Instead of seed, the original has Seedes. Pope's correction.
P. 102. Now, if you have a station in the file.
And not i' the worser rank of manhood, say't. — The
original lacks And, and has worst instead of tuorser. The insertion
M'as made by Rowe ; the correction proposed by Jervis. Shakespeare
has worser repeatedly in the same sense.
P. 102. So wearied with disasters, tugg'd with fortune. — So
Capell, Collier's second folio, and Lettsom. The old text has "So
wearie with Disasters."
P. 103. I will advise you where to plant yourselves ;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time, &c. —
Johnson proposed, and White prints, " with a perfect spy." It is a
nice point which of the articles should here be used. " The spy " may
mean the espial or discovery, that is, the signal, of the time ; " a spy"
would mean the person giving it. So I do not see that any thing is
gained by the change. See foot-note 24.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
194 MACBETH.
ACT III., SCENE II.
P. 105. We have but scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it. — The
original reads "We have scorched the snake." The words, "She'll
close" in the next line, show that scotched is right. Theobald's correc-
tion. — The word but is wanting in the old text, but given in Davenant's
version of the play. It both saves the metre and helps the sense.
P. 105. Better be with the dead.
Whom we, to gain our place, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie, &c. — So the second
folio. The first \i2LS- peace instead of place. But peace is nowise that
which Macbeth has been seeking: his end was simply to gain the
throne, the place which he now holds, and the fear of losing which is
the very thing that keeps peace from him. The methods by which
some editors try to justify the old reading seem to me altogether too
ingenious and too fine.
P. 107. Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me paled. — The old text has pale instead of
paled. Probably the Poet wrote paPd or paid; and here, as often,
final d and final e were confounded. The correction is Staunton's. It
is hardly needful to observe how well /^/^^ brings out the Poet's mean-
ing ; which evidently was, that Banquo's life was, so to speak, a strong
bond that kept Macbeth " bound-in to saucy doubts and fears." See
foot-note 15.
ACT III., SCENE IV.
P. 1 10. 'Tis better thee without than him within. — So Han-
mer and Collier's second folio. The original has " than he within."
P. III. Get thee gone : to-morrow
We'll hear't, ourself, again. — Instead of ourself, which
Capell proposed, the original has ourselves^ which X have tried in vain
t* understand. The use of ourselves for each other, as it has been ok-
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
CRITICAL NOTES. 1 95
plsuned. Is not English. I suspect the true reading to be " We'll hear
you telVt again." The pronoun our seems quite out of place here ;
and we have many instances of our and your confounded, as also of
your and you ; and telVt might easily be misprinted selves^ when the
long s was used. I cannot now recover the source of the proposed
reading. — The original has kear^ also, instead of hearU. — Theobald's
correction.
P. 113. Blood hath been shed ere now : i* the olden time,
Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal.
Ay, and since too, &c. — I here adopt Mr. P. A. Daniel's
punctuation, which, I think, greatly helps the sense. The passage is
commonly printed with a comma after ere nozvt and a colon or semi<
colon after gentle weal.
P. 1 14. But now they rise again.
With twenty mortal gashes on their crowns, &c. — The
original has " mortal murders,^^ which is justly condemned by Walker :
"Murders occurs four lines above, and murder two lines below. This,
by the way, would alone be sufficient to prove that murders was cor-
rupt. * Mortal murders,' too, seems suspicious." Walker, however,
proposes no substitute : that in the text is Lettsom's : " Read * With
twenty mortal gashes on their crowns.' Macbeth is thinking of what
he has just heard from the Murderer : —
With twenty trcnchdd /jmA^* on his head.
The least a death to nature."
P. 115. If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
The baby of a girl. — I keep the old reading here, because I
cannot see that any of the changes made or proposed really help the
matter. Theobald thought it should be, "If trembling me inhibit"
Pope changed inhabit to inhibit; and Steevens proposed thee for then.
Johnson conjectured " If trembling I evade it, then protest me," &c.
This, I think, is the best of them all, as regards the sense. Collier's
second folio reads "If trembling I exhibit" \ which turns trembling
into a substantive. "If trembling I unknight me," "If trembling I
inherit" " If trembling \ flinch at it" have also been p»-oposed. Dyce
prints " If trembling I inhibit thee." But I think the old reading ad-
mits of a sense not unfitting. See foot-note 17.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
196 MACBETH.
P. 116. And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
When mine are blanch'd with fear. — The original reads
" mine is blanch'd." But, as mine clearly refers to cheeks, it is hardly
possible that is can be right. Hanmer and some others read cheek ;
but surely, as Dyce notes, the plural is required there.
P. 117. There is not one of them but in his house
I keep a servant fee*d. — So Pope. The original has " There's
not a one." Theobald reads " There»s not a Thane "/ White, " There's
not a man.*'
P. 117. I will to-morrow —
Ay, and betimes I will — to th* Weird Sisters. — The orig-
inal quite untunes the rhythm -of the line by having nothing in the
place of Ay. The insertion was proposed anonymously.
ACT III., SCENE V.
P. 119. [Music and a Song within : Come away, come away,
&c. — Thus much is all that the original prints of the song here used.
I subjoin, from The Witch, by Middleton, the whole song, or rather
musical dialogue, which begins with the forecited words : —
Song above. Come away, come away,
Hecate, Hecate, come away !
Hecate. I come, I come, I come, I come.
With all the speed I may.
With all the speed I may.
Where's Stadlin?
Voice above. Here.
Hecate. Where's Puckle?
Voice above. Here;
And Hoppo too, and Hellwain too;
We lack but you, we lack but you :
Come away, make up the count.
Hecate. I will but 'noint, and then I mount.
[A Spirit like a cat detcemU*
Voice above. There's one come down to fetch his dues,
A kiss, a coll, a sip of blood;
And why thou stay'st so long, I muse, I muse,
Since the air's so sweet and good.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
CRITICAL NOTES. 197
Hecate, O, art thou come? What news, what news?
Spirit, All goes still to our delight:
Either come, or else refuse, refuse.
Hecate. Now I'm fumish'd for the flight.
Fire. Hark, hark ! the cat sings a brave treble in her own languafe.
Hecate. [Going- up.] Now I go, now I fly,
Malkin my sweet spirit and I.
O, what a dainty pleasure 'tis
To ride in the air
When the Moon shines fair.
And sing and dance, and toy and kiss!
Over woods, high rocks, and mountains,
Over seas, our mistress' fountains.
Over steeples, towers, and turrets.
We fly by night, 'mongst troops of spirits:
No ring of bells to our ears sounds.
No howls of wolves, no yelps of hounds;
No, not the noise of water's breach.
Or cannon's throat, our height can reach.
Voices above. No ring of bells, &c.
ACT III., SCENE VI.
P. 120. Who can now want the thought, how monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father? — The original reads "Who
cannot want the thought," &c. This gives a sense just the opposite of
what was manifestly intended. Keightley proposes " We cannot want
the thought " ; which would yield the right sense indeed, but at the
cost of too much force and point of expression. The Edinburgh Re-
view, July, 1869, undertakes to vindicate the old reading by showing
that cannot want was, and still is, often used in the sense of cannot
lack or cannot be without. This is very true, but I think it quite misses
the point ; and I am sure it is no more than we all knew before. The
reading in the text was proposed by Cartwright, but occurred to me
independently.
P. 120. The son of Duncan,
From whom this t}rrant holds the due of birth,
Lives in the English Court. — The original has Sonnes in.
stead of son. Corrected by Theobald.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
198 MACBETH.
P. 121. Keep from our feasts and banquets bloody knives ;
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours. — So Lett-
som. The original has Free instead of Keep. Malone proposed, and
Rann adopted, "Our feasts and banquets ^^^ from bloody knives."
P. 121. And this report
Hath so exasperate the King, that he, &c. — The original
reads " exasperate their King." Corrected by Hanmer.
ACT IV., SCENE I.
P. 122. Harpy cries : — 'tis time, *tis time. — The original has
Harpier^ the word having probably been written Harpie. Of course
it stands for some animal, real or fabulous, which is supposed to be
serving the Witches as a familiar, and giving them a signal. But I
think there was no real animal so called ; and the Poet most likely
had in mind the harpies of Virgil. The correction was proposed by
Steevens.
P 122. Toad, that under the cold stone
Days and nights hast thirty-one, &c. — The old text is with-
out they which was supplied by Rowe.
P. 124. Enter Hecate. — Here the original has the stage-direction,
^^ Enter Hecat^ and the other three WitchesP It is not easy to say posi-
tively what this means ; but the probability is, that in Middleton's
ordering of the matter Hecate came with three ordinary witches to aid
the Weird Sisters in the performance of their Satanic ritual. The
Clarendon Editors print ^^ Enter Hecate to the other three Witches^^
thus substituting to for and.
P. 124. Music and a Song: Black Spirits, &c. — Here, again,
as in iii. 5, the original merely indicates the song by printing the first
words of it. And here, again, I subjoin the song as it stands in Thi
Witch :^
Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray,
Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may I
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
CRITICAL NOTES. 1 99
Firedrake, Puckey, make it lucky;
Liard, Robin, you must bob in.
Round, around, around, about, about!
All ill come running in, all good keep out !
P. 125. Though the treasure
Of Nature's geriuens tumble all together, &c. — The orig-
inal has " Natures Germaine^ But the plural is evidently required ;
and we have the same spelling of germens in King Lear^ iii. 2:
** Cracke Natures moulds, all germaines spill at once that makes in-
gratefuU Man."
P. 127. Rebellion's head rise never, till the wood
Of Bimam rise, &c. — So Hanmer and Collier's second folio.
The original has " Rebellious dead, rise never," &c.
P. 128. Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs : — and thy air,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. — The orig-
inal has kair instead of air. The correction is Johnson's. The Poet
elsewhere uses air for look or appearance. A family likeness is evi-
dently the thing meant ; and hair is not general enough for that. See
foot-note 16.
P. 129. Horrible sight ! — Nay, now I see 'tis true ;
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo, &c. — So Pope. The orig-
inal is without Nay. Steevens inserted Ay.
P. 130. This deed I'll do before this purpose cool :
But no more sights ! — This accords with Macbeth's exclama-
tion, a little before, at the vision of Banquo and his descendants :
** Horrible sight ! " Notwithstanding, much fault has been found with
sights. Collier's second foHo changes it io flights, referring to the flight
of Macduff. White substitutes sprites. Both changes, it seems to me,
impair the poetry without bettering the sense ; and sprites is particu-
larly unhappy.
P. 131. But cruel are the times, when we are traitors,
And do not know't ourselves. — So Hanmer and Collier's
second folio. The original has " not know ourselves."
Digitized by
Google
200 MACBETH.
P. 131. But float upon a wild and violent sea
Bach way it moves. — So Mr. P. A. Daniel. The original
has " E^ch way, and move "/ out of which it is not easy to make any
thing. Theobald printed ** Each way and wavgy* and Steevens con-
jectured **And each way move " ; but surely Daniel's reading is much
the best.
P. 154. Wherefore should I fly ?
I've done no harm. — Instead of Wherefore^ the old text has
Whither J which does not suit the context at all. Lettsom proposes
Why.
P. 154. Thou liest, thou shag-hair'd villain ! — The original has
" thou shagge-ear^d Villaine." Doubtless, as Dyce notes, ear''d is " a
corruption of hear^d^ which is an old spelling of hair'd^* And he fully
substantiates this by quotations.
P. 135. Hold fast the mortal sword; and like good men
Bestride our down-fall'n birthdom. — The original has
** our downfall Birthdome."
P. 135. I*m young; but something
You may deserve of him through me. — The original has
discerne instead of deserve. Corrected by Theobald.
P. 136. Wear thou thy wrongs,
Thy title is afleer'd ! — So Malone and Collier's second folio.
The original has *^The Title, is affear'd:*
P. 141. Whither indeed, before thy here-approach, &c. — The
original has they instead of thy. Corrected in the second folio.
P. 146. This tune goes manly.
Come, go we to the King. — The original has time instead
of tune. Corrected by Rowe.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
CRITICAL NOTES. lOl
ACT v., SCENE I.
P. 148. Doct. You see, her eyes are open.
Gent. Ay, but their sense is shut. — The original has
** their sense are shut." Doubtless an accidental repetition from the
line above. Rowe*s correction.
ACT v., SCENE H.
P. 151. He cannot buckle his distempered course
Within the belt of rule. — So Walker and Collier's second
folio. The old text has " distemper'd causeP As Macbeth is said to
be acting like a madman, or going wild and crazy in his course, there
need, I think, be no scruple of the correction.
ACT v., SCENE III.
P. 154. This push
Will chair me ever, or dis-seat me now. — So Percy and
Collier's second folio. The original reads " Will cheere me ever, or
dis-eate me now." The second folio changes dis-eate to disease. But
the reading thus given seems to me very tame and unsuited to the oc-
casion. Chair is often used for throne ; and Macbeth may well think
that the present assault will either confirm his tenure of the throne, or
oust him from it entirely.
P. 154. I have lived long enough : my way of life
Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf. — Collier's second
folio has " my May of life " ; and so Johnson proposed to read. This
reading would imply Macbeth to be a young man, which he is not, and
to be struck with premature old age, which cannot be his meaning.
As Gifford says, " way of life " is " a simple periphrasis for lifeP Mac-
beth is in the autumn of life, is verging upon old age, the winter of
life ; for such is the meaning of " the sere, the yellow leaf"; and what
he here laments so pathetically is, that his old age cannot have the
comforts, honours, friendships which naturally attend it, and are need-
ful, to make it supportable.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
202 MACBETH.
P. 154. Cure her of that :
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased? — So the
second folio. The first omits her.
P. 155. Cleanse the stuff 'd bosom of that perilous stuff. —
It has been thought, as it might well be, that ituff occurs once top
often in this hne. Collier's second folio has ** perilous grief*^; which
is less acceptable than " Cleanse the foul bosom," proposed by Stee-
vens. The other conjectures offered seem to me out of the question.
P. 155. What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug,
Would scour these English hence ? — Instead of sennas
the original has Cyme, which is not, and never was, the EngUsh name
of any drug. The correction is from the fourth folio.
ACT v., SCENE IV.
P. 156. For, where there is advantage to be ta'en.
Both more and less have given him the revolt. — So
Walker. The original reads "advantage to be given" Collier's sec-
ond folio reads ** advantage to be gotten*^
ACT v., SCENE V.
P. 157. The time has been, my senses would have quail'd
To hear a night-shriek. — So Collier's second folio. The
eriginal reads "my sences would have cooPd"; which, surely, is quite
too tame for the occasion. In yulius Casar, iv., 3, we have " That
makest my blood eold"; but this is very different from "makes my senses
cold." Dyce remarks that " examples of the expression, senses quail'
ingt may be found in our early writers."
P. 159. I should report that which I'd say I saw,
But know not how to dd't.
Macb. Well, say it, sir. — The original
reads " which / say I saw," and " Well, say sir." The first of these
corrections is Hanmer's ; the other, Pope's,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
CRITICAL NOTES. aoj
?. 159. I pall in resolution, and begin
To doubt th* equivocation of the fiend, &c. — The old text
has " I pull in resolution." Johnson proposed pall, which, as the
Clarendon edition observes, " better expresses the required sense, in-
voluntary loss of heart and hope." Besides, with pull, ** we must em-
phasize in, contrary to the rhythm of the verse."
ACT v., SCENE VIII.
P. 164. And damn'd be he that first cries " Hold." — The old
text has Aim instead of Ae. Corrected by Pope.
P. 164. [Exeunt, fighting. Alarums. — In the original, this .
stage-direction is immediately followed, in the next line, by another,
which is difficult to explain, and is omitted in all modern editions
known to me ; thus : " Enter fighting, and Macbeth slaine" Then
comes the stage-direction, which modern editors retain, ^'Retreat, and
Flourish. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Malcolm, Seyward^^ &c.
What makes the matter still more perplexing is, that, nineteen lines
further on, the original, without any intervening exit, has the stage-
direction, ** Enter Macduffe ; with Macbeths head^ The likeliest ex-
planation seems to be, that the play originally ended with "Exeunt,
fighting," and that what follows was afterwards tacked on by Middle-
ton, in order to gratify the audience with more fighting, and with the
sight of Macbeth*s head on a pole. Surely it is not like Shakespeare's
Macdufif thus to mutilate the body of Macbeth after killing him; an
act neither gentle nor brave.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
English Composition and Rhetoric
Tezt-1>ook8 and works of reference for
higli idiools, tcademles, and colleges.
Lessons in English. Adapted to the study of American Classics. A
text-book for high schools and academies. By Sara E. H.* Lock-
wood, formerly Teacher of English in the High School, New Haven
Conn. Cloth. 403 pages. For introduction, $1.12.
A Practical Course in English Composition. By Alphonso G. New-
comer, Assistant Professor of English in Leland Stanford Junior
University. Cloth. 249 pages. For introduction, 80 cents.
A Method of English Composition. By T. Whiting Bancroft, late
Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Brown University.
Cloth. 1 01 pages. For introduction, 50 cents.
The Practical Elements of Rhetoric. By John F. Genung, Professor
of Rhetoric in Amherst College. Cloth. 483 pages. For intro-
duction, $1.25.
A Handbook of Rhetorical Analysis. Studies in style and invention,
designed to accompany the author's Practical Elements of Rhetoric.
By John F. Genung. Cloth. 306 pages. Introduction and teachers'
price, $1.12.
Outlines of Rhetoric. Embodied in rules, illustrative examples, and a
progressive course of prose composition. By John F. Genung.
Cloth. 331 pages. For introduction, $1.00.
The Principles of Argumentation. By George P. Baker, Assistant
Professor of English in Harvard University. Cloth. 414 pages. For
introduction, $1.12.
The Forms of Discourse. With an introductory chapter on style. By
William B. Cairns, Instructor in Rhetoric in the University of
Wisconsin. Cloth. 356 pages. For introduction, $1.15.
Outlines of the Art of Expression. By J. H. Gilmore, Professor of
Logic, Rhetoric and English in the University of Rochester, N.Y.
Cloth. 117 pages. For introduction, 60 cents.
The Rhetoric Tablet. By F. N. Scott, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric,
University of Michigan, and J. V. Denney, Associate Professor of
Rhetoric, Ohio State University. No. i, white paper (ruled). No. 2,
tinted paper (ruled). Sixty sheets in each. For introduction, 15 cents.
Public Speaking and Debate. A manual for advocates and agitators.
By George Jacob Holyoake. Cloth. 266 pages. For intro-
duction, $1.00.
QiNN & Company, Publishers,
Boston. Now York. Chlo^o. Atlanta. DalkM.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
S^kSoo^" ENGLISH GRAMMAR
BY THB LATB
Professor W. D. WHITNEY,
Of YaU Untveriiiyt author of *' Essentials of English Grammar^
" Sanskrit Grammar," etc. ; Editor-in-chief of
" The Century Dictionary^* ;
Mrs. S. E. H. LOCKWOOD,
Formerly Teacher of English in the High School, New Haven, Const,,
and author of** Lessons in English.^ *
x2mo. Cloth. 364 pages. For introduction, 70 cents.
This sterling book was prepared under the personal supervision of
the late Professor Whitney. The formal statement of principles and
rules has been modified only so far as was necessary to secure greater
simplicity. The inductive method of the original has been in general
retained. The book may therefore be said to bear the stamp of eminent
scholarship, and to be so far authoritative.
Some special features 6f the revision are as follows :
Topical Arrangement. The work has been entirely rewritten in
topical form. The improvement in typography will commend itself.
Topical headings are printed in boldface type ; examples are in smaller
type, and so arranged as to stand out clearly from the text.
Simplicity and Conciseness. The aim has been to make a practical,
rather than a pretentious, text-book. To this end the editor has sought
to embody the most important facts of the language, and to set them
forth simply, distinctly, and concisely.
Abundant Illustration. A conspicuous feature of the book is the
large number of practical exercises for oral and written work. More
than one hundred of these are scattered through the book, and there
are miscellaneous exercises at the end of each chapter. In selecting
these extracts, the aim has been to secure a pleasing and interesting
variety of such as best illustrate the constructions described in the text.
As the work of a practical teacher, it is believed that these exercises
will greatly add to the interest and profit of classes who may use the
book.
GINN & COMPANY, Publishers,
Boston. New York. Chicago. Atlanta. Dallas.
Digitized by
Google
BOOKS IN HIGHER ENGLISH
Alexander's Introduction to Browning $i.oo
Athenaeum Press Series : i6 volumes of this Series are now ready. Other
volumes are in preparation. See circulars for details.
Baker's Principles of Argumentation 1.12
Cook's First Book in Old English 1.50
Cook's Shelley's Defense of Poetry.. 50
Cook's Art of Poetry 1.12
Cook's Hunt's " What is Poetry?" 50
Cook's Addison's Criticisms on Paradise Lost i.oo
Corson's Primer of English Verse 1.00
Emery's Notes on English Literature i.oo
Frink's New Century Speaker i.oo
Fulton and Trueblood's Practical Elocution 1.50
Fulton and Trueblood's Choice Readings 1.50
Garnett's English Prose from Elizabeth to Victoria 1.50
Gayley's Classic Myths in English Literature 1.50
Gummere's Handbook of Poetics 1.00
Holyoake's Public Speaking and Debate 1.00
Hudson's Harvard Edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works-
Hudson's Life, Art, and Characters of Shakespeare. 2 vols 4.00
Hudson's New School Shakespeare. Each play: paper, .30; cloth .45
Hudson's Text-Book of Poetry 1.25
Hudson's Text-Book of Prose 1.25
Hudson's Classical English Reader i.oo
Kent's Shakespeare Note-Book 60
Litchfield's Spenser's Britomart 60
Maxcy's Tragedy of Hamlet 45
Minto's Manual of English Prose Literature 1.50
Minto's Characteristics of English Poets 1.50
Phelps' English Romantic Movement 1.00
Sherman's Analytics of Literature 1.25
Smith's Synopsis of English and American Literature 80
Standard English Classics : 13 volumes of this Series are now ready. Other
volumes are in preparation. See circulars for details.
Thayer's Best Elizabethan Plays 1.25
White's Philosophy of American Literature 30
White's Philosophy of English Literature 1.00
Winchester's Five Short Courses of Reading in English Literature .40