As by the strength of their illusion, He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear Is mortals' chiefest enemy. Song. [Within.] Come away, come away, &c.1 Hark! I am call'd: my little spirit, see, Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. [Exit. 1 Witch. Come, let's make haste: she'll soon be back again. SCENE VI. [Exeunt. Fores. 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 Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain, In pious rage the two delinquents tear, That were the slaves of drink, and thralls of sleep? 1 Song. [Within.] Come away, come away, &c.] Steevens refers us to the following song, as it is called, in Middleton's "Witch," which was unquestionably written some time after " Macbeth:" "Come away, come away, Hecate, Hecate, come away! Hec. I come, I come, I come, I come, With all the speed I may, With all the speed I may."-Dyce's Middleton, iii. 303. If it be the same song, and there are only the words "Come away," by which to identify it, both poets probably made use of the same then known piece of music. 2 Who cannot want the thought,] i. e. Who cannot but think. Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely, too; To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, He has borne all things well; and I do think, (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. The son of Duncan, From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, Len. Sent he to Macduff? Lord. He did; and with an absolute, "Sir, not I:" And hums, as who should say, "You'll rue the time And that well might Len. Lord. I'll send my prayers with him! 3 The Son of Duncan,] The old copies, sons, obviously wrong. THE king,] i. e. Macbeth. The old copy has, their king. ACT IV. SCENE I. A dark Cave. In the middle, a Cauldron. Thunder. Enter the Three Witches. 1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew❜d. 2 Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd. Toad, that under cold stone", All. Double, double toil and trouble; All. Double, double toil and trouble; 3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf; Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark; Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark; Gall of goat, and slips of yew, 5 HARPER cries,] In all the old folios this name is spelt Harpier: it may be doubted whether it was not a misprint for Harpy, then spelt Harpie. In Marlowe's "Tamberlaine, Part I.," 1590, 4to, Harpie is misprinted Harper: in the 8vo. edition, which is of the same date, it stands Harpy. Dyce's Marlowe, i. 51. Mr. Singer, taking Steevens's word, misquotes the line. Toad, that under cold stone,] Such is the line in the original copies, and laying only due and expressive emphasis upon 'cold," it is not defective. Pope introduced the "" to complete the metre: Steevens read coldest for "cold;" but there is no reason whatever for preferring the superlative degree. Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse; Make the gruel thick and slab: All. Double, double toil and trouble; 2 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood; Enter HECATE, and other Witches. Hec. Oh, well done! I commend your pains, And now about the cauldron sing, [Music and a Song. "Black spirits'," &c. 2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.— Open, locks, whoever knocks! Enter MACBETH. [Knocking. 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, (Howe'er you come to know it) answer me: 7 Add thereto a tiger's CHAUDRON,] i. e. A tiger's entrails, from the Fr. 8 Enter Hecate, and other Witches.] The old stage-direction is, "Enter Hecate, and the other three Witches." What "other three Witches" are intended does not appear: perhaps we ought to read only, "Enter Hecate, and other three Witches;" but that some addition was meant to the three Witches, who had been engaged in the incantation, is highly probable, if only for the purpose of the song which is given immediately afterwards. 9 Music and a Song. "Black Spirits," &c.] The following is from Middleton's "Witch," and is probably the song intended : "Black spirits, and white, Red spirits and grey; Mingle, mingle, mingle, Doubtless, it does not belong to Middleton more than to Shakespeare; but it was Dyce's Middleton, iii. 328. F f inserted in both dramas, because it was appropriate. VOL. V. Though you untie the winds, and let them fight Though bleaded corn be lodg'd', and trees blown down; Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Even till destruction sicken, answer me To what I ask you. 1 Witch. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths, Or from our masters'? Macb. Call 'em let me see 'em. 1 Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten Her nine farrow; grease, that's sweaten From the murderer's gibbet, throw Thunder. 1 Apparition, an armed Head'. Macb. Tell me, thou unknown power, 2 Witch. Hear his speech, but say thou nought. He knows thy thought: 1 App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife.-Dismiss me :-enough. [Descends. 1 Though BLEADED corn be lodg'd,] "Bladed corn" in the folios; but it is manifestly an error (merely of one letter) for "bleaded corn," as it stands amended in the corr. fo. 1632. Mr. Singer says that "bladed corn is " corn just come into ear, when it is very liable to be lodged:" this is a mistake; it is most liable to be lodged when it is heavy in the ear, ripe and ready for the sickle, and such is the meaning of "bleaded," from A. S. blædan. In the next line, the corr. fo. 1632 also instructs us to read o'er for "on ;" and in the next line but one stoop for "slope;" but as these last changes can hardly be considered necessary, and may be inexpedient, we only mention them. 3 2 Of nature's GERMINS] "Germins are seeds which have begun to germinate or sprout. Shakespeare uses the word again in "King Lear," A. iii. sc. 2. DEFTLY show.] i. e. Dexterously, or adroitly, from the Sax. daft. Apparition, an armed Head.] In the old copies, the Apparitions are distinguished by the figures 1, 2, and 3, meaning the first, second, and third Apparition; and there seems every reason to continue to observe this practice, for the sake of distinctness. |