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Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises.

App.

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!

Macb. Had I three ears, I'd hear thee.

App. Be bloody, bold, And resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.1

[Descends.

Macb. Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee?

But yet I'll make assurance double sure,

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. An Apparition of a Child crowned, with a Tree in his Hand, rises.

That rises like the issue of a king;

And wears upon his baby brow the round
And top of sovereignty ?2

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 vanquished be, until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill3
Shall come against him.

Macb.

[Descends.

That will never be ;
bid the tree

Who can impress the forest;

Sweet bodements! good!

Unfix his earth-bound root?
Rebellious head,5 rise never, till the wood

1 "For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth." So Holinshed:"And surely hereupon he had put Macduff to death, but that a certeine witch, whom he had in great trust, had told him, that he should never be slaine with man borne of anie woman, nor vanquished till the wood of Bernane came to the castle of Dunsinane. This prophecy put all fear out of his heart."

2 The round is that part of a crown which encircles the head: the top is the ornament which rises above it.

3 The present accent of Dunsinane is right. In every subsequent instance the accent is misplaced.

4 i. e. command it to serve him like a soldier impressed.

5 "Rebellious head." The old copy reads dead; the emendation is Theobald's.

Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed 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 satisfied. Deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know :-
Why sinks that caldron ? and what noise is this?

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

Eight Kings appear, and pass over the stage in order; the last with a glass in his hand; BANQUO following.

Macb. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down!

Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs;—and thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.-
A third is like the former.-Filthy hags!

Why do you show me this?-A fourth ?-Start, eyes!
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 shows me many more; and some I see,
That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry;1
Horrible sight!-Now, I see, 'tis true;

2

For the blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.-What, is this so?

1 "That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry." This was intended as a compliment to James the First: he first united the two islands and the three kingdoms under one head, whose house too was said to be descended from Banquo, who is therefore represented not only as innocent, but as a noble character; whereas, according to history, he was confederate with Macbeth in the murder of Duncan.

2 In Warwickshire, when a horse, sheep, or other animal, perspires much, and any of the hair or wool, in consequence of such perspiration, or any redundant humor, becomes matted into tufts with grime and sweat, he is

VOL. III

30

1 Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so.-But why
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?—
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights,'
And show the best of our delights;
I'll charm the air to give a sound,
While you perform your antique 2 round;
That this great king may kindly say,
Our duties did his welcome pay.

[Music. The Witches dance, and vanish.

Macb. Where are they? Gone?-Let this per

nicious hour

Stand aye accursed in the calendar!

Come in, without there!

Len.

Enter LENOX.

What's your grace's will?

No, my

lord.

Macb. Saw you the weird sisters?
Len.

Macb. Came they not by you?

Len.

No, indeed, my lord. Macb. Infected be the air whereon they ride; And damned all those that trust them!-I did hear The galloping of horse. Who was't came by? Len. 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word,

Macduff is fled to England.

Macb.

Len. Ay, my good lord.

Fled to England?

Macb. Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits : The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,

Unless the deed go with it. From this moment

The very firstlings of my heart shall be

The firstlings of my hand. And even now,

said to be boltered; and whenever the blood issues out and coagulates, forming the locks into hard, clotted bunches, the beast is said to be bloodboltered.

1 i. e. spirits. It should seem that spirits was almost always pronounced sprights or sprites by Shakspeare's contemporaries.

2 Antique was the old spelling for antic.

3 i. e. preventest them, by taking away the opportunity.

To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done.
The castle of Macduff I will surprise;

Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace 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?
Come, bring me where they are.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. Fife. A Room in Macduff's Castle.

Enter LADY MACDUFF, her Son, and RossSE.

L. Macd. What had 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

From whence himself does fly? He loves us not;
He wants the natural touch: 2-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;

As little is the wisdom, where the flight

So runs against all reason.

My dearest coz',

Rosse.
I pray you, school yourself: but, for your husband,
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows

The fits o' the season.3 I dare not speak much further:

1 i. e. follow, succeed in it.

2 Natural touch, natural affection. 3 Some commentators consider this expression as equivalent to the "violent disorders of the time;" others insist that it means "what is most fitting to be done in every conjuncture."

But cruel are the times, when we are traitors,
And do not know ourselves; when we hold rumor
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear;1
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
To what they were before.-My pretty cousin,
Blessing upon you!

L. Macd. Fathered 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. I take my leave at once.

L. Macd.

[Exit Rosse. Sirrah, your father's dead; How will you live?

And what will you do now?
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.

Son. Why should I, mother? Poor birds they are not set for.

My father is not dead, for all your saying.

L. Macd. Yes, he is dead; how wilt thou do for a father?

Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband?

L. Macd. Why, I can buy me twenty at any market. Son. Then you'll buy 'em to sell again.

L. Macd. Thou speak'st with all thy wit; and yet i' faith,

With wit enough for thee.

Son. Was my father a traitor, mother?

L. Macd. Ay, that he was.

Son. What is a traitor?

1 "When we are led by our fears to believe every rumor of danger we hear, yet are not conscious to ourselves of any crime for which we should be disturbed with fears."

2 Sirrah was not, in our author's time, a term of reproach, but sometimes used by masters to servants, parents to children, &c.

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