts. 3i. e. deliver or exempt our feasts from bloody knives, &c. 4 Odd numbers are used in all enchantments and magical operations, even numbers being always reckoned inauspicious. : Meaning perhaps some imp, or familiar spirit.

Eye

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's' sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

All Double, double toil and trouble; Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf; Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf2, Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark; Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark; Liver of blaspheming Jew; Gall of goat, and slips of yew, Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse; Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips; Finger of birth-strangled babe, Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tyger's chaudron", For the ingredients of our cauldron,

All. Double, double toil and trouble;

2 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

Then the charın is firm and good.

Enter Hecate, and other three Witches. Hec. Oh, well done! I commend your pains; And every one shall share i' the gains. And now about the cauldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring,

Inchanting all that you put in.

Musick and a song.
Black spirits and white;
Blue spirits and grey;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.

2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes:-
Open, locks, whoever knocks.

Enter Macbeth.

Mach. How now, you secret, black, and midWhat is't you do? [night hags?

Thou hast harp'd" my fears aright:-But one [another,

word more

1 Witch. He will not be commanded: Here's More potent than the first.

[Thunder.

2d Apparition, a bloody child. App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth !— Macb. Had I three ears, I'd hear thee. [scon App. Be bloody, bold, and resolute: laugh to The power of man'; for none of woman born Shall harın Macbeth.

[Descends. Mach. Then live, Macduff: What need I fear 30 But yet I'll make assurance double sure, [of thee? And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live; That I may tell pale-hearted fear, it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.-What is this,

[Thunder. 35 3d Apparition, a child crowned, with a tree in his hand.

140

4. A deed without a name.
Macb. I conjure you, by that which you profess,
(Howe'er you come to know it) answer me:
Though you untie the winds, and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yesty' waves
Confound and swallow navigation up; [down; 50
Though bladed corn be lodg'd, and trees blown
Though castles topple' on their warders' heads;
Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the trea-
Of nature's germins tumble all together,
Even 'till destruction sicken, answer me

To what I ask you.

1 Witch. Speak.

2 Witch. Demand.

3 Witch. We'll answer.

That is, the slow-worm.

[sure 55

That rises like the issue of a king;

And wears upon his baby brow the round
And top of sovereignty 1?

All. Listen, but speak not to 't.

App. Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until

Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.

Macb. That will never be:

[Descends.

Who can impress the forest; bid the tree [good!
Untix his earth-bound root? sweet bodements!
Rebellious head, rise never, till the wood
Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time and mortal custom.-Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing; Tell me, (if your art
Can tell so much) shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?

All. Seek to know no more.

Macb. I will be satisfy'd: deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you! let me know:Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this? [Hautboys.

2 i. e. the swallow, the throat. 3

Ravin'd means glutted with prey. i. e. entrails.

Sliver'd is a common word in the north, and implies to cut a piece or slice. i. e. foaming, or frothy waves.

' i. e. adroitly, dextrously.

7i. e. tumble. a Germins are seeds which have begun to sprout. 10 To harp, is to touch on a passion as a harper touches a string. Į Witch,

"This alludes to the make or figure of the crown,

1 Witch. Shew! 2 Witch. Shew! 3 Witch. Shew! All. Shew his eyes, and grieve his heart; Come like shadows, so depart.

[A shew of eight Kings, and Banquo; the last [down! 5 with a glass in his hand. Macb. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; Thy crown does sear mine eye-bails --And thy air, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first:A third is like the former: Filthy hags! [eyes! Why do you show me this?-A fourth ?-Start, [10] What! will the line stretch out to the crack of

doom??

Another yet?-A seventh ?-I'll see no more:-
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass,
Which shews me many more; and some I see,
That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry3:
Horrible sight!-Now, I see 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd' Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.-What? is this so?
1 Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so :-But why
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?-
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights,
And shew the best of our delights;
I'll charm the air to give a sound,
While we perform our antique round:
That thi great king may kindly say,
Our duties did his welcome pay.

[Musick. [The witches dance and vanish. Macb. Where are they? Gone?Let this pernicious hour

Stand aye' accursed in the calendar!—
Come in, without there!

Enter Lenox.

Len. What's your grace's will?
Macb. Saw you the weird sisters?

Len. No, my lord.

Macb. Came they not by you?

Len. No, indeed, my lord.

Mach. Infected be the air whereon they ride;

His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls,
Ihat traces him in his line. No boasting like a fool;
This deed I'll do, before this purpose cool:
But no more sights!--Where are these gentlemen?
[Exeunt.
Come, bring me where they are.

SCENE

II.

Enter Macduff's wife, her son, and Rosse.
L. Macd. What hath he done, to make him fly
the land?

Rosse. You must have patience, madam.
L. Macd. He had none:

His flight was madness: When our actions do not,
Our fears do make us traitors.

Rosse. You know not,

Whether it was his wisdom, or his fear.

L. Macd. Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave
his babes,

His mansion, and his titles, in a place

20 From whence himself does fly? He loves us not;
He wants the natural touch': For the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.
All is the fear, and nothing is the love;
25 As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason.

Rosse. My dearest coz,

pray you, school yourself: But for your husband, He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows 30 The fits o' the season1o. I dare not speak much

further:

But cruel are the times, when we are traitors,
And do not know ourselves"; when we hold ru
mour12

35 From what we fear, yet know not what we fear;
But float upon a wild and violent sea,
Each way, and move.-I take my leave of you:
Shall not be long but I'll be here again:
Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward

And damn'd all those that trust them!—I did hear 40 To what they were before.-My pretty cousin,

The galloping of horse: Who was't came by?
Len. "His two or three, my lord, that bring
[you word,
Macduff is fled to England.

Macb. Fled to England?
Len. Ay, my good lord.

Mach. Time,thou anticipat'st' my dread exploits:
The flighty purpose never is o'er-took,
Unless the deed go with it: From this moment,
The very firstlings' of my heart shall be

Blessing upon you!

L. Macd. Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless. Rosse. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, It would be my disgrace, and your discomfort: [Exit Rosse. 45 I take my leave at once.

The firstlings of my hand. And even now [done: 50
To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and
The castle of Macduff I will surprise;

Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword

L. Macd. Sirrah, your father's dead;
And what will you do now? How will you live?
Son. As birds do, mother.

L. Macd. What, with worms and flies?
Son. With what I get, I mean; and so do they.
L. Macd. Poor bird! thou'dst never fear the net
nor lime,
The pit-fall, nor the gin.

i. e. the dissolution of nature. 1i. e. does blind me: alluding to the ancient practice of destroying the sight, by holding a piece of hot or burning iron before the eye, which dried up its humidity. 3 Warburton says, this was intended as a compliment to King James the first, who united the two islands and the three kingdoms under one head; whose house too was said to be descended from BanBlood-bolter'd means one whose blood hath issued out at many wounds, as flour of corn passes quo. 7i. e. the thing first through the holes of a sieve. Shakspeare used it to insinuate the barbarity of Banquo's murderers, 5 i. e. for ever. i. e. thou prezentest. 10 the convulwho covered him with wounds. thought or done. i. e. following him. Meaning, natural sensibility, or affection. sions or violent disorders of the times. i. e. we think ourselves innocent, the government thinks us traitors; therefore we are ignorant of ourselves. 12 To hold rumour signifies to believe rumour.

Son.

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