at the beginning of

the eleventh

century.



MACBETH.



Act /-



Scene L A Desert Place.
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.

1 Witch. When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain ?

2 Witch. When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle 's lost and won.

3 Witch. That will be ere the set of sun.

1 Witch. Where the place ?

2 Witch. Upon the heath.

3 Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.

1 Witch. I come, Graymalkin.

2 Witch. Paddock calls.

3 Witch. Anon !

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair :
Hover through the fog and filthy air. Exeunt.

Scene //. A Camp near Forres.

Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm^ Don-

albain, Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a

bleeding Sergeant.

Dun. What bloody man is that ? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.

Mai. This is the sergeant

Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend !
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.

Ser. Doubtful it stood ;

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdon-

wald

Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villainies of nature
Do swarm upon him from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied ;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore : but all 's too weak :
For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish' d steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave ;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to

him,

Till he unseam' d him from the nave to the chaps>
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Dun. O valiant cousin ! worthy gentleman !

Ser. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to

come

Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland,
mark :



No sooner justice had with valour armed
Compell' d these skipping kerns to trust their

heels,

But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage,
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault.

Dun. Dismay'd not this

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo ?

Ser. Yes ;

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks,
So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe :
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell
But I am faint ; my gashes cry for help.

Dun. So well thy words become thee as thy

wounds ;

They smack of honour both. Go get him sur-
geons. Exit Sergeant, attended.
Who comes here ?

Enter Eoss.

Hal. The worthy thane of Ross.

Len. What haste looks through his eyes ! SD

should he look
That seems to speak things strange.

Ross. God save the king!

Dun. Whence earnest thou, worthy thane ?

Ross. From Fife, great king;

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself,
With terrible numbers.
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor,
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict ;
Till that Bellpna's bridegroom, lapped in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit : and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us.
. Dun. Great happiness !

Rons. That now

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition ;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's inch
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest : go pronounce his present

death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.

Ross. I '11 see it done.

Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath
won. Exeunt.

Scene III. A Heath near Forres.
Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

1 Witch. Where hast thou been, sister ?

2 Witch. Killing swine.

3 Witch. Sister, where thou ?



802



MACBETH.



ACT I., Sc. 3.



1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in. her

lap,
And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd.

Give me, quoth I :

Aroint thee, witch ! the rump-fed ronyon cries.
Her husband 's to Aleppo gone, master o' the

Tiger:

But in a sieve I '11 thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I '11 do, I '11 do, and I '11 do.

2 Witch. I '11 give thee a wind.
1 Witch. Thou art kind.

3 Witch. And I another.

1 Witch. I myself have all the other ;
And the very ports they blow,

All the quarters that they know
I' the shipman's card.
I will drain him dry as hay :
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his peat-house lid ;
He shall live a man forbid :
Weary se'nnights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine :
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest- tost.
Look what I have.

2 Witch. Show me, show me.

1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb,
Wreck' d as homeward he did come.

Drum within.

3 Witch. A drum, a drum !
Macbeth doth come.

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about :
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine,
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace ! the charm 's wound up.

Enter Macbeth and Banquo.

Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Ban. How far is't call'd to Forres? What

are these

So wither' d and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on 't ? Live you ? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to under-
stand me,

By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips : you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

Macb. Speak, if you can : what are you ?

1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee,

thane of Glamis !

2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee,

thane of Cawdor !

3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king

hereafter !
Ban. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to

fear
Things that do sound so fair ? I' the name of

truth,

Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show ? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal : to me you speak not.
Jf you can look into the seeds of time,



And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.

1 Witch. Hail !

2 Witch. Hail !

3 Witch. Hail !

1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier.

3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be

none :
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo !

1 Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail !
Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me

more :

By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis ;
But how of Cawdor ? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman ; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence ? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting ? Speak, I charge
you. Witches vanish.

Ban. The earth hath bubbles as the water has,
And these are of them : whither are they vanish ' d ?
Macb. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal

melted

As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd !
Ban. Were such things'here as we do speak

about ?

Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner ?
Macb. Your children shall be kings.
Ban. You shall be king.

Mao. And thane cf Cawdor too : went it not so ?
Ban. To the selfsame tune and words. Who 's
here?

Enter Ross and Angus.

Ross. The king hath happily received, Macbeth,
The news of thy success ; and when he reads
Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight,
His wonders and his praises do contend
Which should be thine or his : silenced with that,
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as hail
Came post with post, and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.

Ang. We are sent

To give thee from our royal master thanks ;
Only to herald thee into his sight,
Not pay thee.

Ross. And for an earnest of a greater honour,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane !
For it is thine.

Ban. [A fide.'} What, can the devil speak true?

Macb. The thane of Cawdor lives : why do you

dress me
In borrowed robes ?

Ang. Who was the thane lives yet,

But under heavy judgment bears that life
Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was

combined

With those of Norway, or did line the rebel
With hidden help and vantage, or that with both



ACT I., Sc. 4.



MACBETH.



803



He labour' d in his country's wreck, I know not ;
But treasons capital, confess'd and proved,
Have overthrown him.

Macb. [Aside.] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor !
The greatest is behind. Thanks for your pains.
Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them ?

Ban. That trusted home,

Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange :
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's
In deepest consequence.
Cousins, a word, I pray you.

Macb. [Aside.] Two truths are told,

As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. I thank you, gentlemen.
I Aside.] This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good : if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth ? I am thane of Cawdor :
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature ? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings :
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smothered in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.

Ban. Look how our partner 's rapt.

Macb. [Aside.] If chance will have me king,

why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir.

Ban. New honours come upon him,

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their

mould
But with the aid of use.

Macb. [Aside.] Come what come may,

Time and the hour runs through the roughest
day.

Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your
leisure.

Macb. Give me your favour : my dull brain was

wrought
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your

pains

Are registered where every day I turn
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the

king.

Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.

Ban. Very gladly.

Macb. Till then, enough. Come, friends.

Exeunt.

Scene IF.Forres. The Palace.

Flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain,
Lennox and Attendants.

Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor ? Are not
Those in commission yet return'd ?

Mai. My liege,

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke
With one that saw him die, who did report
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons,



Implored your highness' pardon and set forth
A deep repentance : nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it ; he died
As one that had been studied in his death
To throw away the dearest thing he owed
As 'twere a careless trifle.

Dun. There 's no art

To find the mind's construction in the face :
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Ross and Angus.

O worthiest cousin !
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me : thou art so far before
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less de-
served,

That the proportion both of thanks and pay-
ment

Might have been mine ! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Macb. The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties : and our duties
Are, to your throne and state, children and ser-
vants ;
Which do but what they should, by doing every

thing
Safe toward your love and honour.

Dun. Welcome hither :

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known
No less to have done so : let me infold thee
And hold thee to my heart.

Ban. There if I grow,

The harvest is your own.

Dun. My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland : which honour mu^t
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

Macb. The rest is labour, which is not used for

you.

I '11 be myself the harbinger and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So humbly take my leave.

Dun. My worthy Cawdor !

Macb. [Aside.'] The Prince of Cumberland !

that is a step

On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires ;
Let not light see my black and deep desires :
The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

Exit.

Dun. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so

valiant,

And in his commendations I am fed ;
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome :
It is a peerless kinsman. Flourish. Exeunt.

Dd



804



MACBETH.



ACT I., Sc. 6.



Scene V. Inverness. MacbetKs Castle.
Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter.

Lady M. They met me in the day of success :
and I have learned by the perfectest report, they
have more in them than mortal knowledge. When
I burned in desire to question them further, they
made themselves air, into ichich they vanished.
Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came
missives from the king, ivho all-hailed me ' Thane
of Caivdor' ; by ^vh^ch title, before, these ^ieird
sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming
on of time, with ' Hail, king that shalt be ! ' This
have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest
partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose
the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what
greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart,
and farewell.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised : yet do I fear thy

nature ;

It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way : thou wouldst be great ;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it : what thou wouldst

highly,

That wouldst thou holily ; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win : thou'ldst have,

great Glamis,
That which cries Thus thou must do, if thou

have it ;

And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither.
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crowned withal.

Enter a Messenger.

What is your tidings ?

Mes. The king comes here to-night.

Lady M. Thou 'rt mad to say it :

Is not thy master with him ? who, were 't so,
Would have inform'd for prepai'ation.

Mes. So please you, it is true : our thane is

coming :

One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.

Lady M. Give him tending ;

He brings great news. Exit Messenger.

The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it ! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering

ministers,

Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief ! Come, thick

night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,



Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry Hold, hold !

Enter Macbeth.

Great Glamis ! worthy Cawdor !
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter !
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant.

Macb. My dearest love,

Duncan comes here to-night.

Lady M. And when goes hence ?

Macb. To-morrow, as he purposes.

Lady M. 0, never

Shall sun that morrow see !
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time ; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue : look like the innocent

flower,

But be the serpent under 't. He that 's coming
Must be provided for : and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch ;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.

Macb. We will speak further.

Lady M. Only look up clear ;

To alter favour ever is to fear :
Leave all the rest to me. Exeunt.

Scene VL Before Macbettis Castle.

Hautboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm,

Donalbain, Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, Ross,

Angus and Attendants.

Dun. This castle hath a pleasant seat ; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.

Ban. This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve
By his loved mansiohry that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here : no jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle :
Where they most breed and haunt, I have ob-
served
The air is delicate.

Enter Lady Macbeth.

Dun. See, see, our honour'd hostess !

The love that follows us sometime is our trouble,
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you
How you shall bid God 'ild us for your pains
And thank us for your trouble.

Lady M. All our service

In every point twice done, and then done double,
Were poor and single business to contend
Against those honours deep and broad whereAvitb.
Your majesty loads our house : for those of old,
And the late dignities heap'd up to them,
We rest your hermits.

Dun. Where 's the thane of .Cawdor ?

We coursed him at the heels, and had a purpose
To be his purveyor : but he rides well,
And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp

him

To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess,
We are your guest to-night.

Lady M. Your servants ever



ACT II., Sc. ].



MACBETH.



805



Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in

compt.

To make their audit at your highness' pleasure,
Still to return your own.

Dun. Give me your hand ;

Conduct me to mine host : we love him highly,
And shall continue our graces towards him.
By your leave, hostess. Exeunt.

Scene VII. Macbeth' s Castle.

Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and
divers Servants with dishes and service, and
pass over the stage. Then enter Macbeth.

Macb. If it were done when 'tis done, then

'twere well

It were done quickly : if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease, success ; that hut this blow
Might he the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We 'Id jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here ; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which being taught return
To plague the inventor : this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
To our own lips. He 's here in double trust ;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed ; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door.
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels trumpet-ton gued against
The deep damnation of his taking-off ;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe.
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.

Enter Lady Macbeth.

How now ! what news ?

Lady M. He has almost supp'd : why have you
left the chamber ?

Macb. Hath he ask'd for me ?

Lady M. Know you not he has ?

Macb. We will proceed no further in this busi-
ness :

He hathhonour'd me of late ; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.

Lady M. Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept

since ?

And wakes it now, to. look so green and pale
At what it did so freely ? From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire ? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting I dare not wait upon I would,
Like the poor cat i' the adage ?

Macb. Prithee, peace :



I dare do all that may become a man ;
Who dares do more is none.

Lady M. What beast was 't then

That made you break this enterprise to me ?
When you durst do it, then you were a man ;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both :
They have made themselves, and that their fit-
ness now

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me :
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck' d my nipple from his boneless gums
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.

Macb. If we should fail ?

Lady M. We fail !

But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we '11 not fail. When Duncan is asleep
Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey
Soundly invite him his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbec only : when in swinish sleep
Their drenched natures lie as in a death,
What cannot you and I perform upon
The unguarded Duncan ? what not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell ?

Macb. Bring forth men-children only ;

For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males. Will it not be received,
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two
Of his own chamber and used their very daggers,
That they have done 't ?

Lady M. Who dares receive it other,

As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar
Upon his death ?

Macb. I am settled, and bend up

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
Away, and mock the time with fairest show :
False face must hide what the false heart doth
know. Exeunt.



Act II.



Scene I. The Court of Macbeth' s Castle.
Enter Banquo, and Fleance bearing a torch

before him.

Ban. How goes the night, boy ?
Fie. The moon is down ; I have not heard the

clock.

Ban. And she goes down at twelve.
Fie. I take 't, 'tis later, sir.

Ban. Hold, take my sword. There 's hus-
bandry in heaven ;

Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose !
Enter. Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch.

Give me my sword.
Who 's there ?



806



MACBETH.



ACT II., Sc. 2.



Macb. A friend.

Ban. What, sir, not yet at rest ? The king 's

a-bed :

He hath been in unusual pleasure, and
Sent forth great largess to your offices.
This diamond he greets your wife withal,
By the name of most kind hostess ; and shut up
In measureless content.

Macb. Being unprepared,

Our will became the servant to defect ;
Which else should free have wrought.

Ban. All 'swell.

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters :
To you they have show'd some truth.

Macb. I think not of them :

Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve,
We would spend it in some words upon that

business,
If you would grant the time.

Ban. At your kind'st leisure.

Macb. If you shall cleave to my consent,when 'tis,
It shall make honour for you.

Ban. So I lose none

In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom f ranchised and allegiance clear,