Returning were as tedious as go o'er: Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; Lady M. You lack the season of all natures, sleep.1 Macb. Come, we'll to sleep: My strange and self-abuse Is the initiate fear that wants hard use :2 We are yet but young in deed. SCENE V.-The Heath. Thunder. Enter HECATE, meeting the three Witches. [Exeunt. 1 Witch. Why, how now, Hecate? you look angerly. Hec. Have I not reason, beldams as your are, Saucy, and over-bold? How did you dare To trade and traffic with Macbeth, In riddles, and affairs of death; And, which is worse, all you have done Spiteful, and wrathful; who, as others do, Meet me i' the morning; thither he Great business must be wrought ere noon : Upon the corner of the moon There hangs a vaporous drop, profound;3 I'll catch it ere it come to ground: And that, distill'd by magic slights, Shall raise such artificial sprites, (1) You lack the season of all natures, sleep, i. e. you stand in need of sleep, which seasons, and gives a relish, and restores all nature. (2) My strange and self-abuse Is the initiate fear, &c. Macbeth means that the strange and self-deceiving visions which he has just experienced, arise only from that fear which beginners in evil are always affected with, and which will soon be overcome. (3) Drop profound, i. e. a drop which has secret and deeply hidden qualities. The moon, by believers in witchcraft, was supposed to distil drops upon the earth, which had magical virtues. As, by the strength of their illusion, Is mortal's chiefest enemy. SONG. [Within] "Come away, come away," &c.1 [Exit. [Exeunt. 1 Witch. Come, let's make haste: she'll soon be back again. SCENE VI.-Forres. A Room in the Palace. Enter LENOX, and another Lord. Len. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, Things have been strangely borne: The gracious Duncan It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain, That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep: (As, an 't please heaven, he shall not,) they should find But, peace!-for from broad words, and 'cause he fail'd Macduff lives in disgrace: Sir, can you tell Lord. (1) In the acting editions of "Macbeth" here is introduced, for the sake of effect, a song or dialogue of some length between Hecate and the little spirit. But this song is supposed to be the composition of Sir William d'Avenant, and was in . troduced by him in his edition of 1674. (2) Most pious Edward. Edward the Confessor is here intended. That the malevolence of fortune nothing Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights; Prepares for some attempt of war. Len. Sent he to Macduff? Lord. He did: and with an absolute, 66 Sir, not I," The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums; as who should say, "You'll rue the time Len. Lord. I'll send my prayers with him! [Exeunt. ACT IV. SCENE I.-A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. 2 Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd. 3 Witch. Harpier1 cries:-'Tis time, 'tis time. 1 Witch. Round about the caldron go; In the poison'd entrails throw. (1) Harpier, i. e. harpy. 2 Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, Make the gruel thick and slab; Enter HECATE, and three other Witches. And now about the caldron sing, [Music and a Song. Black spirits and white, You that mingle may. 2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes :Open, locks, whoever knocks. (1) Maw and gulf, i. e. the stomach and the throat, or swallow. (2) Kavin'd means glutted, gorged. 8 Enter MACBETH. Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags, What is 't you do? All. A deed without a name. Macb. I conjure you, by that which you profess, Though bladed corn be lodg'd, and trees blown down; Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Even till destruction sicken, answer me To what I ask you. 1 Witch. 2 Witch. 3 Witch. Speak. Demand. We'll answer. 1 Witch. Say, if thou 'dst rather hear it from our mouths, Or from our masters'? Macb. Call them, let me see them. 1 Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten From the murderer's gibbet, throw Into the flame. All. Come, high, or low; Thyself and office, deftly show. Thunder. An Apparition of an armed Head rises.1 Macb. Tell me, thou unknown power, 1 Witch. He knows thy thought; Hear his speech, but say thou nought. [Descends. Macb. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks; Thou hast harp'd my fear aright:-But one word more :1 Witch. He will not be commanded: Here's another, More potent than the first. App. Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises. (1) The following apparitions have been thus explained :- the armed head represents Macbeth's head, cut off by Macduff; the bloody child is Macduff, untimely ripped from his mother's womb; the child with a crown on his head and bough in his hand, is Malcolm. |