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 armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan1 tiger,
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 inhabit2 then, protest me
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow!

[Ghost disappears. Unreal mockery, hence!-Why so;-being gone, I am a man again. - Pray you, sit still.

Lady Macb. You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,

With most admired disorder.

Macb.

Can such things be,

And overcome3 us like a summer's cloud,

Without our special wonder? You make me strange+

Even to the disposition that I owe,

When now I think you can behold such sights,

And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,

When mine are blanched with fear.

Rosse.

What sights, my lord?

Lady Macb. I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and

worse;

Question enrages him: at once, good night:

Stand not upon the order of your going,

But go at once.

Len.

Good night, and better health

Attend his majesty!

Lady Macb.

A kind good night to all!

[Exeunt Lords and Attendants.

Macb. It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood : Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak, Augurs, and understood relations 5, have

By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks brought forth
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night?

1 Hyrcania, a district of Asia, to the N. of Parthia, abounding in wild beasts.

2 I skulk within doors, and do not accept your challenge.

3 Pass over our minds.

4 A stranger to the disposition that I owe (own); i. e. I hardly know myself, "When now I think, &c." 5 Causes and effects.

Lady Macb. Almost at odds with morning, which is which. Macb. How sayest thou, that Macduff denies his person, At our great bidding?

Lady Macb.

Did you send to him, sir?

Macb. I hear 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. I will to-morrow,
(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
Stepped 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 scanned.

Lady Macb. 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 indeed.

SCENE V.- The Heath.

[Exeunt.

Thunder.

Enter HECATE, meeting the three Witches.

1 Witch. Why, how now, Hecate? you look angerly. Hec. Have I not reason, beldams as you are,

Saucy, and over-bold? How did you dare

To trade and traffic with Macbeth,

In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never called to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?

And, which is worse, all you have done,
Hath been but for a wayward son,

Spiteful, 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 1

Meet me in the morning; thither he

Will come to know his destiny.

Your vessels, and your spells, provide,

1 One of the rivers of the infernal regions. (See Milton, oook ii. p. 33.).

Your charms, and everything beside
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal, 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, distilled by magic sleights,
Shall raise such artificial sprites,
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 mortal's chiefest enemy.

SONG [within] "Come away, come away," &c.

Hark! I am called; my little spirit, see,

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.

again.

[Exit.

[Exeunt.

1 Witch. Come, let's make haste: she'll soon be back

SCENE VI.-Forres. A Room in the Palace.

Enter LENOX, and another Lord.

Len. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts,
Which can interpret further: only, I say,

Things have been strangely borne: The gracious Duncan
Was pitied of Macbeth :-marry, he was dead :-
And the right valiant Banquo walked too late;
Whom you may say, if it please you, Fleance killed,
For Fleance fled. Men must not walk too late.
Who cannot want the thought, how monstrous
It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain,

To kill their gracious father?

How it did 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;
For 'twould have angered 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,

(As, an't please heaven, he shall not,) they should find
What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance.
But, peace!-for from broad words, and 'cause he failed
His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear,

Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell
Where he bestows himself?

Lord.
The son of Duncan,
From whom this tyrant holds his due of birth,
Lives in the English court, and is received
Of the most pious Edward with such grace,
That the malevolence of fortune nothing
Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff
Is gone, 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

Give to our tables meat, 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.

Len.

Sent he to Macduff?

Lord. He did: and with an absolute, "Sir, not I,"
The cloudy1 messenger turns me his back,

And hums; as who should say, "You'll rue the time
That clogs me with this answer."

And that well might

Len.
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 accursed!

Lord.

I'll send my prayers with him!

[Exeunt.

EXAMINATION ON ACT III.

1. Describe the course of the action in this act.
2. Which is the most powerful scene in this act?
3. Quote some moral sentences.

1 With countenance overcast.

4. Explain the terms, "to the utterance," "ecstacy,"
seeling,"
," "lated," "flaws," and "speculation."

66

5. Quote a passage of great poetic beauty from this act.

6. Under what form of beauty may this passage be ranged-picturesque, fanciful, imaginative, characteristic, &c. ?"

7. Describe the character Macbeth here gives of Banquo.

8. Who was Hecate, according to the ancients; and in what character does Shakspere introduce her into this drama?

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 mewed.

2 Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whined.
3 Witch. Harper1 cries:-'Tis time, 'tis time.
1 Witch. Round about the caldron go;

In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under coldest stone
Days and nights hast thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got.
Boil thou first in the charmèd pot!
All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble.
2 Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

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 owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble.
All. Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble.

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

Then the charm is firm and good.

Enter HECATE, and the other three Witches. Hec. O, well done! I commend your pains;

And every one shall share in the gains.

1 The name of an imp.