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 .Tragedy of Macbeth, 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013140490 
 
SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 Bathed in mists of Penmaen Maur, 
 Taught by Plinlimmon's Druid power, 
 England's genius filled all measure 
 Of heart and soul, of mind and pleasure, 
 Gave to the race its emperor, 
 And life was larger than before, 
 Nor sequent centuries could hit 
 Orbit and sum of Shakespeare's wit. 
 
 Emsbsok. 
 
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 
 TRAGEDY OF 
 
 MACBETH 
 
 EDITED, WITH NOTESt 
 
 -HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A. M., Ph. D., 
 
 FORMERLY PROFESBOR OF RHETORIC IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY, AND AFTERWARDS 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA ; FOUNDER 
 
 OF THE UARTHA'S VINEYARD SUMMER INSTITUTE. 
 
 CRITICAL COMMENTS, ELOCUTIONARY ANALYSIS WITH 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPRESSIVE READING, PLANS 
 
 FOR THE STUDY OP ENGLISH LITERATURE, 
 
 AND SPECIMENS OF EXAMINATION 
 
 PAPERS. 
 
 SILVER, BUEDETT & CO., PUBLTSHERS,f;''<, 
 Ubw YoitiS. . • . Boston . . . Cmicauo,. i /j '^ 
 
COPTKIOHT, 1889, 
 
 Bt Homes B. SpBAens. 
 
 coftbioht, 1909, 
 Bt Silter, Bubdett & Company. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This edition of Macbeth is intended to meet the special needs of 
 students, but it is hoped that the general reader may find it useful. 
 It is believed to differ from all other school editions in important 
 respects. 
 
 First, The notes, though copious, are arranged upon the principle 
 of stimulating rather than iv/perseding thought. A glance at any 
 page ■will show this. 
 
 Secondly, It gives results of the latest etymological and critical 
 research. 
 
 Thirdly, It gives the opinions of some of the best critics on al- 
 most all disputed interpretations. 
 
 Fourthly, It presents the best methods of studying English Litera- 
 ture by class exercises, by essays, and by examinations. (See the 
 Appendix.) 
 
 Fifthly, It presents an Elocutionary Analysis with suggestions 
 for Expressive Reading. 
 
 Sixthly, It gives a map of Scotland, showing the important local- 
 ities in the play. 
 
 It is proper to add that we have not deviated so largely as other 
 editors have felt at liberty to do from the original folio text, and in 
 several instances we have even ventured to differ from all others in 
 adhering to it. In justification of this boldness we have suggested 
 new interpretations of some disputed passages, or new reasons for 
 retaining the old reading; as, e. g., I, iii, 93, 93, "Which should be 
 thine or his;" I, vi, 9, "Where they must breed and haunt;" II, i, 
 55, "Tarquin's ravishing sides;" III, iv, 105, "If trembling I in- 
 habit then;" IV, i, 97, " Rebellious dead, rise never;" etc. 
 
 HouEB B. Sfraquk. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOS. 
 
 Intkoduction to Macbeth 11 
 
 Early Editions. — Dpwden's Summary. — Earliest Account 
 of the Play.— Sources of the Plot. — Sir Walter Scott's 
 
 Account of Macbeth. — Holinshed's Story 15 
 
 Critical Comments 27 
 
 Johnson. — Steevens. — ^Whately. — John Philip Kemble. — 
 Coleridge. — Schlegel. — Hazlitt. — Mrs. Jameson. — Camp- 
 bell. — Mrs. Siddons. — Joseph Hunter. — Fletcher. — 
 Ulrici. — Hudson, 1848. — DeQuincey. — M6zi6res. — Ger- 
 vinus. — Flathe. — Heraud. — Lamartine. — Bodenstedt. — 
 Lowell. — Petri.' — Leo. — Bucknill. — Weiss, — Dowden. 
 
 — Hudson, 1879. — White.— Morley 45 
 
 exflaitatioiis ,.48 
 
 Macbeth 49 
 
 Appendix: 
 
 Elocutionart Analysis and SuaoESTiONS for Expres- 
 
 8ITE Reading 199 
 
 Song in Middleton's Witch 208 
 
 Specimen Examination Papers 309 
 
 Topics for Essays 215 
 
 Index 216 
 
 Map of Scotland 226 
 
 How to Study English Litbratcrb ........ 237 
 
Far from the sun and summer gale, 
 In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid, 
 What time, where lucid Avon stray'd, 
 
 To him the mighty mother did unveil 
 Her awful face: the dauntless child 
 Stretch'd forth his little arms and smiled. 
 "This pencil take," she said, " whose colors clear 
 Richly paint the vernal year: 
 Thine too these golden keys, immortal Boy! 
 This can unlock the gates of joy; 
 •Of horror that and thrilling fears, 
 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears." 
 
 Geat. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 EABIiT EDITIONS. 
 
 Macbeth appears to have been printed for the first time in the 
 1st folio edition of Shakespeare's works in 1633. The 2d folio saw 
 the light in 1633. It contains numerous slight deviations from the 
 text of the 1st. The 8d folio was published in 1664; the 4th in 1685. 
 
 dowden'b sdmmakt as to the date, origin, and possible inteb- 
 
 POLATIONS of the PLAT. 
 
 Macbeth was seen acted at the Globe by Dr. Forman on April 
 20, 1610. But the characteristics of versification forbid us to place 
 it after Pericles and Antony and Oleopatra,OT very near T!ie Tempest. 
 Light endings [of verses] begin to appear in considerable numbers 
 iu Macbeth (twenty-one is the precise number), but of weak endings 
 it contains only two*. Upon the whole, the internal evidence sup- 
 ports the opinion of Malone, that the play was written about 1606. 
 The words in Macbeth's vision of the kings, in the first scene of 
 the fourth act, 
 
 ' Some I see 
 
 That two-fold balls and treble sceptres carry, 
 
 refer to the union of the two kingdoms under James I. James had 
 revived the practice of touching for the king's evil, described in the 
 third scene of the fourth act. In the third scene of the second act the 
 words, "Here's a farmer that hanged himself on the expectation of 
 plenty," may have reference to the unusually low price of wheat in 
 the summer and autumn of 1606. "Here's an equivocator that could 
 swear in both scales against either scale; who committed treason 
 enough for God's sake; yet could not equivocate to heaven " (in the 
 third scene of the second act) has been supposed to allude to the 
 doctrine of equivocation, avowed by Henry Garnet, Superior of the 
 Order of Jesuits in England, on his trial for the gunpowder treason, 
 
 * By "light endings," which are hardly found at all In Shakespeare's earliest 
 plays, he means monosyllabic words on which the voice can to a small extent dwell, 
 such as am, are, be, can, could, do, does, has, had, I, they, thou, etc. By " weak 
 endings" he means words so slight in sound, and so closely connected in sense 
 with the following, that we are forced to lun them into the closest connection 
 with the first words of the next line. Such weak endings are and, for, from, if, 
 in, qf, or, etc. Light and weak endings abound in Shakespeare's latest plays. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION TO MAGBBTH. 
 
 March 38, 1606, and to his perjury on that occasion. In 1611 the 
 ghost of Banquo was jestingly alluded to in Beaumont and Fletcher'B 
 Knight of the Burning Pestle.* 
 
 The materials for his play Shakespeare found in Holinshed's 
 Chronicle (157^, connecting the portion which treats of Buncan and 
 Macbeth with Holinshed's account of the murder of King Dnfle by 
 Donwald. The appearance of Banquo's ^host, and the sleep-walk- 
 ing of Lady Macbeth, appear to be inventions of the dramatist. 
 
 Thomas Middleton's play of T/ie Witch, discovered in MS. in 1779, 
 contains many points of resemblance to Macbeth. The Cambridge 
 editors, Messrs. Clark and Wright, are of opinion that Macbeth was 
 interpolated with passages by a second author — not improbably by 
 Middleton — after Shakespeare's death, or after he had ceased to be 
 connected with the theatre; the interpolator expanded the parts 
 assigned to the weird sisters, and introduced a new character, Hecate. 
 The following passages are pointed out as the supposed interpola- 
 tions: Act I,il;iii,lto37; II,i,61; iii (Porter's part); III, v; IV, i, 39 
 to 47; 125 to 133; iii, 140 to 159; V, v, 47 to 50; viil, 32 to 83 (Before 
 my body I throw, etc.), and 35 to 75. This theory of interpolation 
 must be considered as m a high degree doubtful, and in particular the 
 Porter's part shows the hand of Shakespeare. As to Middleton's 
 The Witch, it was probably of later date than Shakespeare's play. 
 
 EARLIEST ACCOUNT OP THE PLAT. 
 
 In the Bodleian Library at Oxford is preserved a MS. diary of one 
 Dr. Simon Foiman, containing^ what appears to be the earliest ac- 
 count of this tragedy. It is as follows: 
 
 "In Macbeth, at the Globe, 1610, the 20th of April, Saturday, there 
 was to be observed first how Macbeth and Banquo, two noblemen of 
 Scotland, riding through a wood, there stood before them three women, 
 fairies or nymphs, and saluted Macbeth, saying three times unto him, , 
 Hail, Macbeth, King of Codor, for thou shall be a king, but shall be- 
 get no kings, etc. Then said Banquo, What, all to Macbeth and noth- 
 ing to mel Yes, said the nymphs. Hail, to thee, Banquo; thou shall 
 beget kings, yet be no king. And so they departed, and came to the 
 Court of Scotland, to Duncan King of Scots, and it was in the days of 
 Edward the Confessor. And Duncan bade them both kindly welcome, 
 and made Macbeth [sic] forthwith Prince of Northumberland, and 
 
 •"When thon art at the table with thy friende. 
 Merry in heart and filled with Bwelling wine, 
 I'll come in midst of all thy pride and mirth, 
 Invisible to all men bat thyself." 
 Mr. HaUiwell quotes from Tlie Puritan, printed in 1607, "We'll ha' the ghost 
 I' th' white sheet sit at upper end o' th' table." 
 
 Kolfe remarks that the accession of James (1603) made Scottish enbjecta 
 popular in England and the tale of Macbeth, and Banquo would be one of the, 
 first to be brought forward, as Banquo was held to be an ancestor of the new 
 king. 
 
 & the Betters of the Stationers' Company, Aug. 37, 1596, is the entry of a 
 "Ballad of Makdobeth." In Kemp's Mne Days' Wonder, WX), the same piece 
 appears to he referred to as a "miserable stolne story" by "a penny poet." 
 When King James visited Oxford, 160fi, an Interlude In Latin on MacDetn and 
 Banquo was performed in his honor. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 13 
 
 sent him home to his own oastle, and appointed Macbeth to provide for 
 him, for he would sup with him the next day at night, and did so. 
 And Macbeth contrived to kill Duncan, and through the persuasion of 
 his wife did that night murder the king in his own castle, being his 
 guest. And there were many prodigies seen that night and the day 
 before. And when Macbeth had murdered the king, the blood on his 
 hands could not be washed off by any means, nor from his wife's hands, 
 which handled the bloody daggers in hiding them, by which means they 
 became both much amazed and affronted. The murder being known,Dun- ■ 
 can's two sons fled, the one to England, the [other to] Wales, to save 
 themselves ; they being fled, they were supposed guilty of the murder of 
 their father, which was nothing so. Then was Macbeth crowned king, 
 and then for fear of Banquo, ms old companion, that he should beget 
 kings but be no king himself, he contrived the death of Banquo, and 
 caused him to be murdered on the way as he rode. The next night, being 
 at supper with his noblemen, whom he had bid to a feast, to the which 
 also Banquo should have come, he began to speak of noble Bari^juo, and 
 to wish that he were there. And as he thus did, standing up to drink a 
 carouse to him, the ghost of Banquo came and sat doym in his chair 
 behind him. And he, turning about to sit down again, saw the ghost 
 of Banquo, which fronted him so that he fell in a great passion of fear 
 and fury, uttering many words about his murder, by which, when they 
 heard that Banquo was murdered, they suspected Macbeth. Then 
 Macduff fled to England to the king's son, and so they raised an army 
 and came into Scotland, and at Dunscenanyse overthrew Macbeth. In 
 the mean time, while Macduff was in England, Macbeth slew Mac- 
 duff's wife and children, and after, in the battle, Macduff slew Mac- 
 beth. Observe also how Macbeth's Queen did rise in the night in her 
 sleep, and walked, and talked and confessed all, and the Doctor noted 
 her words." 
 
 SOURCE or THB PLOT OF MACBETH. 
 
 In his invaluable Vtwiorwrn edition, Furness remarks, p. 355: 
 " The historical incidents (if a medley of- fable and tradition may be 
 accounted historical) in the tragedy of ' Macbeth ' are found In the 
 Scotorum Historice of Hector Boece, first printed at Paris In 1586. 
 This Boece, or Boyce, was the first principal of King's College, 
 Aberdeen, and his work was translated into the Scotch dialect by 
 John Bellenden, arch-deacon of Moray, in 1541. Messrs. Clark and 
 Wright say that 'there is reason to think that Holinshed consulted 
 this translation. The name Macbeth itself may even have been 
 taken from Bellenden, as a rendering of the ' Maccabseus ' of Boece, 
 . . . Holinshed is Shakespeare's authority, Hector Boece is Hol- 
 inshed's, and Boece follows Fordun, adding to him, however, very 
 freely.' " 
 
 " The whole story," says Rev. C. E. Moberly in the Rugby edition 
 of Macbeth, ' is told in doggerel rhymes by the author of a book 
 called ' Albion's England,' published just before Queen Elizabeth's 
 death;"" and the ' Progresses of King James' tell us that in 1605 the 
 members of the University of Oxford rehearsed it by way of wel- 
 
 »Tlie first edition was published In 1586, bnt the " Contlnnance," containing 
 the Btory of Macbeth la the IStb book, did not appear till 1606. 
 
14 INTRODUCTION TO MAGBETE. 
 
 come to the king, in Latin hexameters hardly better in quality. A 
 specimen of the ' hexameters ' is worth giving: 
 
 'Banquonem agnovit generosa Loquabria Thanum; 
 Nee tibi, Banquo, tuis sed sceptra nepotibus illae 
 Immortalibus immortalia vaticinatae.* 
 
 It had indeed, before this, been told by Buchanan, in his classical 
 Latin prose; but the source from which Shakespeare mainly derived 
 it was Holinshed's Chronicles." 
 
 SIB WALTER SCOTT'S AOCOITNT OF MACBETH. 
 
 Duncan, by his mother Beatrice a grandson of Malcolm IIj suc- 
 ceeded to the throne on his grandfather's death, in 1033; he reigned 
 only six years. Macbeth, his near relation, also a grandchild of 
 Malcolm II, though by the mother's side, was stirred up by ambition 
 to contest the throne with the possessor. The Lady of Macbeth also, 
 whose real name was Graoch, had deadly injuries to avenge on the 
 reigning prince. She was the granddaughter of Kenneth IV, killed 
 1003, fighting against Malcolm II; and other causes for revenge ani- 
 mated Uie mma of her who has been since painted as the sternest of 
 women. The old annalists add some instigations of a supernatural 
 kind to the influence of a vindictive woman over an ambitious hus- 
 band. Three women, of more than human stature and beauty, 
 appeared to Macbeth in a dream or vision, and hailed him succes- 
 sively by the titles of Thane of Cromarty, Thane of Moray, which 
 the liing afterwards bestowed on him, and finally by that of King of 
 Scots; this dream, it is said, inspired him with the seductive hopes 
 so well expressed in the drama. 
 
 Macbeth broke no law of hospitality in his attempt on Duncan's 
 life. He attacked and slew the king at a place called Bothgowan, 
 or the Smith's House, near Elgin, in 1039, and not, as has been sup- 
 posed, in his own castle of Invemess. The act was bloody, as was 
 the complexion of the times; but, in very truth, the claim of Macbeth 
 to the throne, according to the rule of Scottish succession, was better 
 than that of Duncan. As a king, the tyrant so mnch exclaimed 
 against was, in reality, a firm, just, and equitable prince.^ Appre- 
 hensions of danger nrom a party which Mlalcolm, the eldest son of 
 the slaughtered Duncan, had set on foot in Northumberland, and still 
 maintained in Scotland, seem, in process of time, to have soured the 
 temper of Macbeth, and rendered him formidable to his nobility. 
 Against Macdufi, in particular, the powerful Maormor of Fife, he 
 had uttered some threats which occasioned that chief to fly from 
 the court of Scotland. Urged by this new counsellor, Siward, the 
 Danish Earl of Northumberland, invaded Scotland in the year 1054, 
 
 *'Geiierons Lochabria recognized Banqno as thane. Nor did those (weird Bis- 
 ters) foretell to thee, Banqno, a sceptre immortal, but to thy immortal deecend- 
 ants.' 
 
 f'All genuine Scottish tradition points to the reign of Macbeth as a period of 
 nansiwt peace and prosperity in tbat distnibed land?' 
 
 Fieemaa'a Sorman Confpieet, li, p. E5. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MAGBBTH. 15 
 
 displaying liis banner In behalf of the banished Malcolm. Macbeth 
 engaged the foe in the neighborhood of his celebrated castle of 
 Bunsinane. He was defeated, but escaped from the battle, and was 
 slain at Lumphanan in 1056. 
 
 holinshbd's stokt of king ditpp's illness caused by witch- 
 
 CBAFT. 
 
 {Abridged from Fwmessh "Macbeth."] 
 
 In the meane time the king [Duffe, who began to reign A. D. 968] 
 fell into a languishing disease, not so greeuous as strange, for that 
 none of his physicians could perceiue what to make of it. 
 
 And sithens it appeared manifestlie by all outward signes and 
 tokens, that naturall moisture did nothing f aile in the vitall spirits, 
 his colour also was fresh and faire to behold, with such liuelines of 
 looks, that more was not to be wished for; he had also a temperat 
 desire and appetite to his meate & drinlie, but yet could he not 
 sleepe in the night time by any prouocations that could be deuised, 
 but still fell into exceeding sweats, which by no means might be re- 
 streined. 
 
 But about that present time there was a murmuring amongst the 
 people, how the king was vexed with no naturall sicknesse, but by 
 sorcerie and magicall art, practised by a sort of witches dwelling in 
 a towne of Murreyland, called Fores. 
 
 Wherevpon, albeit the author of this secret talke was not 
 knowne: yet being brought to the kings eare, it caused him to send 
 foorthwith certeine wittie persons thither, to inquire of the truth. 
 They that were thus sent, dissembling the cause of the iornie, were 
 receiued in the darke of the night into the castell of Fores by the 
 lieutenant of the same, called Donwald, who continuing faithfuU to 
 the king, had kept that castell against the rebels to the kings vse. 
 Vnto him therefore these messengers declared the cause of their 
 comming, requiring his aid for the accomplishment of the kings 
 pleasure. 
 
 Wherevpon learning by hir confession [the confession of the 
 
 daughter of one of the witches] in what house in the towne it was 
 
 where they wrought there mischief ous mysterie, he sent f oorth soul- 
 
 diers about the middest of the night, who breaking into the 
 
 I, iii, 23. house, found one of the witches resting vpon a woodden 
 broch an image of wax at the fler, resembling in each 
 feature the kings person, made and deuised (as is to be thought) by 
 craft and art of the diuel : an other of them sat reciting certeine words 
 of inchantment, and still basted the image with a certeine liquor verie 
 busilie. 
 
 The souldiers finding them occupied in this wise, tooke them 
 togither with the image, and led them into the castell, where being 
 streictlie examined for what purpose they went about such manner 
 of inchantment, they answered, to the end to make away the king; 
 for as the image did waste afore the Are, so did the bodie of the king 
 
16 INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 breake foorth in sweat.* And as for the words of inchantment, they 
 serued to keepe him still waking from sleeps, so that as the wax 
 ener melted, so did the kings flesh: by the which meanes it should 
 haue come to passe, that when the wax was once cleane consumed, the 
 death of the king should immediatlie follow. So were they taught 
 by euill spirits, and hired to worke the feat by the nobles of Murrey- 
 land. The standers by, that heard such an abhominable tale told by 
 these witches, streightwaies brake the image, and caused the witches 
 (according as they had well deserued) to bee burnt to death. 
 
 It was said that the king, at the irerie same time that these 
 things were a dooing within the castell of Pores, was deliuered of 
 his languor, and slept that night without anie sweat breaking foorth 
 vpon him at all, & the next dale being restored to his strength, was 
 able to doo anie maner of thing that lay in man to doo, as though 
 he had not beene sicke before anie thing at all. 
 
 HOLINBHED'S description 0» the MtmDEB OF KING DUFP BY DON- 
 WALD. WHO WAS UKGED ON TO THE DEED BY HIS WIFE. 
 
 Donwald thus being the more kindled in wrath by the words of his 
 wife, determined to follow hir aduise in the execution of so heinous 
 an act. Wherevpon deuising with himselfe for a while, which way 
 hee might best accomplish his curssed intent, at length he gat 
 opportunitie, and sped his purpose as followeth. It chanced that 
 the king vpon the dale before he purposed to depart foorth of the 
 castell, was long in his oratorie at his praiers, and there continued 
 till it was late in the night. At the last, coming foorth, he called 
 such afore him as had faithfullie serued him in pursute and ap- 
 prehension of the rebels, and gluing them heartie thanks, he be- 
 stowed sundrie honorable gifts amongst them, of the which number 
 Donwald was one, as be that had beene euer accounted a most faith- 
 full seruantto the king. 
 
 At length, hauing talked with them a long time, he got him 
 into his priuie chamber, onelie with two of his chamber- 
 
 I, vii, 63. lains, who hauing brought him to bed, came foorth againe, 
 and then fell to banketting with Donwald and his wife, 
 who had prepared diuerse delicate dishes, and sundrie sort of drinks 
 for their reare supper or collation, wherat they sate vp so long, till 
 they had charged their stomachs with such full gorges, that their heads 
 were no sooner got to the pillow, but asleepe they were so fast, that 
 a man might haue remooued the chamber ouer them, sooner than to 
 haue awaked them out of their droonken sleepe. 
 
 Then Donwald, though he abhorred the act greatlie in his heart, 
 
 * BoUe qnotes from Theocrltns (about the middle of the 3d century B. C), 
 who lepiesente a witch as melting a waxen image, and eaylng: 
 b>s 70VT0V Tov Kopov iyla aw Saifunft Taxu, 
 bis Toxoid* vir* eptoTM 6 MvvSios avrixa AeX^iff 
 
 He quotes also Virgil's imitation of this in Eel. ylii. 80: 
 
 Limas ut hie dorescit, et haec ut cera liqaescit 
 Uno eodemqne igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore. 
 As this clay grows hard and Oils wax melts by one and the same fire, so 
 may Daphnis by our lave. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. IV 
 
 yet through instigation of his wife, hee called f oure of his seruants 
 Yuto him (whome he had made priuie to his wicked intent before, 
 and framed to his purpose with large gifts) and now declaring vnto 
 them, after what sort they should worke the feat, they gladlie obeied 
 his instructions, & speedilie going about the murther, they enter the 
 chamber (in which the king laie) a little before cocks crow^ where 
 they secretlie cut his throte as he lay sleeping, without ame busk- 
 ling* at all: and immediatelie by a posterne gate they carried foorth 
 the dead bodie into the fields, and throwing it vpon an horse there 
 prouided readie for that purpose, they conuey it vnto a place, about 
 two miles distant from the castell, where [they buried it in the bed of 
 a little river]. For such an opinion men haue, that the dead corps 
 of anie man being slalne,will bleed abundantlie if the murthererbe 
 present. But for what consideration soeuer they buried him there, 
 they had no sooner finished the work, but that they slue them whose 
 helpe they vsed herein, and streightwaiestherevponfled into Orknie. 
 Donwald, about the time that the murther was in dooing, got him 
 amongst them that kept the watch, and so continued in companie 
 with them all the residue of the night. But in the morning when the 
 noise was raised in the king's chamber how the king was slaine, his 
 bodie conueied away, and the bed all beraied with bloud; he with 
 the watch ran thither, as though he had knowne nothing of the mat- 
 ter, and breaking into the chamber, and finding cakes of bloud in the 
 bed, and on the floore about the sides of it, he foorthwith slue the 
 chamberleins, as guiltie of that heinous murther, and then like a 
 mad man running to and fro, he ransacked euerie corner within the 
 castell, as though it had beene to haue seene if he might haue found 
 either the bodie, or aine of the murtherers hid in aine priuie place; 
 but at length comming to the posterne gate, and finding it open, he 
 burdened the chamberleins, whome he had slaine, with all the fault, 
 they hauing the keies of the gates committed to their keeping all 
 the night, and therefore it could not be otherwise (said he) but that 
 they were of counsell in the committing of that most detestable 
 murther. 
 
 Finallie, such was his ouer earnest diligence in the seuere in- 
 quisition and triall of the ofiendors heerein, that some of the lords 
 began to mislike the matter, and to smell foorth shrewd tokens, that 
 he should not be altogither cleare himselfe. But for so much as 
 they were in that countrie, where hee had the whole rule, what by 
 reason of his friends and authoritie togither, they doubted to vtter 
 what they thought, till time and place should better serue therevnto, 
 and heerevpon got them awaie euerie man to his home. For the 
 space of six moneths togither, after this heinous murther thus com- 
 II It 10 ™*'^*^>. tliere appeered no sunne by day, nor moone by 
 ' ' ■ night in anie part of the realme, but still was the skie 
 couered with continuall clouds, and sometimes suche outragious 
 windes arose, with lightenings and tempests, that the people were in 
 great feare of present destruction, (pp. 149-151.) 
 
 * BaatUng, commotion. 
 
18 INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 Monstrous sights also that were seene within the Scotish kinfr- 
 
 dome that yeere [that is, of King Duffe's murder, A. D. 
 
 II, IT, 15. g^2] were these, horsses in Louthian, being of singular 
 
 beautie and swiftnesse, did eate their own flesh, and would In no 
 
 wise taste anie other meate. In Angus there was a gentle- 
 
 *'•"• woman brought foorth a child without eies, nose, hand or 
 
 foot. There was a sparhawke also strangled by an owle. (p. 152.) 
 
 hounshhid's account of thb bkmorsb op kbnnbth. 
 
 [Quoted by Furness as having probably suggested to Shakespeare 
 the " Toice " that cried " tUep no more." Kenneth had poisoned Mal- 
 colme, son of Dufi, and obtained from the Council at Scone the 
 ratification of his son as his successor.] 
 
 Thus might he seeme happie to all men; but yet to himself e he 
 seemed most vnhappie as he that could not but still live in con- 
 tinuall feare, least his wicked practise concerning the deiith of Mal- 
 come Dufle should come to light and knowledge of the world. For 
 so commeth it to passe, that such as are pricked in conscience for aine 
 secret ofiense committed, haue euer an vnquiet mind. And (as the 
 fame goeth) it chanced that a voice was heard as he was in bed 
 in the night time to take his rest, vttering vnto him these or the like 
 woords in efiect: "Thinke not Kenneth that the wicked slaughter 
 of Malcome Dufle by thee contriued, is kept secret from the knowl- 
 edge of the eternal God," &c. . . . The king with his voice 
 being stricken into great dread and terror, passed that night without 
 anie sleepe comming in his eies. 
 
 HOLINSEED's history of DDNCAN, MACDONWALD, MACBETH, 
 BANQUO, ETC. 
 
 After Malcome . . . succeeded his nephew Duncane [A. D. 
 1034] the Sonne of his daughter Beatrice; for Malcome had two 
 daughters, the one, which was this Beatrice, being given in marriage 
 unto one Abbanath Crinen, a man of great nobilitie, and thane of the 
 Isles and west part of Scotland, bore of that marriage the foresaid 
 Duncane; the other, called Doada, was maried vnto Sinell,the thane 
 of Glammis, by whom she had issue, one Makbeth, a valiant gentle- 
 man, and one that if he had not beene somewhat cruell of nature, 
 might haue beene thougn^ most woorthie the gouernement of a 
 refQme. On the other part, Duncane was so soft and gentle of 
 nature, that the people wished the inclinations and maners of these 
 two cousins to haue beene so tempered and enterchangeablie be- 
 stowed betwixt them, that where the one had too much clemencie, 
 and the other of crueltie, the meane vertue betwixt these two ex- 
 tremities might haue reigned by indifferent partition in them both, 
 so should Duncane haue proued a worthie king, and Makbeth an ex- 
 cellent capteine. The beginning of Duncans reigne was verie quiet 
 and peaceable, without anie notable trouble; but after it was per- 
 ceiued how negligent he was in punishing offenders, manie misruled 
 persons tooke occasion thereof to trouble the peace and quiet state 
 of the commonwealth, by seditious commotions. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 19 
 
 Makdowald, one of great estimation among them, making first a 
 confederacie of his neerest friends and kinsman, tooke vpon him to 
 be chief e capteine of all such rebels as would stand against the king, 
 in maintenance of their grieuous oflenses latelie committed against 
 him. Manie slanderous words also, and railing tants this Mak- 
 dowald vttered against his prince, calling him a faint-hearted milke- 
 sop. more meet to gouerne a soi t of idle moonks in some cloister, than 
 to to haue the rule of such valiant and hardie men of warre as the 
 Scots were. He vsed also such subtill persuasions and forged allure- 
 ments, that in a small time he had gotten togither a mightie power 
 I ii 14 °^ men: for out of the westerne Isles there came vnto 
 
 ' ' ■ him a great multitude of people, offering themselues to 
 assist him in that rebellious quarell, and out of Ireland in hope of 
 the spoile came no small number of Kernes and Galloglasses. 
 
 Makdowald thus hauing a mightie puissance about him, in- 
 countered with such of the kings people as were sent against him 
 into Lochquhaber, and discomfiting them, by mere force tooke their 
 capteine Malcome, and after the end of the battell smote ofE his 
 head. At length Makbeth speaking much against the kings soft- 
 nes, and ouermuch slacknesse in punishing ofEendors, whereby they 
 had such time to assemble tosither, he promised notwithstanding, ' 
 if the charge were committed vnto him and vnto Banquho, so to 
 order the matter, that the rebels should be shortly vanquished & 
 quite put downe, and that not so much as one of them should be 
 found to make resistance within the countrie. 
 
 And euen so it came to passe: for being sent foorth with a new 
 power, at his entering into Lochquhaber, the fame of his comming 
 put the enimies in such feare, that a great number of them stale 
 secretlie awaie from their capteine Makdowald, who neuerthelesse 
 inforced thereto, gaue battell vnto Makbeth, with the residue which 
 remained with him: but being ouercome, and fleeing for refuge into 
 a castell (within the which his wife & children were inclosed) at 
 length when he saw how he could neither defend the hold anie 
 longer against his enimies, nor yet vpon surrender be suffered to 
 depart with life saued, hee first slue his wife and children, and last- 
 lie himselfe, least if he had yeelded simplie, he should haue beene 
 executed in most cruell wise for an example to other. Makbeth 
 entring into the castell by the gates, as then set open, found the car- 
 casse of Makdowald lieng dead there amongst the residue of the 
 slaine bodies, caused the head to be cut ofl, and set vpon a poles end. 
 The headlesse trunke he commanded to bee hoong vp vpon an high 
 paire of gallowes. 
 
 Thus was justice aud law restored againe to the old accustomed 
 course, by the diligent means of Makbeth. Immediatlie wherevpon 
 woord came that Sueno king of Norway was arriued in Fife with a 
 puissant armie, to subdue the whole realme of Scotland, (pp. 168, 
 169.) 
 
 Whereof when K. Duncane was certified, he set all slouthfuU 
 
 and lingering delaies apart, and began to assemble an armie in most 
 
 V vi 4 ^P^*"^*^ wise, like a verie valiant capteine. Therefore 
 
 ' ' ■ when his whole power was come togither, he diuided 
 
20 INTBODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 * 
 
 the same into three battels. The first was led by Makbeth, the sec- 
 ond by Banquho, & the king himselfe gouerned in the maine bat- 
 tell or middle ward. 
 
 The armie of Scotishmen being thus ordered, came vnto Culros, 
 where incountering with the enemies, after a sore and cruell f oughten 
 battell, Sueno remained victorious, and Malcome with his Scots dis- 
 comfited. Howbeit the Danes were so broken by this battell, that 
 they were not able to make long chase on their enimies, but kept 
 themselues all night in order of battell, for doubt least the Scots as- 
 sembling togither againe, might haue set vpon them at some aduant- 
 agp. 
 
 [Here follows an account of a victory gained by strategy by Dun- 
 can over Sueno, who was forced to fly to his ships at the mouth of 
 Tay; also an account of the wreck and sinking of all but one of 
 the ships by the violence of an east wind.] 
 
 The Scots hauing woone so notable a victorie, after they had gath- 
 ered & divided the spoile of the field, caused solemne processions to • 
 be made in all places of the realme, and thanks to be giuen to 
 almightie Ood, that had sent them so faire a day ouer their enimies. 
 But whilest the people were thus at their processions, woord was 
 brought that a new fleet of Danes was arriued at Kingcorne, sent 
 thither by Canute King of England, in reuenge of his brother 
 Suenos ouerthrow. To resist these enimies, which were alreadie 
 landed, and busie in spoiling the countrie; Makbeth and Banquho 
 were sent with the kings authoritie, who hauing with them a con- 
 uenient power, incountered the enemies, slew part of them, and 
 I li 62 chased the other to their ships. They that escaped and got 
 
 ' ' once to their ships, obteined of Makbeth for a ^reat summe 
 of gold, that such of their friends as were slaine at this last bick- 
 ering, might be buried in saint Colmes Inch. In memorie whereof, 
 manie old sepultures are yet in the said Inch, there to be seene 
 grauen with the armes of the Danes, as the manner of burieng noble- 
 men still is, and heretofore hath been used. 
 
 holinshed's narbatite of the weikd sisteks. 
 
 And these were the warres that Duncane had with f orren enimies, in 
 the seventh yeere of his reigne. Shortlie after happened a strange and 
 vncouth woonder, which afterward was the cause of much trouble 
 in the realme of Scotland, as ye shall after heare. It fortuned as Mak- 
 j jj ^ beth and Banquho iournied towards Pores, where the king 
 ' ' ^' then laie, they went sporting by the waie togither without 
 other companie, saue onlie themselues, passing thorough the woods 
 and fields, when suddenlie in the middest of a laund, there met them 
 three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures of 
 elder world, whome when they attentiuelie beheld, woondering much 
 at the sight, the first of them spake and said; All haile Makbeth, 
 thane of Glammis (for he had latelie entered into that dignitie and 
 J j!j riA ofiice by the death of his father Sinell). The second of 
 X, m, u. ^j^gjjj g^j^^ 2^.jg jiajjijgtii thane of Cawder. But the third 
 
 said; All haile Makbeth that heereafter shalt be king of Scotland. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 21' 
 
 Then Banquho; What manner of women (saith he) are you, that 
 seeme so little fauourable vnto me, whereas to my fellow heere, be- 
 sides high offices, ye assigne also the kingdome, appointing foorth- 
 nothing for me at all? Yes (saith the first of them) we promise 
 greater benefits vnto thee, than vnto him, for he shall reigne in deed, 
 but with an vnluckie end: neither shall he leaue anie issue behind 
 him to succeede in his place, where contrarilie thou in deed shalt not 
 reigne at all, but of thee those shall be borne which shall gouern 
 the Scotish kingdome by long order of continuall descent. Here- 
 with the foresaid women vanished immediatlie out of their sight. 
 This was reputed at the first but some vaine fantasticall illus- 
 I ill Vi ^^^ ^^ Mackbeth and Banquho, insomuch that Banquho 
 
 > ' would call Mackbeth in iest king of Scotland; and Mackbeth 
 againe would call him in sport likewise, the father of manie kings. 
 But afterwards the common opinion was, that these women were 
 either the weird sisters, that is {as ye would say) the goddesses of 
 destinie, or else some nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of 
 prophesie by their necromanticall science, bicause euerie thing came 
 to passe as ttiey had spoken. For shortlie after, the thane of Cawder 
 being condemned at Fores of treason against the king committed; 
 his lands, liuings, and offices were giuen of the kings liberalitie to 
 Mackbeth. 
 
 The same night after, at supper, Banquho iested with him and 
 said; Now Mackbeth thou hast obteined those things which the two 
 former sisters prophesied, there remaineth onlie for thee to purchase 
 that which the third said should come to passe. Wherevpon Mack- 
 beth reuoluing the thing in his mind, began euen then to deuise how 
 he might atteine to the kingdome: but yet he thought with himself e 
 that he must tarie a time, which should aduancehim thereto (by the 
 diuine prouidence) as it had come to passe in his former preferment. 
 V ii 2 ^^^ shortlie after it chanced that king Duncane, hauing two 
 ' ' sonnes by his wife which was the daughter of Siward 
 earle of Northumberland, he made the elder of them called Mal- 
 colme prince of Cumberland, as it were thereby to appoint him his 
 I iv 39 si'^^'sssor in the kingdome, immediatlie after his deceasse. 
 
 ' ' ■ Mackbeth sore troubled herewith, for that he saw by this 
 means his hope sore hindered (where, by the old lawes of the realme, 
 the ordinance was, that if he that should succeed were not of able age 
 to take the charge vpon himselfe, he that was next of bloud vnto 
 him should be admitted) he began to take counsell how he might 
 vsurpe the kingdome by force, hauing a lust quarell so to doo (as he 
 tooke the matter) for that Duncane did what in him lay to defraud 
 him of all maner of title and claime, which he might in time to come, 
 pretend vnto the crowne. 
 
 HOLLINSHBD'S statement of the MTTRDER op DUNCAN, ETC. 
 
 The woords of the three weird sisters also (of whom before ye haue 
 heard) greatlie incouraged him herevnto, but speciallie his wife lay 
 sore vpon him to attempt the thing, as she that wasverie ambitious, 
 burning in vnquenchable desire to beare the name of a queene. At> 
 
22 INTBCDUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 length therefore, communicating his purposed intent with his 
 trustie friends, amongst whome Banquho was the chief est, vpon con- 
 fidence of their promised aid, he slue the king at Enuerns, or (as 
 some say) at Botgosuane, in the sixt yeare of his reigne. Then 
 bauing a companie about him of such as he had made priuie to his 
 enterprise, he caused himselfe to be proclamed liing, and foorth- 
 
 II iv 11 ^^''^ went vnto Scone, where (by common consent) he re- 
 
 >' ''"^" ceiued the Inuesture of the kingdome according to the 
 
 accustomed maner. The bodie of Duncane was first conueied vnto 
 
 Elgine, & there buried in klnglie wise; but aftewards it was remoued 
 
 II iv S4 '""^ conueied vnto Colmekill, and there laid in a sepulture 
 ' ' amongst his predecessors, in the yeare after the birth of 
 our Saniour, 1046. 
 
 Malcolme Cammore and Donald Bane the sons of king Duncane, 
 for feare of their Hues (which they might well know that Mackbeth 
 would seeke to bring to end for his more sure confirmation in the 
 estate) fled into Cumberland, where Malcolme remained, till time 
 that saint Edward the sonne of Etheldred recouered the dominion 
 of England from the Danish power, the which Edward receiued Mal- 
 colme by way of most friendlie enterteinment; but Donald passed 
 ouer into Ireland, where he was tenderlie cherished by the king of 
 that land. Mackbeth, after the departure thus of Duncanes sonnes, 
 vsed great liberalitie towards the nobles of the realme, thereby to 
 win their f auour, and when he saw that no man went about to trouble 
 him, he set his whole intention to mainteine iustice, and to punish 
 all enormities and abuses, which had chanced through the feeble 
 and slouthfuU administration of Duncane. (pp. 169-171) 
 
 HOLINSHBD'S STATEMENT OP BANQUO'S MURDEB. 
 
 These and the like commendable lawes Makbeth caused to be put 
 as then in vse, goueming the realme for the space of ten yeeres in 
 eqiiall iustice. But this was but a counterf et zeale of equitie shewed 
 by him. Shortlie after he began to shew what he was, in stead of 
 equitie practising cruelty. For the pricke of conscience (as it 
 I vii 11 <^'^^°<^^<'^ ^^^'^ '^^ tyrants, and such as atteine to anie estate 
 ' ' by vnrighteous means) caused him euer to feare, least he 
 should be serued of the same cup as he had ministred to his pre- 
 decessor. The woords also of the three weird sisters would not out 
 of his mind, which as they promised him the kingdome, so likewise 
 TTI i 48 *^^y promise it at the same time vnto the posteritie 
 111, 1, «s. ganquho. He willed therefore the same Banquho with 
 his Sonne named Fleance, to come to a supper that he had prepared 
 for them, which was in deed, as he had deuised, present death at the 
 TTI i 1<?1 liauds of certeine murderers, whom he hired to execute 
 111, I, idi. jj^^j deed, appointing them to meete with the same 
 Banquho and his sonne without the palace, as they returned to their 
 lodgings, and there to slea them, so that he would not haue his 
 house slandered, but that in time to come he might cleare himselfe, 
 if anie thing were laid to his charge, vpon anie suspicion that might 
 arise. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 23 
 
 ' It chanced yet by the benefit of the darke night, that though 
 the father was slaine, the sonne yet by the helpe of almightie 
 God reseruing him to better fortune, escaped that danger: and after- 
 wards, to avoid further perill he fled into Wales. 
 
 holinshed's further account of macbeth's opprbsbite 
 and cruel acts. 
 
 But to retume vnto Makbeth, in continuing the historic, and to 
 begin where I left, ye shall vnderstand that after the contriued 
 slaughter of Banquho, nothing prospered with the foresaid Makbeth: 
 for in maner euery man began to doubt his owne life. 
 
 At length he found such sweetnesse by putting his nobles thus 
 to death, that his earnest thirst after bloud in this behalfe might in 
 nowise be satisfied: for ye must consider he wan double profite (as hee 
 thought) hereby: for first they were rid out of the way whomehe 
 feared, and then againe his coffers were inriched by their goods 
 which were forfeited to his vse. Further, to the end he might the 
 more cruellie oppresse his subjects with all tyrantlike wrongs, he 
 builded a strong castell on the top of an hie hill called Dunsinane, 
 situate in Qowrie, ten miles frotn Perth, on such a proud height, 
 that standing there aloft, a man might behold well neere all the 
 countries of Angus, Fife, Stermond, and Ernedale, as it were lieng 
 yndemeath him. This castell then being founded on the top of that 
 high hill, put the realme to great charges before it was finished, for 
 all the stufie necessarie to the building could not be brought rp 
 without much toile and businesse. But Makbeth being once deter- 
 mined to haue the worke go forward, caused tha thanes of each 
 shire within the realme to come and helpe towards that building, 
 each man his course about. 
 
 At the last, when the turne fell vnto Makdufle thane of Fife to 
 builde his part, he sent workemen with all needful! prouision, 
 and commanded them to shew such diligence in euery behalfe, that 
 no occasion might bee giuen for the king to find fault with him, in 
 that he came not himselfe as other had doone, which he refused to 
 doo, for doubt least the king bearing him (as he partlie vnderstood) 
 no great good will, would laie violent handes vpon him, as he had 
 doone vpon diuerse other. Shortly after, Makbeth comming to be- 
 hold how the worke went forward, and bicause he found not MakduSe 
 there, he was sore ofEended, and said; I perceiue this man will 
 neuer obeie my commandements, till he be ridden with a snafile: but 
 I shall prouide well enough for him. Neither could he afterwards 
 abide to looke vpon the said Makduffe, either for that he thought 
 his puissance ouer great, either else for that he had learned of cer- 
 teine Wizzards, in whose words he put great confidence (for that the 
 prophesie had happened so right, which the three f aries or weird sis- 
 ters had declared vnto him) how that he ought to take heed of Mak- 
 duSe, who in time to come should seeke to destroie him. 
 
 And suerlie herevpon had he put Makdufle to death, but that a 
 certeine witch, whome hee had in great trust, had told that he should 
 neur be slaine with man borne of anie woman, nor vanquished 111] 
 the wood of Bernane came to the castell of Dunsinane. 
 
24 INTRODUCTION TO MAG BETS. 
 
 HOLnrSHED TBLLS OF THE PLIGHT OF MACDUFF ASD THE HUBDEB 
 OP HIS FAMILY. 
 
 At length MakdufEe, to auoid perill of life, purposed with himselfe 
 to passe into England, to procure Malcolme Cammore to claime the 
 crowne of Scotland. But this was not so secretlie deuised by Mak- 
 duffe, b'lt that Makbeth had knowledge giuen him thereof: for kings 
 (as is said) haue sharpe sight like vnto Lynx, and long ears like vnto 
 jTj w„i Midas. For Makbeth had in euery noble mans house one 
 iii,iv 1(51. gjig fellow or other in fee with him, to reueale all that 
 was S'jd or doone within the same. 
 
 Immediatlie then, being aduertised whereabout MakdufEe went, 
 he came hastily with a great power into Fife, and foorthwith be- 
 sieged the castell where Makdufle dwelled, trusting to haue found 
 him therein. They that kept the house, without anie resistance 
 opened the gates, and suffered him to enter, mistrusting none euil. 
 But neuerthelesse, Makbeth most cruellie caused the wife and 
 children of Makdufie, with all other whom he found in that castell, 
 to be slaine. Also he confiscated the goods of MakdufCe, proclaimed 
 TV iii ^™ traitor, and confined him out of all the parts of his 
 ' realme; but Makdufie was alreadie escaped out of danger, 
 and gotten into England vnto Malcolme Cammore. 
 
 HOLENSHED RELATES THE INTERVIEW BETWEEN MACDUFF 
 AND MALCOLM. 
 
 Malcolme hearing Makdufles woords, which he vttered in verie 
 lamentable sort, for meere compassion and verie ruth that pearsed 
 his sorrowfull hart, bewailing the miserable state of his countrie, he 
 fetched a deepe sigh; which Macdufie perceiuing began to fall most 
 earnestlie in hand with him, td enterprise the deliuering of the 
 Scotish people out of the hands of so cruell and bloudie a tyrant, 
 as Makbeth by too manie plaine experiments did shew himself to be, 
 which was an easie matter for him to bring to passe, considering not 
 onelie the good title he had, but also the earnest desire of the people 
 to haue some occasion ministred, whereby they might be reuenged 
 of those notable iniuries, which they dailie susteined by the out- 
 ragious crueltie of Makbeths misgouemance. Though Malcolme 
 was verie sorrowfull for the oppression of his countriemen the Scots, 
 in maner as Makdufie had declared, yet doubting whether he were 
 come as one that ment vnf einedlie as he spake, or else as sent from 
 Macbeth to betraie him, he thought to haue some further triall, and 
 therevpon dissembling his mind at the first, he answered as 
 followeth. 
 
 I am trulie verie sorie for the miserie chanced to my countrie 
 of Scotland, but though I haue neuer so great affection to relieue the 
 same, yet by reason of certeine incurable vices, which reigne in me 
 I am nothing meet thereto. First, such immoderate lust and volup- 
 tuous sensualitip (the abhominable founteine of all vices) followeth 
 me that if I were made king of Scots I should seeke to defloure 
 your maids and matrons in such wise that mine Intemperance 
 should be more importable vnto you than the bloudie tyrannie 
 
INTRODUOTION TO MAOBBTB. 25 
 
 of Makbeth now is. Heereunto Makdttffe answered: this suerly 
 is a verie euil fault, for many noble princes and kings haue lost 
 IV iii 71 ^^^ Hues and kingdomes for the same; neuertbelesse 
 
 ' ' follow my counsell, make thy selfe king, and I shall con- 
 IV ill 72 '^^'^ *^^ matter so wiselie, that thou shalt be so satisfied 
 
 ' ' "at thy pleasure in such wise, such no man shall be aware 
 thereof. 
 
 Then said Malcolme, I am also the most auarltious creature on 
 the earth, so that if I were king, I should seeke so manie waies to 
 get lands and goods, that I would slea the most part of all the nobles 
 of Scotland by surmised accusations, to the end I might inioy their 
 lands, goods, and possessions. 
 
 MakdufEe to this made answer, how it was a far woorse fault 
 than the other; for auarice is the root of all mischiefe, and for that 
 crime the most part of our kings haue beene slaine and brought to 
 their flnall end. Yet notwithstanding follow my_ counsell, and take 
 vpon thee the crowne. There is gold and riches inough in Scotland 
 to satisfie thy greedy desire. Then said Malcolme againe, I am fur- 
 thermore inclined to dissimulation, telling of leasings,* and all 
 other kinds of deceit, so that I naturalie reioise in nothing so much, 
 as to betraie & deceiue such as put anie trust or confidence in my 
 woords. Then sith there is nothing that more becommeth a prince than 
 constancie, veritie, truth, and iustice, with the other laudable fellow- 
 ship of those f aire and noble vertues which are comprehended onlie 
 in soothfastnesse,t and that lieng vtterlie ouerthroweth the same; 
 you see how vnable I am to gouern anie prouince or region. 
 
 Then said Makdufle: This yet is the woorst of all, and there I 
 leaue thee, and therefore saie; Oh ye vnhappie and miserable 
 Scotishmen, which are thus scourged with so manie and sundrie 
 calamities, ech one aboue other! Ye haue one curssed and wicked 
 tyrant that now reigneth ouer you, without anie right or title, op- 
 pressing you with his most bloudie crueltie. This other that hath 
 the right to the crowne, is so replet with the inconstant behauiour 
 and manifest vices of Englishmen, that he is nothing woorthie to in- 
 ioy it : for by his o wne confession heisnot onlie auaritious, and giuen 
 to vnsatiable lust, but so false a traitor withall, that no trust is to be 
 had vnto anie woord he speaketh. Adieu Scotland, for now I ac- 
 count myselfe a banished man for euer, without comfort or consola- 
 tion: and with those woords the brackish tears trickled downe his 
 cheekes verie abundantlie. 
 
 At the last, when he was readie to depart, Malcolme tooke him 
 by the sleeue, and said: Be of good comfort Makdufle, for I haue 
 none of these vices before remembred, but haue iested with thee in 
 this manner, onlie to prooue thy mind: for diuerse times heeretofore 
 hath Makbeth sought by this manner of meanes to bring me into 
 his hands, but the more slow I haue shewed my selfe to condescend 
 to thy motion and request, the more diligence shall I vse in accom- 
 plishing the same. 
 
 * PalBehooda. 
 t TiathinliiesB. 
 
26 INTRODUCTION TO MAGBETE. 
 
 HOIiINSHED's description op the invasion op ENGLAND BT OLD 
 SIWABD, THE BATTLE, THE DEATH OP MACBETH, ETC. 
 
 In the meane time, Malcolme purchased such fauor at king 
 Edwards hands, that old Siward earle of Northumberland, was ap- 
 pointed with ten thousand men to go with him into Scotland, to sup- 
 port him in this enterprise, for recouerie of his right. But after 
 that Makbeth perceiued his enemies power to Increase, by such aid 
 as came to them foorth of England with his aduersarie Malcolme, he 
 recoiled backe into Fife, there purposing to abide in campe fortified 
 V iv 11 ^^ ^^ castell of Dunsinane; but he had such confidence 
 ' ' in his prophesies, that he beleeued he should neuer be 
 vanquished, till Birnane wood were brought to Dunsinane; nor yet 
 to be slaine with anie man, that should be or was borne of anie 
 woman. 
 
 Malcolme following hastilie after Makbeth, came the night be- 
 
 Y . fore the battell vnto Birnane wood, and when his armie 
 ' had rested a while there to refresh them, he commanded 
 euerie man to get a bough of some tree or other of that wood in his 
 hand, as big aa he might beare, and to march foorth therewith in 
 such wise, that on the next morrow they might come closelie and 
 without sight in this manner within viewe of his enimies. On the mor- 
 row when Makbeth beheld them comming in this sort, he first mar- 
 uelled what the matter ment, but in the end remembered himselfe 
 that the prophesie which he had heard long before that time, of the 
 comming of Birnane wood to Dunsinane castell, was likelie to be now 
 fulfilled. Neuerthelesse, he brought his men in order of battell, and 
 exhorted them to doo valiantlie, howbeit his enimies had scarsely 
 cast from them their boughs, when Makbeth perceiuing their num- 
 bers, betooke him streict to flight, whom MakduSe pursued with 
 great hatred euen till he came vnto Luntannaine, where Makbeth 
 preceiuin^ that Makdufle was hard at his backe, leapt beside his 
 aorsse, saieng; Thou traitor, what meaneth it that thou shouldest 
 thus in vaine follow me that am not appointed to be slaine by anie 
 creature that is borne of a woman, come on therefore, and receiue 
 thy reward which thou hast deserued for thy paines, aud therewithal! 
 he lifted vp his swoord thinking to haue slaine him. 
 
 But Makdufle quicklie auoiding* from his horsse, yer he came 
 at him, answered (with his naked swoord in his hand) saieng: It is 
 true Makbeth, and now shall thy insatiable crueltie haue an end, 
 for I am euen he that thy wizzards haue told thee of, who was neuer 
 borne of my mother, but ripped out of her wombe; therewithall he 
 stept vnto him, and slue him in the place. Then cutting his head 
 V viii VK ^■"''™ ^^^ shoulders, he set it vpon a pole, and brought it 
 V , vm, 00. ^jg Malcolme. This was the end of Makbeth, after he 
 had reigned 17 yeeres ouer the Scotishmen. He was slaine in the 
 yeere of the incarnation 1057, and in the 16 yeere of king Edwards 
 reigne ouer the Englishmen. 
 
 Malcolme Cammore thus recouering the realme (as ye haue 
 
 * Withdrawing, dismoimtiiis. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 27 
 
 heard) by support of king Edward, in tlie 16 yeere of the same Ed- 
 wards reigne, he was crowned at Soone the 35 day of Aprill, in the 
 yeere of our Lord 1057. He created manie earles, lords, barons, 
 and knights. Manie of them that before were thanes, were at this 
 
 V viil 63 *™® made earles, as Fife, Menteth, AthoU, Leuenox, 
 ' ' Murrey, Cathnes.Rosse, and Angus. These were the first 
 
 earles that have beene heard of amongst the Scotishmen, (as their 
 histories doo make mention.) (pp. 174rl76.) 
 
 HOLLINSHED's PAKTICULAR8 OF THE DEATH OF TOONG SIWARD. 
 
 \In the 5th OMpter of the 8th hook of the history of England.'] 
 
 About the thirteenth yeere of king Edward his reigne (as some 
 write) or rather about the nineteenth or twentith yeere, as should 
 appeare by the Scotish writers, Siward the noble earle of Northum- 
 berland with a great power of horssemen went into Scotland, and in 
 battell put to flight Makbeth that had vsurped the crowne of Scot- 
 land. 
 
 It is recorded also, that in the foresaid battell, in which earle 
 Siward vanquished the Scots, one of Siwards sonnes chanced to be 
 slaine, whereof although the father had good cause to be sorrowf ull, 
 yet when he heard that he died of a wound which he had receiued in 
 fighting stoutlie in the forepart of hisbodie, and that with his face to- 
 wards the enimie, he greatlie reioised thereat, to heare that he died 
 so manfulUe. But here is to be noted, that not now, but a little be- 
 fore (as Henrie Hunt, saith) that earle Siward went into Scotland 
 himselfe in person, he sent his sonne with an armie to conquere the 
 land, whose hap was there to be slaine; and when his father heard 
 the newes, he demanded whether he receiued the wound whereof 
 he died, in the forepart of the bodie, or in the hinder part; and 
 
 V viii 49 ^^^^ i* ^*^ *°^'^ ''^™ ^^^^ ^^ receiued it in the forepart; 
 
 ' I reioise (saith he) euen with all my heart, for I would 
 not wish either to my sonne nor to my selfe any other kind of death. 
 
 CRITICAL COMMENTS. 
 [From Johnson's Edition of Macbeth, 1765.] 
 
 This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fiction, 
 amd solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no wise 
 discrimination of character; the events are too great to admit the 
 influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action neces- 
 sarily determines the conduct of tJie agents. 
 
 The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether 
 it may not be said, in defense of some parts which now seem im- 
 probable, that, in Shakespeare's time, it was necessary to warn 
 credulity against vain and delusive predictions. 
 
 The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is 
 merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth deserves some 
 esteem, yet every reader rejoijiea at bi* fall. 
 
28 INTRODUCTION TO MAOBETH. 
 
 [From Steevens'i Notes on Macbeth, 1773."] 
 
 Shakespeare has supported the character of Lady Macbeth by re- 
 peated efforts, and never omits an opportunity of adding a trait of 
 ferocity, or a mark of a want of human feelings, to this monster of 
 his own creation. The softer passions are more obliterated in her 
 than in her husband, in proportion as her ambition is greater. She 
 meets him on his arrival from an expedition of danger, with such' a 
 salutation as would have become one of his friends or vassals; asaluta- 
 tion apparently fitted rather to raise his thoughts to a level with her 
 own purposes than to testify her joy at his return or manifest an at- 
 tachment to his person; nor does any sentiment expressive of love 
 or softness fall from her throughout the play. 
 
 [From Whately's Remarks on Some Characters of Shakespewre, 1785.'] 
 
 Macbeth wants no disguise of his natural disposition, for it is not 
 bad; he does not aSect more piety than he has; on the contrary, 
 a part of his distress arises from a real sense of religion: which 
 makes him regret that he could not join the chamberlains in prayer 
 for God's blessings, and bewail that he has " given his eternal jewel to 
 the common enemy of man." He continually reproaches himself 
 for his deeds; no use can harden him: confidence cannot silence, 
 and even despair cannot stifle the cries of his conscience. By the 
 first murder he "put rancors in the vessel of his peace;" and of the last 
 he owns to Macdufl, " My soul is too much charged with blood of 
 thine already." 
 
 [From John Philip Kemble's (IrotJier of Mrs. Biddons) Answer, 1785.] 
 
 That Shakespeare has not put into any mouth the slightest insinua- 
 tion against the personal courage of Macbeth is in itself a decisive 
 proof that he never meant his nature should be liable to so base a 
 reproach. His deadliest enemies, they who have sufEered most from 
 his oppression and cruelty, in the deepest expressions of their detes- 
 tation of his person and triumph over his fallen condition, are 
 never allowed by the poet to utter a syllable in derogation from 
 his known character of intrepidity. Some, we see, ascribe his actions 
 to madness; but then, it is a valiant distraction; some call him 
 tyrant, but then he is a confident tyrant. All know his character too 
 well to upbraid him with cowardice. 
 
 [From Coleridge's Notes and Lectures upon Shakespeare, 1808.] 
 
 Lady Macbeth, like all in Shakespeare, is a class individualized: 
 — of high rank, left much alone, and feeding herself with dreams 
 of ambition, she mistakes the courage of fantasy for the power of 
 bearing the consequences of the realities of guilt. Hers is the mock 
 fortitude of a mind deluded by ambition; she shames her husband 
 with a superhuman audacity of fancy which she cannot support, 
 but sinks in the season of remorse and dies in suicidal agony. Her 
 speech, " Come, all you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts," etc., 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 29 
 
 Is that of one who had habitually familiarized her imagination to 
 dreadful conceptions, and was trying to do so still more. Her In- 
 vocations and requisitions are all the false eflorts of a mind accus- 
 tomed only hitherto to the shadows of the imagination, vivid enough 
 to throw the every-day substances of life into shadow, but never as 
 yet brought into direct contact with their own correspondent realities. 
 
 [From Schlegel's Dramatic Art and Literature, 1815l\ 
 
 Repentance immediately follows, nay, even precedes the deed, 
 and the stings of conscience leave him rest neither night nor day. 
 But he is now fairly entangled in the snares of hell; truly frightful 
 it is to behold that same Macbeth, who once as a warrior could spurn 
 at death, now that he dreads the prospect of the life to come, cling- 
 ing with growing anxiety to his earthly existence the more miser- 
 able it becomes, and pitilessly removing out of the way whatever to 
 his dark and suspicious mind seems to threaten danger. However 
 much we may abhor his actions, we cannot altogether refuse to com- 
 passionate the state of his mind; we lament the ruin of so many 
 noble qualities, and even in his last defence we are compelled to 
 admire the struggle of a brave will with a cowardly conscience. 
 We might believe that we witness in this tragedy the overruling 
 destiny of the ancients represented in perfect accordance with their 
 ideas; the whole originates in a supernatural influence, to which the 
 subsequent events seem inevitably linked. Moreover, we even find 
 here the same ambiguous oracles which, by their literal fulfillment, 
 deceive those who confide in them. Yet it may be easily shown that 
 the poet has, in his work, displayed more enlightened views. He 
 wishes to show that the conflict of good and evil in this world can 
 only take place by the permission of Providence, which converts 
 the curse that individual mortals draw down on tiieir heads into a 
 blessing to others. ... In the progress of the action, this piece 
 is altogether the reverse of Hamlet; it strides forward with amazing 
 rapidity, from the first catastrophe (for Dimcan's murder may be 
 called a catastrophe) to the last. Thought and done I is the general 
 motto; for as Macbeth says: — 
 
 The flighty purpose never is o'ertook, 
 Unless the deed go with it. 
 
 In every feature we see an energetic, heroic age, in the hardy 
 North, which steels every nerve. The precise duratian of the action 
 cannot be ascertained — ^years, perhaps, according to the story; but 
 we know that to the imagination the most crowded time appears 
 always the shortest. Here we can hardly conceive how so very 
 much could ever have been compressed into so narrow a space; not 
 merely external events — ^the very inmost recesses in the minds of 
 the dramatic personages are laid open to us. It is as if the drags 
 were taken from the wheels of time, and they rolled along without 
 interruption in their descent. Nothing can equal this picture in its 
 power to excite terror. We need only allude to the circumstances 
 attending the murder of Duncan, the dagger that hovers before 
 
30 NTBODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 the eyes of Macbeth; the vision of Banquo at the feast, the madness 
 of Lady Macbeth; — ^what can possibly be said on the subject that will 
 not rather weaken the impression they naturally leave? Buch 
 scenes stand alone, and are to be found only in this poet; otherwise 
 the tragic muse might exchange her mask for the head of Medusa 
 
 [From William HazlitVs Characters of ShaJceipeare's Plays, 1811.'] 
 
 The whole play is an unruly chaos of strange and forbidden things, 
 where the ground rocks under our feet. Shakespeare's genius here 
 took its full swing, and trod upon the farthest bounds of nature and 
 passion. This circumstance will account for the abruptness and 
 violent antitheses of the style, the throes and labor which run 
 through the expression, and from defects will turn them into beau- 
 ties. " So fair and foul a day," etc, . " Such welcome and unwel- 
 come news together." " Men's lives are like the flowers in their 
 caps, dying or ere they sicken." "Look like the innocent flower, 
 but be the serpent under it." The scene before the castle-gate fol- 
 lows the appearance of the witches on the heath, and is followed by 
 a midnight murder. Duncan is cut aS. betimes by treason leagued 
 with witchcraft, and Macduff is ripped untimely from his mother's 
 womb to avenge his death. Macbeth, after the death of Banquo, 
 wishes for his presence in extravagant terms, " To all, and him, we 
 thirst;" and when his ghost appears, cries out, "Avaunt and quit my 
 sight;" and being gone, he is " himself again." ... In Lady Mac- 
 beth's speech, " Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had 
 done't," there is murder and filial piety together; and in urging him 
 to fulfill his vengeance against the defenceless king, her thoughts 
 spare the blood neither of infants nor old age. The description of 
 the witches is full of the same contradictory principle; they "re- 
 joice when good kings bleed,"* they are neither of the earth nor the 
 air, but both; "they should be women, but their beards forbid it;" 
 they take all the pains possible to lead Macbeth on to the height of 
 his ambition, only to betray him " in deeper consequence," and after 
 showing him all the pomp of their art, discover their malignant 
 delight in his disappointed hopes by that bitter taunt, "Why stands 
 Macbeth thus amazedly ? " We might multiply such instances every- 
 where. 
 
 [From Mrs. JamesoiUs Charaeteristies of Womm,, 1833.1 
 
 It is particularly observable that in Lady Macbeth's concentrated, 
 strong-nerved ambition, the ruling passion of her mind, there is yet 
 a touch of womanhood; she is ambitious less for herself than for her 
 husband. It is fair to think this, because we have no reason to draw 
 any other inference, either from her words or her actions. In her 
 famous soliloquy, after reading her husband's letter, she does not 
 once refer to herself. It is of him she thinks; she wishes to see her 
 husband on the throne, and to place the sceptre within Ais gra«p. 
 
 * FnrneBS points oat that this line is not Shakespeue'B. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 31 
 
 The strength of her afifection adds strength to her ambition. Al- 
 though in the old story of Boethius we are told that the wife of 
 Macbeth "burned with unquenchable desire to bear the name of 
 queen," yet in the aspect under which Shakespeare has represented 
 the character to us, the selfish part of of this ambition is kept out of 
 sight. We must remark also, that in Lady Macbeth's reflections on 
 her husband's character, and on that milkiness of nature which she 
 fears may impede him from " the golden round," there is no indi- 
 cation of female scorn; there is exceeding pride, but no egotism, in 
 the sentiment or the expression; no want of wifely or womanly re- 
 spect and love for Mm; but, on the contrary, a sort of unconssious- 
 ness of her own mental superiority, which she betrays rather than 
 asserts, as interesting in itself as it is most admirably conceived and 
 delineated. Nor is there anything vulgar in her ambition; as the 
 strength of her afEections lends to it something profound and concen- 
 trated, so her splendid imagination invests the object of her desire 
 with its own radiance. We cannot trace in her grand and capacious 
 mind that it is the mere baubles and trappings of royalty which daz- 
 zle and allure her; hers is the sin of the "star-bright apostate," and 
 she plunges with Ixer husband into the abyss of guilt to procure for 
 "all their days and nights sole sovereign sway and masterdom." 
 She revels, she luxuriates, in her dream of power. She reaches at 
 the golden diadem which is to sear her brain; she perils life and soul 
 for its attainment, with an enthusiasm as perfect, a faith as settled, 
 as that of the martyr who sees at the stake heaven and its crowns of 
 
 glory opening upon him 
 
 The power of religion could alone have controlled such a mind; 
 but it is the misery of a very proud, strong, and gifted spirit, without 
 sense of religion, that instead of looking upward to find a superior, 
 it looks around and sees all things as subject to itself. Lady Mac- 
 beth is placed in a dark, ignorant iron age; her powerful intellect is 
 slightly tinged with its credulity and superstitions, but she has no 
 religious feeling to restrain the force of will. She is a stern fatalist 
 in principle and action — "What is done, is done," and would be 
 done over again under the same circumstances; her remorse is 
 without repentance or any reference to an offended Deity; it arises 
 from the pang of a wounded conscience, the recoil of the violated 
 feelings of nature; it is the horror of the past, not the terror of the 
 future; the torture of self-condemnation, not the fear of judgment; 
 it is strong as her soul, deep as her guilt, fatal as her resolve, and 
 terrible as her crime. 
 
 [From. GampbeWs Life of Mrs. Siddons, ISSd."] 
 
 I regard Macbeth upon the whole, as the greatest treasure of our 
 dramatic literature. We may look as Britons at Greek sculpture 
 and Italian paintings with a humble consciousness that our native 
 art has never reached their perfection; but in the drama we can 
 confront ^schylus himself with Shakespeare, and of all modem 
 theatres, ours alone can compete with the Greek in the unborrowed 
 nativeness and sublimity of its superstition. In the grandeur of 
 
32 TNTBODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 tragedy Macbeth has no parallel till we go back to the Prometheut 
 and iAe Furies of the Attic stage. I could even produce innumer- 
 able instances of striking similarity between the metaphysical mint- 
 age of Shakespeare's and ^achylus's style, a similarity both iii 
 beauty and in the fault of excess, that, unless the contrary had been 
 proved,* would lead me to suspect our great dramatist to have been 
 a studious Greek scholar. 
 
 The progress of Macbeth in crime is an unparalleled lecture in 
 ethical anatomy . . . JLady Macbeth is a splendid picture of 
 evil, a sort of sister of Milton's Lucifer; and, like him, we surely 
 imagine her externally majestic and beautiful. Mrs. Siddons's idea 
 of her having been a delicate and blonde beauty, seems to me to be a 
 pure caprice. The public would have ill exchanged such a repre- 
 sentative of Lady Macbeth for the dark locks and the eagle eyes of 
 Mrs. Siddons. 
 
 [From Mrt. Siddons's Remarks on the Oha/raater of Lady Macbeth. 
 Quoted by Campbell in 1838?[ 
 
 In this astonishing creature one sees a woman in whose bosom 
 the passion of ambition has almost obliterated all the character- 
 istics of human nature; in whose composition are associated all the 
 subjugating powers of intellect and all the charms and graces of 
 female beauty. You will probably not agree with me as to the 
 characterof that beauty; yet perhaps this difierence of opinion will 
 be entirely attributable to the difficulty of your imagination disengag- 
 ing itself from that idea of the person of her representative which 
 you have been so long accustomed to contemplate. According to my 
 notion, it is of that character which I believe is generally allowed to 
 be most captivating to the other sex — ^f air, feminine, nay, perhaps, 
 even fragile — 
 
 Fair as the forms that, wove in Fancy's loom. 
 Float in light visions round the poet's head. 
 
 Such a combination only, respectable in energy and strength of 
 mind, and captivating in feminine loveliness, could have composed 
 a charm of such potency as to fascinate the mind of a hero so daunt- 
 less, a character so amiable, so honorable as Macbeth; to seduce him 
 to brave all the dangers of the present and all the terrors of a future 
 world; and we are constrained, even whilst we abhor his crimes, to 
 pity the infatuated victim of such a thraldom. . . . 
 
 In one point of view, at least, this guilty pair extort from us, in 
 ^pite of ourselves, a certain respect and approbation. Their grand- 
 eur of character sustains them both above recrimination (the des- 
 picable accustomed resort of vulgar minds) in adversity; for the 
 wretched husband, though almost impelled into this gulf of de- 
 struction by the instigations of his wife, feels no abatement of his 
 love for her, while she, on her part, appears to have known no ten- 
 derness for him, till, with a heart bleeding at every pore, she beholds 
 
 '•But has it been tesilj proved?— Editor. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 33 
 
 in him the miserable victim of their mutual ambition. Unlike the 
 first frail pair in Paradise, they spent not the fruitless hours in mu- 
 tual accusation. 
 
 [Mrs. Siddons tells of her ea/rly experience in prepa/ring to personate 
 Lady Macbeth as follows:] 
 
 It was my custom to study my characters at night when all the 
 domestic cares and business of the day were over. On the night 
 preceding that in which I was to appear in this part for the first 
 time, I shut myself up, as usual, when all the family were retired, 
 and commenced my study of Lady Macbeth. As the character is 
 very short, I thought I should soon accomplish it. Being then only 
 twenty years of age, I believed, as many others do believe, that little 
 more was necessary than to get the words into my head; for the ne- 
 cessity of discrimination, and the development of character at that 
 time of my life, had scarcely entered into my imagination. But to 
 proceed, I went on with tolerable composure, in the silence of the 
 night (a night I can never forget), till I came to the assassination 
 scene, when the horrors of the scene rose to a degree that made it 
 impossible for me to get farther. I snatched up my candle and hurried 
 out of the room in a paroxysm of tMror. My dress was of silk, and 
 the rustling of it, as I ascended the stairs to go to bed, seemed to my 
 panic-struck fancy like the movement of a spectre pursuing me. 
 At last I reached my chamber, where I found my husband fast 
 asleep. I clapt my candlestick down upon the table, without the 
 power of putting the candle out, and threw myself on my bed with- 
 out daring to stay even to take off my clothes. At peep of day 
 I rose to resume my task; but so little did I know of my part 
 when I appeared in it, at night, that my shame and confusion cured 
 me of procrastinating my business for the remainder of my life. 
 
 [From Joseph Hunter's New, Illustrations of Shakespeare, 1845.] 
 
 Beside the main subject of the midnight murder of a king sleep- 
 ing in the house of one of his nobles, and surrounded by his guards, 
 the death and appearance of the ghost of Banquo, and the whole 
 machinery and prophecy of the wayward sisters, with the interior 
 view of a castle in which is a conscience-stricken monarch reduced 
 to the extremity of a siege, the poet seems to have intended to con- 
 centrate in this play many of the more thrilling incidents of physical 
 and metaphysical action. The midnight shriek of women ; sleep with 
 its stranger accidents, such as laughing, talking, walking, as produced 
 by potions, as disturbed by dreams, as full of wicked thoughts; the 
 hard beating of the heart; the parched state of the mouth in an hour of 
 desperate guilt; the rousing of the hair at adismal treatise; physiog- 
 nomy; men of manly hearts moved to tears; the wild thoughts which 
 haunt the mind of guilt, as in the air-drawn dagger, and the fancy 
 that sleep was slain and the slayer should know its comforts no more; 
 death in some of its stranger varieties — ^the soldier dying of wounds 
 Bot bound up, the spent swimmer, the pilot wrecked on Us vay 
 
34 INTRODUCTION TO MACBETB. 
 
 home, the horrible mode of Macdonnel's death, the massacre of a 
 mother and her children, the hired assassins perpetrating their work 
 on the belated travellers— these are but a portion of the terrible cir- 
 cumstances attendant on the main events of this tragic tale. 
 
 He goes for similar circumstances to the elements, and to the 
 habits of animals about which superstitions had gathered — ^the flit- 
 ting of the bat, the flight of the crow to the rooky woodthe flghta 
 of the owl and the falcon, and of the owl and the wren, the scream 
 of the owl, the chirping of the cricket, the croak of the prophetic 
 raven, and bark of the wolf, the horses devouring one another; the 
 pitchy darkness of night, the murky darkness of a lurid day, a 
 storm rattling in the battlements of an ancient fortress — we have all 
 this before we have passed the bounds of nature and entered the 
 regions of metaphysical agency. 
 
 There we have the spirits which tend on mortal thoughts, the rev- 
 elations by magot-pies, the moving of stones, the speaking of trees, 
 and lamentings heard in the air, and almost the whole of the myth- 
 ology of the wayward sisters— their withered and wild attire, their 
 intercourse with their queen, their congregating in the hour of storms 
 on heaths which the lightning has scathed, the strange instruments 
 employed by them, the mode of their oper&tions, and their compell- 
 ing the world invisible to disclose the secrets of futurity. 
 
 [^From FletcTier's Studies of Shaketpeare, 1847.] 
 The first thing that strikes us in such a character is the intense 
 selfishness — ^the total absence both of sympathetic feeling and moral 
 principle — and the consequent incapability of remorse in the proper 
 sense of the term. So far from finding any check to his design in 
 the fact that the king bestows on him the forfeited title of the trai- 
 torous thane of Cawdor as an especial mark of confidence in his 
 loyalty, this only serves to whet his own villainous purpose. The 
 dramatist has brought this forcibly home to us in i. 4. 10-58. It is 
 from no "compunctious visiting of nature," but from sheer moral 
 cowardice — from fear of retribution 'in this life — ^that we find Mac- 
 beth shrinking, at the last moment, from the commission of his 
 enormous crime. This will be seen the more attentively we con- 
 sider i. 7. 1-25 and 31-85. In all this we trace a most clear con- 
 sciousness of the impossibility that he should find of masking his 
 guilt from the public eye — ^the odium which must consequently fall 
 upon him in the opinions of men — and the retribution it would 
 probably bring upon him. But here is no evidence of true 
 moral repugnance, and as little of any religious scruple — "We'd 
 jump the life to come." The dramatist, by this brief but significant 
 parenthesis, has taken care to leave us in no doubt on a point 
 so momentous towards forming a due estimate of the conduct 
 of his hero. However, he feels, as we see, the dissuading motives 
 of worldly prudence in all their force. But one devouring passion 
 urges him on — the master-passion of his life — the lust of power, 
 i. 7-36. Still, it should seem that the considerations of policy and 
 safety regarding this life might even have withheld him from the 
 actual commission of the murder, had not the spirit of his wife come in 
 
INTBOnUGTION TO MACBETH. 35 
 
 to fortify his failing purpose. At all events, in the action of the drama 
 it is her intervention, most decidedly, that terminates his irresolution 
 and urges him to the final perpetration of the crime which he him- 
 self had been the first to meditate. 
 
 [From Ulrici's Shakespeare's Dramatic Art, 1846.] 
 
 Macbeth's is a lofty, glorious and highly gifted nature. He strives 
 for what is highest and greatest, from an internal sympathy for all 
 that is great. But in endeavoring to acquire it he, at the same time, 
 has the wish to satisfy his own self, to possess what is highest, 
 not only because it is high, but in order thereby to raise himself. 
 . . . Up to the commencement of the drama he has kept this desire, 
 this ambition, underthe discipline of the law; as yet he has nowhere 
 gone beyond the lawful limit, that delicate line which preserves 
 honor from becoming ambition, and distinguishes it from vice. 
 Thus, at least, he is described by his own wife, who must surely be 
 the best j udge. 
 
 The tyranny of Macbeth plunges a whole people in misery, and 
 his crimes have set two great nations in hostility against each other. 
 There could not be a more pregnant and impressive illustration- of 
 the solemn truth that the evil influence of crime, like a poisonous 
 serpent coiled within the fairest flowers, spreads over the whole 
 circle of human existence, not only working the doom of the crimi- 
 nal himself, but scattering far and wide the seed of destruction. 
 . . . Maebeth is the tragedy in which, above all others, Shakespeaie 
 has distinctly maintained his own Christian sentiments and a truly 
 Christian view of the system of things. 
 
 [From Hudson's Lectures on Shakespeare, 1848.] 
 
 The Weird Sisters, indeed, and all that belongs to them, are but poet- 
 ical impersonations of evil influences; they are the imag-inative, ir- 
 responsible agents or instruments of the devil, capable of inspiring 
 guilt, but not of incurring it; in and through whom all the powers 
 of their chief seem bent up to the accomplishment of a given pur- 
 pose. But with all their essential wickedness, there is nothing gross 
 or vulgar or sensual about them. They are the very purity of sin 
 incarnate; the vestal virgins, so to speak, of hell; radiant with a sort 
 of inverted holiness; fearful anomalies in body and soul, in whom 
 everything seems reversed; whose elevation is downwards; whose 
 duty is sin; whose religion is wickedness; and the law of whose 
 being is violation of law! Unlike the Furies of ^Eschylus, they 
 are petrific, not to the senses, but to the thoughts. At first, indeed, 
 on merely looking at them we can hardly keep from laughing, so 
 uncouth and grotesque is their appearance. But afterwards, on 
 looking into them, we find them terrible beyond description, and the 
 more we look into them, the more terrible do they become; the blood 
 almost curdling in our veins, as, dancing and singing their infernal 
 glees over embryo murders, they unfold to our thoughts the cold, 
 passionless, inexhaustible malignity of their nature, 
 
36 INTRODUCTION TO MAGBETS. 
 
 [From De Quineey't MiieeUaneous Estayt, 1851^ 
 
 In Macbeth, for the sake of gratifying liis own enormous and teem* 
 Ing faculty of creation, Shakespeare has introduced two murderers, 
 and, as usual in his hands, they are remarkably discriminated; but 
 though in Macbeth the strife of mind is greater than in his wife, the 
 tiger spirit not so awake, and his feelings caught chiefly by conta- 
 gion from her — ^yet, as both were finally involved in the guilt of 
 murder, the murderous mind of necessity is finally to be presumed 
 in both. This was to be expressed; and on its own account, as well 
 as to make it a more proportionable antagonist to the unoffending na- 
 ture of their victim, "the gracious Duncan," and adequately to ex- 
 pound the "deep damnation of his taking ofl," this was to be expressed 
 with peculiar energy. We were to be made to feel that the human 
 nature, i. e., the divine nature of love and mercy, spread through the 
 hearts of aU creatures, and seldom utterly withdrawn from man, was 
 gone, vanished, extinct; and that the fiendish nature had taken its 
 place. And, as this effect is marvellously accomplished in the dia- 
 logues and soliloquies themselves, so it is finally consummated by the 
 
 expedient under consideration.* In order that a new world 
 
 may step in, this world must for a time disappear. The murderers, 
 and the murder, must be insulated — cut ofE by an immeasurable gulf 
 from the ordinary tide and succession of human affairs — locked up 
 and sequestered in some deep recess; we must be made sensible 
 that the world of ordinary life is suddenly arrested — laid asleep- 
 tranced — racked into a dread armistice; time must be annihilated; 
 relation to things without abolished; and all must pass self -withdrawn 
 into a deep syncope and suspension of earthly passion. Hence it is 
 that when the deed is done, when the work of darkness is perfect, 
 then the world of darkness passes away like a pageantry in the 
 clouds; the knocking at the gate is heard; and it makes known aud- 
 ibly that the reaction has commenced; the human has made its re- 
 fiux upon the fiendish; the pulses of life are beginningto beat again; 
 and the re-establishment of the goings-on of the world in which we 
 live first makes us profoundly sensible of the awful parenthesis that 
 had suspended them. 
 
 [From M&iires' Shakespeare, his Works and his Critics, I860.] 
 All these events, happening within the space of seventeen years, 
 are compressed in Shakespeare's play into the narrow limits of the 
 drama. He represents to us the successive stages in the life of Mac- 
 beth, — his crime, his prosperity, and his punishment. What the 
 Greeks would have developed in a trilogy, as in Orestes, for example, 
 to which Macbeth has been more than once compared, is here con- 
 fined to a single drama. We need be in nowise surprised at the 
 multitude of events unfolded in this play^nowing the freedom of 
 the English dramatists in this respect. Yet we can find in it no 
 element foreign to the action. Every circumstance contributes to- 
 wards the denouement; and we cannot fail to admire the powerful art 
 
 rrbe knocking at tbe gate, Act II. ec. ill. 
 
INTBODUOTION TO MACBETH. 37 
 
 with which Shakespeare has maintained the unity amid the num- 
 berless catastrophes of the piece. . . . This unity results from the 
 development of a single character. Macbeth fills the play. Every- 
 thing refers to him. . . . This character binds in one all portions of 
 the drama. 
 
 [From Oervinus's S7iakeapea/re,1862.'] 
 
 As far as regards poetic justice in the fates of Duncan, Banquo, 
 and Macdufl, there lies in their several natures a contrast to Mac- 
 
 beth's Hing Duncan is characterized in history 
 
 as a man of greater weakness than became a king; rebellions were 
 frequent in his reign; he was no warrior to suppress them, no physi- 
 ognomist to read treason in the face ; after he had j ust passed through 
 a painful experience through the treachery of the friendly thane of 
 Cawdor, he at once, overlooking the modest Banquo, elevates Mac- 
 beth to this very thaneship, thereby pampering Macbeth's ambition, 
 and suffers a cruel penalty for this blunder at the hands of the new 
 thane, his own kinsman. The same lack of foresight ruins Banquo. 
 He had been admitted to the secret of the weird sisters; pledged to 
 openness towards Macbeth, he had an opportunity of convincing 
 himself of his obduracy and secrecy; he surmises and suspects Mac- 
 beth's deed, yet he does nothing against him and nothing for him- 
 self; like, but with a difference, those cowardly impersonations of 
 fear, the Doctor, Seyton, Ross, and the spying ironical Lennox, he 
 suppresses his thoughts and wilfully shuts his eyes; he falls, having 
 done nothing in a field full of dangers. Macduff is not quite so 
 culpable in this respect; he is, therefore, punished, not in his own 
 person, but in the fate of his family, which makes him the martyr- 
 hero by whose hand Macbeth falls. Macdufl is, by nature, what 
 Macbeth once was, a mixture of mildness and force; he is more than 
 Macbeth, because he is without any admixture of ambition. When 
 Malcolm accuses himself to Macdufl of every imaginable vice, not 
 a shadow of ambition to force himself into the usurper's place 
 comes over Macdufl. So noble, so blameless, so mild, Macdufl lacks 
 the goad of sharp ambition necessary to make him a victorious op- 
 ponent of Macbeth. The poet, therefore, by the horrible extermin- 
 ation of his family, drains him of the milk of human kindness, and 
 so fits him to be the conqueror of Macbeth. 
 
 [From Flathe's Shakespeare in Seiner WirklichJceit, 1863.^ 
 
 Banquo enters with his son Fleance, who holds a torch. Will not 
 the man do something at last for his king, take some measures to 
 prevent a cruel crime? Everything combines to enjoin the most 
 careful watchfulness upon him, if duty and honor are yet quick 
 within his breast; and here we come to a speech of Banquo's to 
 his son to which we must pay special heed, since upon it the earlier 
 English commentators, Steevens among them, have based their 
 ridiculous theory that in this tragedy Banquo, in contrast to Mac- 
 beth, who is led astray, represents the man unseduced by evil. 
 Steevens says that this passage shows that Banqjio too is tempted by 
 the witches in his dreams to do something in aid of the fulfillment 
 
38 INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 of his hopes, and that in his waking hours he holds himself aloof 
 from all such suggestions, and hence his prayer to be spared the 
 "cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose." 
 
 A stranger or more forced explanation of this passage can hardly 
 be imagined. ... As he has already done, Banquo here en- 
 deavors as far as possible to assert his own innocence to himself, 
 while, for the sake of his future advantage, he intends to oppose no 
 obstacle to the sweep of Macbeth's sword. It is, therefore, nec- 
 essary that he should pretend to himself that here in Macbeth's 
 castle no danger can threaten Duncan nor any one else. There- 
 fore his sword need not rest by his side this night, and he gives 
 it to his son. He must be able to say to himself, in the event of any 
 fearful catastrophe, "1 never thought of or imagined any danger, and 
 so I laid aside my arms." 
 
 And yet, try as he may, he cannot away with the stifling sensation 
 of a tempest in the air, a storm-cloud destined to burst over Dun- 
 can's head this very night. He cannot but acknowledge to himself 
 that a certsun restless anxiety in his brain is urging him, in spite of 
 his weariness, to remain awake during the remaining hours of the 
 night But this mood, these sensations, must not last, or it might 
 seem a sacred duty either to hasten to the chamber of King Duncan 
 or to watch it closely, that its occupant may be shielded from mur- 
 derous wiles. To avoid this, Banquo denounces the thoughts of 
 Macbeth that arise in his mind as "cursed thoughts." Bo detestably 
 false are theythat a merciful Power must be entreated to restrain 
 them during sleep, when the mind is not to be completely controlled. 
 
 [From Sermid^s Inner Life of Shakespea/re, 1865^ 
 All this tragedy is symbolic, — the diction, the action, the dia- 
 logue. That is, each is but a representative portion of a larger 
 whole. Lady Macbeth's letter is only suggestive, not the entire 
 document; and the conversation in the seventh scene of the first 
 Act refers, as alreaiy intimated, to a long previous one. Of Sinel 
 and Cawdor, to whose titles Macbeth succeeds, and of the " mer- 
 ciless MacDonald," whom he subdues, nothing is told but the names; 
 the Witches themselves are introduced without any explanation, and 
 we have to refer them to a system of mythology which we can only 
 guess at. Lady Macbeth in the last Act comes suddenly before us 
 as a somnambulist, without any preparation in the previous scenes; 
 and what she says then in her soliloquy — and she says it in the brief- 
 est way — is to indicate to us a psychological process very obscurely 
 foreshadowed in the third Act, scene second, and which, on account 
 of that obscurity, has been misunderstood. By this method of 
 composition Shakespeare has gained a rapidity in the conduct of 
 this drama which brings it into contrast with almost all the others. 
 Thus, in illustrating a subject which reveals itself in types and sym- 
 bols only on the stage of history and real life, Shakespeare, with a 
 fine innerinstinct, gives the same form to his religious tragedy. The 
 symbolical style of this drama almost imparts to it a Biblical char- 
 acter. Victor Hugo, jlndeed, considers that this typical character be- 
 longs to many of Shakespeare's productions. The type condenses a 
 
INTROnVOTION TO MAC BETE. 38 
 
 world of examples in a single one. A lesson which is a man, a 
 myth with a human face so plastic that it looks at you, and that 
 its look is a mirror, a parable which warns you, a symbol which 
 cries out "Beware!" an idea which is nerve, muscle, and flesh, and 
 which has a heart to love, eyes to weep, and teetii to devour or 
 laugh, a psychical conception with the relief of actual fact, — that ia 
 the type. 
 
 [From La/martini » Shakespeare and his Work, 1865^ 
 
 It is as a moralist that Shakespeare excels; no one can doubt this 
 after a careful study of his works which, though containing some 
 passages of questionable taste, cannot fail to elevate the mind by the 
 purity of the morals they inctilcate. There breathes through them 
 so strong a belief in virtue, so steady an adherence to good princi- 
 ples, imited to such a vigorous tone of honor, as testifies to the au- 
 thor's excellence as a moralist, nay, as a Christian. It is most 
 ' noteworthy that the tragic paganism of the modern drama disap- 
 peared with Shakespeare, and that if his plays are criminal in their 
 issues, their logic is invariably and inflexibly orthodox 
 
 Such is Macbeth It is crimel It is remorse 1 It is the weakness 
 of a strong man opposed to the seductions of a perverted and pas- 
 sionate woman! Above all, it the immediate expiation of crime by 
 the secret vengeance of God! Herein lies the invincible morality of 
 Shakespeare.- The poet is in harmony with God. 
 
 [From Bodenstedfs edition of Macbeth, 1867.] 
 
 I We must presume that the lady has too high an opinion of her 
 husband. . . . We already know Mm as a quickly determined mur- 
 derer in thought, and as an accomplished hypocrite; and this nature 
 of his is not belied by the present letter;* it appears only thinly 
 disguised. The lady knows at once what he is after; she knows and 
 openly acknowledges that his " milk of human kindness" will not 
 deter him from attempting the life of old King Duncan, but only 
 from " catching the nearest way;" that is, from laying his own hand 
 to it. 
 
 [From Petri's Introduction of Shaketpeare into Christian Families, 
 
 1868.] 
 
 The definite conception and recognition of a spiritual realm, whose 
 influence over human souls is full of malignity, woe and terror, is to 
 be found in all periods of human history, and in all stages of civil- 
 ization. ... In a word, Shakespeare is penetrated with the truth, of 
 which we have proofs over and over again in the Bible, that there is 
 a secret world of evil spirits that with Satanic cunning lie in wait 
 for human souls. . . . Under this weight of demoniac influences lies 
 Macbeth when the drama opens. 
 
 * The letter In Act I., Bcv. 
 
40 INTBOLliCTION TO MAC BETE. 
 
 [From JjmeWs STuikespea/re Once More, 1870.'] 
 
 In the modem tragedy, certainly in tlie four greatest of Shake- 
 speare's tragedies, there is something very like Destiny, only the 
 place of it is changed. It is no longer above man, but in him; yet 
 the catastrophe is as sternly foredoomed in the characters of Lear, 
 Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet as it could be by an infallible oracle. 
 In Macbeth, indeed, the Weird Sisters Introduce an element very 
 like Fate; but generally it may be said that with the Greeks the 
 character is involved in the action, while with Shakespeare the action 
 is evolved from the character. In the one case, the motive of the 
 play controls the personages; in the other, the chief personages are 
 in themselves the motive to which all else is subsidiary. 
 
 [From Leo's Macbeth, Translated, Introduced, and Explained, lS7i.] 
 
 We exhaust all the sensational epithets at our command in paint- 
 ing in bright colors the terrible, tigerish nature of Lady Macbeth. 
 She has been styled the intellectual originator of the murder; the' 
 evil spirit goading her husband to crime — and, after all, she is noth- 
 ing of the kind; she is of a proud, ardent nature, a brave, consistent, 
 loving woman, that derives her courageous consistency from the 
 depths of her affection, and, after the firtt step in crime, sinks under 
 the burden of guilt heaped upon her soul. . . . But he lives and 
 rages on, like a Berserker of old, destroying in his tyrannous hate 
 whatsoever stands in his path. . . Macbeth's is a nature predestined 
 to murder, not needing the influence of his wife to direct him to the 
 path of crime, along which at first she leads him. The wife, on the 
 other hand, at the side of a noble, honorable husband, always faith- 
 ful to the right, would have been a pure and innocent woman, dif- 
 fusing happiness around her domestic circle, in spite of some 
 asperities in her temper. 
 
 [From BuekniWs The Mad Folk of Shakespeare, 1867.'] 
 
 What was Lady Macbeth's form and temperament? In Maclise's 
 great painting of the banquet scene she is represented as a woman 
 of large and coarse development: a Scandinavian Amazon, the mus- 
 cles of whose brawny arms could only have been developed to their 
 great size by hard and frequent use; a woman of whose flsts her 
 husband might well be afraid. . . . Was Lady Macbeth such a be- 
 ing? Did the fierce fire of her soul animate the epicene bulk of a 
 virago? Neverl Lady Macbeth was a lady, beautiful and delicate, 
 whose one vivid passion proves that her organization was instinct 
 with nerve-force, unoppressed by weight of flesh. Probably she 
 was small; for it is the smaller sort of women whose emotional fire 
 is the most fierce, and she herself bears unconscious testimony to the 
 fact that her hand was little. . . . Although she manifests no feeling 
 towards Macbeth beyond the regard which ambition makes her 
 yield, it is clear that he entertains for her the personal love which 
 a beautiful woman would excite. . . . Moreover, the eSect of re- 
 morse upon her own health proves the preponderance of nerve in 
 her organization. Could the Lady Macbeth of Maclise, and of 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MAOBBTE. 41 
 
 others who have painted this lady, have been capable of the fire and 
 force of her character in the commission of her crimes, the re- 
 membrance of them would scarcely have disturbed the quiet of her 
 after years. We figure Lady Macbeth to have been a tawny or 
 brown blonde Rachel, with more beauty, with gray and cruel eyes, 
 but with the same slight, dry configuration and constitution, instinct 
 with determined nerve-power. 
 
 [From Weiss's Wit, Humor, and BTiakespeare, 1876.] 
 I conceive that when Macbeth's crime had fully infected Shake- 
 speare's imagination and was urging it into the appalling swiftness of 
 the first scenes of this tragedy, he endowed Macbeth with its own 
 shaping quality. The witches were not decoys of another world to 
 lure him into acquaintanceship with crime. They were his own 
 intention grown to be so ravenous that it framed a prelude to his 
 deed, as the condition of starving sets a phantom banquet before a 
 person's eyes. Shakespeare had no need of them to start the busi- 
 ness of his play or to keep alive his plot. Macbeth and his wife did 
 their own tempting so thoroughly that spirits might applaud and 
 refrain from interfering. But these witches were characters of the 
 second-sight which Shakespeare imputed to Macbeth, a distinguish- 
 ing trait born into Macbeth's mind from the conception of this trag- 
 edy. The prosaic superstructure of the old chronicle, on which the 
 play is based, is transformed into a psychological peculiarity. 
 
 So we observe that these weird sisters were no posters of vulgar iU, 
 horsed on nursery broomsticks, to deliver murrain in the fold and 
 rheumatism at the hearth, in gratification of a vicious whim. But 
 they became vulgarized into this whenever Macbeth was absent from 
 the scene. Then they shrank from Fates to hags such as Banquo's 
 undistempered eyes saw them, withered, hairy-faced, laying chappy 
 fingers upon skinny lips, — old women dreaded by the common people 
 for reputed powers of bewitching. All such Celtic superstitions 
 breed nobly in Macbeth's fancy; he knows all about the village gos- 
 sip. The eldritch women are the nearest hint of supernature which 
 he had; but his kingly anticipations tolerate no common pranks from 
 them. When Macbeth is absent, Shakespeare shows what stale 
 witcheries they traffic in. The critics blame the incongruity, or at- 
 tribute it to some interpolating pen. But Shakespeare rightly in- 
 tended to place in contrast with Macbeth's fantasy the popular 
 material of his age in which it worked. So we hear the witches 
 relating their trumpery exploits. This one has been killing poor 
 people's swine. Another threatens to water-log a shipmaster because 
 his wife refused to give her chestnuts. They put their spiteful heads 
 together, and gloat over a drowned pilot's thumb. When Macbeth 
 enters, this ghastly twaddle is hushed by a domineering thought which 
 meets in these crones his " all hail hereafter." 
 
 In the scene which follows the banquet, Shakespeare brings the 
 witches and their mistress Hecate together. The stage direction, 
 •' Enter Hecate to the other three witches, " simply includes her as 
 one witch more. 3he has a Greek name that was representative of th« 
 
49 INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 
 
 Moon in her baleful and haunting phase. But on this northern heath 
 she displays a genuine Celtic temper, and scolds the witches for hav- 
 ing unbidden dealings with Macbeth; while she, "the close contriver 
 of all harms," was never called to bear her part. Of course not, as 
 Macbeth's imagination had no personal ra/pport with her, and all 
 that Shakespeare wants of her is to keep the popular witch element 
 upon the stage and set it to creating " artificial sprites " in collusion 
 with the greater incantation in Macbeth's heart. The witches pro- 
 vide him nothing but the cave and the cauldron. The scene never 
 rises into dignity until he arrives. Three old women hovering around 
 a kettle, throw m a number of nauseous curiosities which they have 
 got by foraging in disreputable quarters. They stir the slab gruel to 
 verses which are as realistic as a wooden spoon; yet neither Middle- 
 ton nor any other of Shakespeare's contemporaries, save Marlowe 
 perhaps, could have written them. But mark how the tone alters when 
 Macbeth comes to conjure with them. Whatisitthey do? "A deed 
 without a name." Then there is only one more culinar;^ interrup- 
 tion; but we shudder and cannot sneer, for it uses an ingredient 
 furnished by a man who has committed crimes against nature; the 
 spell catches the drippings of a murderer's gibbet. Macbeth's 
 secret divinings of the future fill the scene; the visions incorporate 
 his own anxiety. Out of his perturbed soul rise the armed head, the 
 bloody child. He reassures himself with the phantom of a child 
 crowned, with a tree in his hand, and misinterprets it into a " sweet 
 bodement " of safely, so long as trees do not take to travelling. But 
 the recollection of Banquo is the great disturber, that spirit sits at 
 every feast of solace which the King partakes. His "heart throbs 
 to know one thing." Will Banquo's issue ever reign? The King's 
 fiaming soul throws shadows on the screen of his dread, — a show of 
 kings, Banquo first and last, eight of them between Banquo blood- 
 boltered and Banquo crowned. But the Banquo that smiles is bathed 
 in blood. Blood let it be then. 
 
 "From this moment. 
 The very firstlings of my heart shall be 
 The firstlings of my hand." 
 
 But no critical theory can hold a work of imagination to a strict 
 account. You may slap John Locke into a witness-bQx and riddle 
 him with cross-questions: the same court has no authority to put a 
 poet upon oath to justify himself in every line. 
 
 {From Bowden'B Shakespeare, 1876.] 
 
 It need hardly be once more repeated that the "Witches of Mac- 
 beth are not the broom-stick witches of vulgar popular tradition. 
 If they are grotesque, they are also sublime. The weird sisters of 
 our dramatist may take their place beside the terrible old women 
 of Michael Angelo, who spin the destinies of man. Shakespeare 
 is no more afraid thkn Michael Angelo of being vulgar. It is the 
 feeble, sentimental ideal artist who is nervous about the dignity 
 of bis conceptions, and who, in aiming at the great, attains only 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 43 
 
 the grandiose, he thins away all that is positive and material, in 
 the hope of discovering some novelty of shadowy horror. But 
 the great ideal artists — Michael Angelo, Dante, Blake, Beethoven 
 — see things far more dreadful than the vague horrors of the ro- 
 manticist; they are perfectly fearless in their use of the material, 
 the definite, the gross, the so-called vulgar. And thus Shakespeare 
 fearlessly showed us his weird sisters, "the goddesses of destiny," 
 brewing infernal charms in their wicked caldron. We cannot quite 
 dispense in this life with ritualism, and the ritualism of evil is foul 
 and ugly; the bell-broth which the witches are cooldng bubbles up 
 with no refined, spiritual poison; the quintessence of mischief is be- 
 ing brewed out of foul things which can be enumerated; thick and 
 slab the gruel must be made. Yet these weird sisters remain terri- 
 ble and sublime. They tingle in every fibre with evil energy, as the 
 tempest does with the electric current; their malignity is inexhaust- 
 ible; they are wells of sin springing up into everlasting death; they 
 have their raptures and ecstasies in crime; they snatch with delight 
 at the relics of impiety and foul disease; they are the awful inspir- 
 ers of murder, insanity, suicide. 
 
 The weird sisters, says Gervinus, " are simply the embodiment of 
 inward temptation." They are surely much more than this. If we 
 must regard the entire universe as a manifestation of an unknown 
 somewhat which lies behind it, we are compelled to admit that there 
 is an apocalypse of power auxiliary to vice, as really as there is a 
 manifestation of virtuous energy. All venerable mythologies ad- 
 mit this fact. The Mephistopheles of Goethe remains as the testi- 
 mony of our scientific nineteenth century upon the matter. The 
 history of the race and the social medium in which we live and 
 breathe, have created forces of good and evil whirih are independ- 
 ent of the will of each individual man and woman. The sins of 
 past centuries taint the atmosphere of to-day. We move through the 
 world subject to accumulated forces of evil and of good outside our- 
 selves. We are caught up at times upon a stream of virtuous force, 
 a beneficent current which bears us onward towards an abiding place 
 of joy, of purity, and of sacrifice; or a counter current drifts us towards 
 darkness and cold and death. And therefore no great realist in art 
 has hesitated to admit the existence of what theologians name Sa- 
 tanic temptation. There is in truth no such thing as "naked man- 
 hood." The attempt to divorce ourselves from the large impersonal 
 life of the world, and to erect ourselves into independent wills, is 
 the dream of the idealist. And between the evil within and the evil 
 without subsists a terrible sympathy and reciprocity. There is in 
 the atmosphere a zymotic poison of sin; and the constitution which 
 is morally enfeebled supplies appropriate nutriment for the germs 
 of disease, while the hardy moral nature repels the same germs. 
 Macbeth is infected; Banquo passes free. Let us, then, not inquire 
 after the names of these fatal sisters. Nameless they are, and sex- 
 less. It is enough to know that such powers auxiliary to vice do ex- 
 ist outside ourselves, and that Shakespeare was scientifically accur* 
 ate in his statement of the fact. 
 
44 INTRODUCTION TO MAOBBTH.. 
 
 [From Hudson's Macbeth, 1879.1 
 
 The style of this mighty drama is pitched in the same high tragic 
 key as the action. Throughout, we have an explosion, as of pur- 
 pose into act, so also of thought into speech, both literally kindling 
 with their own swiftness. No sooner thought than said, no sooner 
 said than done, is the law of the piece. Therewithal thoughts 
 and images come crowding and jostling each other in such quick 
 succession as to prevent a full utterance; a second leaping upon the 
 tongue before the first is fairly ofl. I should say the poet here 
 specially endeavored how much of meaning could be conveyed in 
 how little of expression; with the least touching of the ear to send 
 vibrations through all the chambers of the mind. Hence the large, 
 manifold suggestiveness which lurks in the words: they seem in- 
 stinct with something which the speakers cannot stay to unfold. 
 And between these invitations to linger and the continual drawings 
 onward the reader's mind is kindled to an almost preternatural ac- 
 tivity. All which might at length grow wearisome, but that the play 
 is, moreover, throughout, a conflict of antagonist elements and op- 
 posite extremes, which are so managed as to brace up the interest 
 on every side: so that the effect of the whole is to refresh, not ex- 
 haust the powers; the mind being sustained in its long and lofty 
 flight by the wings that grow forth as of their own accord from its 
 superadded life. The lyrical element, instead of being interspersed 
 here and there in the form of musical lulls and pauses, is thor- 
 oughly interfused with the dramatic; while the ethical sense un- 
 derlies them both, and is forced up through them by their own 
 pressure. The whole drama indeed may be described as a tempest 
 set to music. 
 
 [From Rielmrd Grant White's The Lady Gruach's Husband, 1885^ 
 
 Her name was Qruach, and she came of a family whose strow^ 
 and grasping hands had made them what was then called noble. 
 There is reason for believing that she was very beautiful, and yet 
 more for the assurance that she had in a rare degree those winning 
 ways and womanly wills that give the weaker half of mankind so 
 much influence for good and evil over the stronger. Unimaginative, 
 without tenderness, with a cruel, remorseless nature, and a bright, 
 clear intellect that saw at once the end that she desired and the means 
 of its attainment, she was a type of those female politicians who, in 
 the past ages of the world's moral rudeness, have sought, and, by in- 
 trigue, by suggestion, and by the stimulus of sexual temptation 
 and feminine craft which made the strength of man their instru- 
 ment, have attained that great end of woman's ambition, social pre- 
 eminence. . . . Women who have the womanly nature in its 
 best form, are more ambitious for those they love than for them- 
 selves. . . . But where a woman is without tenderness and 
 without the capacity of devotion, she is the most unscrupulous and 
 remorseless creature under the canopy of heaven. A tigress has 
 not less compunction when she bears a white gasping Infant off into 
 the jungle. Of such ambitious sort was Oruach. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH. 45 
 
 [From MorUy'g Edition, 1886.} 
 
 The main feature in the original story is the perdition of a soul 
 through the working of the powers of evil; and the play is so shaped 
 that it may be said even to embody a text from St. Paul. It is of 
 "the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
 and all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." (3. 
 Thessalonians ii, 9, 10). 
 
 The keynote is struck at the opening of the play with the appear- 
 ance of the witches, who poetically represent the spirit of evil. 
 Shakespeare, while using conceptions of witchcraft that were com- 
 monly accepted in his time, so little relied upon them that, to us 
 who associate with them chiefly low ideas of an ignorant credulity, 
 the touches of witch-talk taken from the popular belief never abate 
 the grandeur of his poetical suggestion. His witches blend all the 
 local color of our home-bred superstition with imagery from the 
 classical conception of the Fates as three weird sisters, and with the 
 religious suggestion of a spiritual power seeking to betray the souls 
 of men. They are sexless beings that hover in the cloud and in the 
 darkness, and, when seen, vanish again by making themselves air. 
 
 When the play opens, Macbeth and Banquo are winning the 
 crowning victory that saves King Duncan's throne, imperilled by the 
 strong assaults of foreign invasion and domestic treason. Fore- 
 most in bodily valour, Macbeth especially is winning to himself the 
 honors of the day. After the king's sons, hitherto not of age to be 
 declared successors, he is Duncap's nearest kinsman. In the ela- 
 tion of his victory he may, if his regard to the right for its own sake 
 be weak, lie open to one temptation. These were days of a rude 
 civilization, when a king's son did not succeed if not of age to rule, 
 but the successor was a brother or next kinsman able to direct in 
 council or command in war. The same usage has been referred to 
 in considering the plot of Samlet. The eldest son of Duncan was 
 not yet declared heir to the throne. Duncan away, Macbeth, fresh 
 from a crowning victory, would wear the crown by right of usage 
 and by force of the triumphant army at his back. Opportunity leis 
 tempting has in old time led generals to seek a crown by murder of 
 a king. The hour of Macbeth's temptation was born of his victory. 
 The whole first act of Macbeth is planned to develop the temptation, 
 and the powers of evil are first shown waiting to strike 
 
 " When the hurly-burly 's done. 
 When the battle 's lost and won." 
 
 They prepare to meet Macbeth upon the heath, and vanish into the 
 thunder-cloud from which they came. 
 
 " Fair is foul, and foul is fair. 
 
 Hover through the fog and filthy air." 
 
 Not only more ancient beliefs, but our old church traditions have 
 associated darkness with the spirits of evil. Milton, who made 
 grand use of the church traditions of the Fall of Lucifer, embodied 
 that other tradition in his image of the bridge that brought the fiends 
 fter the Fall to dwell in clouds and darkness round about us, ever at 
 
to INTRODUCTION TO MAOBETIl. 
 
 hand to tempt us to our ruin. In " Paradise Lost" the Council ol 
 Fallen Spirits was in Hell. In " Paradise Regained " Satan sum- 
 mons his Council in the clouds. The old nursery fears of darkness, 
 even now instilled into .some children, have their origin in old be- 
 liefs that peopled darkness with unhappy ghosts and spirits of evil. 
 Not only in the thunder and lightning that are about the witches at 
 the opening of the play, but in later scenes, in other ways, Shake- 
 speare has made his spirits of evil spirits of darkness. 
 
 Having opened the play thus with suggestions of its theme, in the 
 working of Satan for temptation and destruction of a soul, Shakes- 
 peare tells tiie stoiv of the battle in words of a bleeding captain 
 who has hurried to feing Duncan. His panting breath and ebbing 
 strength are marked by the form of his sentences and changing 
 structure of the verse. In the account given by the bleeding cap- 
 tain, and by Rosse and Angus, who close it with tidings of victory, 
 Macbeth shines out as "brave Macbeth," as "valour's minion," "Bel- 
 lona's bridegroom, lapped in proof." At the end of the play Shake- 
 speare marks, as clearly as at the beginning, that Macbeth was physi- 
 cally brave. But he marks throughout as distinctly that Macbeth 
 was morally weak. His chief desire was to stand well with the 
 world; and to the day of this temptation all had been well with him. 
 He had lived an honorable life in the world's eyes, because favor in 
 the world's eyes is on the whole to be secured by living honorably, 
 and dishonorable deeds bring worldly discredit with them. Mac- 
 beth is, in fact, a grand poetic type of a very common form of moral 
 weakness. He does not strongly seek to do right for the love of 
 right: but he seeks weakly to do right for love of the worldly con- 
 veniences that right-doing brings. The trader, smiling at a tattered 
 cloak; who goes to church regularly in his Sunday best, and thinks 
 out, perhaps, in the quiet of his pew, a new way of outwitting his 
 rivals; who is careful to subscribe to public charities; is prompt also 
 in private charities that cannot fail to come to light, and as prompt 
 in any private knavery for gain of wealth, if he can only feel sure 
 that it will never be discovered, or that it is a form of dishonesty 
 which the conventions of the world accept and which will bring re- 
 spect for shrewdness as a man of business — to him Macbeth ought 
 to speak in parable. In his own miserable way, he is the man. It 
 is to such as he that the temptation may come, with false assurance 
 of security, that shall drag him down, as it dragged Macbeth, 
 to utter rum. None but the morally weak can be so caught. He 
 who holds by the right for its own sake is morally strong, and lapped 
 in proof against the tempter. 
 
 "The witches' scene with Hecate, and the witehes' scene at the 
 opening of the fourth act, recall firmly the motive of the poem in 
 " the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.'' 
 They do more. They prepare for the fourth act by distinct fore- 
 showing of the poet's purpose in it. The tale is of the ruin of a 
 tempted soul. Shakespeare has shown clearly what kind of soul it 
 is that lies most open to the tempter; he has represented the swift 
 passage from crime to crime; and now Hecate, the mistress of their 
 
INTMODUCTION TO MACBETH. 47 
 
 charms, the close contriver of all harms, looks aa^rily on the weird 
 sisters, whose temptation has not yet dragged down Macbeth to be 
 companion of fiends. Thus far, all they have aone 
 
 " Hath been but for a wayward sod, 
 Spiteful and wrathful; who, as othara do, 
 Loves for his own ends, not for you." 
 
 Thus far, all crime has been to win and to secure some earthly gain; 
 has had a motive with a touch in it of human reason. Macbeth has 
 been made but a wayward son of the powers of darkness, loving 
 evil for his own ends, not for itself; not for you, who are evil itself — 
 
 " You murdering ministers, 
 Wherever in your sightless substances 
 You wait on nature's mischief." 
 
 For the complete perdition of the tempted soul, it must be dragged 
 down to the lowest deep, till it do evil without hope of other gain 
 than satisfaction of a fiendish malice. This, yet to be attained, is 
 the triumphant close of the working of Satan. Its attainment, 
 " with all power and signs and lying wonders," the fourth act is to 
 show, where Macbeth gains no end but the satisfaction of a fiendish 
 malice and cruelty by the murder of Lady MacdufE and her chil- 
 dren. This foreshadowing of the motive of the fourth act includes 
 also preparations for the fifth act, which has for its «heme the Ket- 
 ribution. Thus the five acts are arranged with a clear poetical de- 
 sign in their succession: — (1) the Temptation; (3) ths Murder of Dun- 
 can; (3) downward, as consequence of that, tr the Murder of Banquo; 
 (4) complete ruin, in passage to the Murder of Lady Macdufl and 
 her children; and then (5) in the last act, the feaping of tiie whirl- 
 \rind. 
 
EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 Abbott ^^the ShaJceipewrian Gramma/r of Dr. E. A. Abbott, third 
 edition, 1873. 
 
 A. S.=Anglo-Saxoii; Dan.= Danish; Fr.= French; Oael.=: Gaelic; 
 <Jer.= 0erman; Gr.= Greek; O. E.= Old English, etc. 
 
 Bracket = Etymohgieal French Dietiojuiry, by A. Brachet, transla- 
 tion 1873. 
 
 ,FWn«««^ the Vcvriortmi Shakespeare, Macbeth, by Dr. Horace 
 Howard Pumess, 1873. 
 
 Maetzner=Bnglische Qrammatik, vpn E. Maetzner, 1860-65. 
 
 Masterpieces = Masterpieces in English Literature, by the present 
 Editor. 
 
 Bolfe=^JBolfe's School Edition ot Shakespeare's Plays. 
 
 SchmiM=8haketpeare Lexicon, by Dr. Alexander Schmidt, 1886. 
 
 8keat= Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, by 
 Walter "W. Skeat, 1882. 
 
 8tormonth=lketiojUMy of the English Language, by Rev. James 
 Stormonth, 1885. 
 
 Webster = Noah Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 
 
 Wedgwood =Dietio7uvry of English Etymology, by H. A. Wedg- 
 wood, second editioik, 1878. 
 
 g^~As to the numbers of the lines, Bolfe's admirable school 
 edition has been followed. 
 
MACBETH. 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONJB. 
 
 DtTNCAN, king of Scotland. 
 Malcolm, Uls sons. 
 
 DONALBAIN, I 
 
 ■Macbeth, I generals of the king's army. 
 
 Banquo, 1 
 
 MACDurp, 
 
 Lennox, 
 
 ■^°^^' [ noblemen of Scotland. 
 
 Menteith, 
 
 Angos, 
 
 Caithness, 
 
 Flbanoe, son to Banquo. 
 
 SiwARD, Earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces. 
 
 Young SiwARD, his son. 
 
 Seyton, an officer attending on Macbeth. 
 
 Boy, son to Macduff. 
 
 An English Doctor. 
 
 A Scotch Doctor. 
 
 A Sergeant. 
 
 A Porter. 
 
 An Old Man. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Lady Macduff. 
 
 Gentlewomen attending on Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Hecate. 
 
 Three Witches. 
 
 Apparitions. 
 
 Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants and Mes- 
 sengers. 
 
 Scene: Scotland; BngUmd. 
 
MACBETH. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. A Desert Place. 
 Thunder" and lightning. Enter three Witches. 
 
 First Witch. When shall we three meet again 
 In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 
 
 Second Witch. When the hurly-burly 's done, 
 When the battle 's lost and won. 
 
 Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. 5 
 
 First Witch, Where the place? 
 
 Second Witch. Upon the heath. 
 
 Third Witch. There to meet with — Macbeth. 
 
 ACT I. Scene I. Enter Three Witches.— What dramatic pur- 
 pose is subserved by this scenel Are the witches introduced, as Cole- 
 ridge says, " to strike the keynote of the character of the whole drama?" 
 What may we gather from the scene as to proper witch-weather? 
 proximity to battle? time of day? place? "familiar spirits"? moral 
 character of the witches? — Line 1. The folios end this and the next 
 line with interrogation mark. Rightly? — Line 3. Does she ask, "In 
 which of the three, thunder, lightning, or rain? " or, "When shall we 
 three meet in foul weather again? " Read with pauses and inflections 
 to correspond with your interpretation. — 3. Hurly-burly — uproar? 
 tumult? An imitative word, reduplicated, the second half echoing the 
 first. Our ancestors were fond of such rhyming repetitions, as harum'- 
 scarum, higgledy-piggledy, hv/rdy-gurdy, namby-pamhy, helter-skelter (i. e., 
 MIortter ef celertter, merrily and swiftly!) etc. See our ed. of Hamlet, 
 note on IV, v, 67. French, hurler; Lat., ululare; Gr. o^oWJeiv, ololu- 
 zein, to howl", Lat., ulula, and Eng., owl; fr. i/ul, to hoot. Our 
 "hullabaloo" seems a corrupt form of hurly-burly. — 6. heath = 
 Tract of uncultivated land [Schmidt] ? wild, open country [Skeat] ? A. 
 S. haeth, akin to Ger. heide; fr. Aryan base kaita, pasture, heath, 
 perhaps " a clear space." Skeat. The evergreen shrub, called in Scot- 
 land heather {hWier), is so named from growing on heaths. Hence, 
 heathen, one who dwells there ! — Macbeth. Of thestirp ot aeetn, who 
 called themselves MacBeeth, White. Mac is son in Scotch? Dr. Brinsley 
 Nicholson would supply " thee " before " Macbeth." Capell suggested 
 the insertion of "great." — 8. graymalkin (or grimaMn) — gray cat? 
 a " familiar spirit " (see I Sam., xxviii, 7) who has a cat's voice? Mca- 
 
 51 
 
52 MAGBETH. [act i. 
 
 First Witch. I come, Graymalkm! 
 Second Witch. Paddock calls. 
 
 Third Witch. Anon. _ 10 
 
 All. Pair is foul, and foul is fair: 
 Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt. 
 
 ScENiB II. A Camp near Forres. 
 
 Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, 
 Lennox, vnth Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant. 
 
 Duncan. What bloody man is that? He can report, 
 As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt 
 The newest state. 
 
 Malcolm. This is the sergeant 
 
 Who like a good and hardy soldier fought 
 
 Mn, diminutive of Maud ({. e., Matilda, heroine), not of Mary, accord- 
 ing to Skeat. See Errata and AMenia in Skeat. -M/n, allied to Lat. 
 flenug, race, afBnity ; dimiu. Graymalkin— little Gray Maud? — 9. Pad- 
 dock.— A " familiar," with the voice of a toad or frog? The probable 
 sense is "jerker," the animal that moves by jerks. Sanscrit «pand, to 
 vibrate, otk is dimin. from concrete substantives. A. S. tic. Pad- 
 dock-stool is toad-stool. Skeat; Oibbs. In N. E., bull-paddock — bull- 
 frog. — 10. Anon (A. S., on dn).— in one (moment)? The word was 
 the ordinary answer of waiters in taverns when called. 1 Henry lY, 
 11, iv. Here the witches, as inferiors, answer the call of their famil- 
 iars?— 11. feir is foul, etc. — fair weather is foul for us, foul weather 
 fair FMoberly] ? to us, perverse and malignant as we are, fair is foul, 
 and foul is fair [Johnson] ? fair is foul, and foul is fair to them in a 
 moral sense as well as in a physical [Hudson] ? See Paradise Lost, I, 
 159-165; and "Evil, be thou my good," Par. Lost, IV, 110.— 12. flitby, 
 because full of cannon smoke? Filth is Fr. foul, f r. y pu, to smell bad. 
 Interjectional in origin (like ;!«.'), as if blowing away the odor with the 
 lips ? The suffix fh, joined to verbs, denotes the action taken abstractly ; 
 joined to adjectives, denotes the quality. As to the metre of this scene 
 (trochaic, with occasional iambic), the critics note that Shakespeare 
 uses it elsewhere to mark the language of supernatural creatures ; but 
 not invariably. 
 
 Scene II. Forres, or Fores, a royal burgh and parish, Co. of 
 Moray, 10 m. W. S. W. of Elgin, 85 m. from Inverness, 115 m. N. of 
 Edinburgh. See map. Near by is " Sweno's Pillar," an ancient obe- 
 lisk probably commemorating some victory over the Danes. Not far 
 off is a "blasted heath," treeless, shrubless, one of the dreariest moors 
 in Scotland.— Note that the folios do not prefix the name of the place 
 to any scene. This was supplied by Capell, 1767. — 1. bloody. " Blood " 
 or " bloody " reappears on almost every page, and runs like a red thread 
 through the whole piece. Bodenstedt (1867) . — 3. newest state — latest 
 account [Moberly] ? latest condition or situation? — sergeant, non- 
 commissioned officer in the army [Schmidt] ? "An officer, it appears, of 
 higher rank in Shakespeare's time than now, when grades are in- 
 creased in number and more clearly defined." WMte. Lat. eervientem. 
 
SCKNB II.] MAOBETE. 63 
 
 'Gainst my captivity — Hail, brave friend! 5 
 
 Say to the king the knowledge of the broil 
 As thou didst leave it. 
 
 Sergeant. Doubtful it stood; 
 
 As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 
 And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald — 
 Worthy to be a rebel, for to that 10 
 
 The multiplying villanies of nature 
 Do swarm upon him — from the western isles 
 Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied; 
 And Fortune, on his damned quarry smiling, 
 Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all 's too weak; 15 
 
 For brave Macbeth^well he deserves that name-^ 
 
 sei-vjentem, seirjentem; 'S't. sergemt. " Servant " is a doublet. The folios 
 have serieant, trisyl. Scan the line. — 5. hail. Note the , imperfect 
 metre. The critics generally make hcdl a dissylable. May we suppose 
 a pause, equivalent to a syllable, preceding the word? Such a metrical 
 device is not uncommon in Shakespeare. May we not allow him some 
 discretion in the matter? See lines 7, 20; Sprague's ed. of Hamlet, I, 
 i, 129, 132, 135; Macbeth, III, i, 39; Abbott's Shakes. Grammar, 484.-6. 
 say. Is saj/ so used now? — the knowledge. White and others change 
 th£ to thy. Needfully ? — broil. Pr. brouUler, to mingle, embroil ; Gael. 
 broiglich, noise, brawling ; Welsh broeh, din, tumult. Compare brawl, 
 bra^, imbrogUo, and Lat. fragor. — 7. Fill out the metre by a pause? 
 "The interval between two speakers sometimes justifies the omission 
 of an accent." Abbott, 506. See line 5, line 34, 1, iv, 35, and notes. — 
 9. choke — oppress, make away with, kill [Schmidt] ? suffocate? 
 drown? In Jlfarft, V, 13, the swine were "choked in the sea." Choke is 
 probably imitative, like cackle, chuckle, cough. Observe the three gra- 
 dations of this imitative root, kak, kik, kuk. Skeat. — art —skill 
 i Clark and Wright] ? art of swimming? — 9. Macdonwald. So first 
 olio; the others, Macdonnel; Holinshed, Macdowald. — 10. to that.— 
 to that end [Abbott, Hudson, etc.] ? for to that = because [White] ? — 
 12. ivestern isles, the Hebrides, W. of Scotland, about 490 in number, 
 120 being inhabited by about 100,000 speaking Gaelic. They were an- 
 nexed to the Scotch crown in 1540. — 13. of kerns — with kerns? 
 Often so in Shakes. Abbott, T.71. Kenw (Irish ceam — a man) were 
 light-armed with darts, daggers, or knives ; gallowglaxnes (Irish giolla, 
 man-servant; gleai-alm, I wrestle) were heavy-armed with helmet, 
 coat of mail, long sword, and axe. Both are properly Irish. See note 
 on V, vii, 17. — 14. quarry. So the folios. Lat. cor, heart ; Ital. corada, 
 heart, with lights, hver, etc. ; Low Lat. corata — Old Pr. corie, emiR, 
 the intestines of a slain animal. Hence quarry, a heap of slaughtered 
 game. The vivid imagination of the speaker transforms Macdonwald' s 
 throng into a heap of victims slaughtered by Macbeth ! ButHanmer 
 , (1744) suggested the prosy word quarrel, meaning cause, enterprise, or 
 occasion of quarrel, and most editors have adopted it, especially be- 
 cause Holinshed uses it. If we can get a perfectly appropriate mean- 
 ing from the folio text, why change it? Coriolanus, I, i, 202 ; Hamlet, V, 
 ii, 352. — smiling. Delilah-like. Judges, xvi. — show'd = made a show? 
 appeared [Clark and Wright] ? proved [Darmesteter] 1 — all, what? 
 Fortune [Hunter]? language of description? Macdonwald's might? — 
 
B4 MAGBETH. [act i. 
 
 Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel, 
 
 Which smok'd with bloody execution, 
 
 Like valour's minion carv'd out his passage 
 
 Till he fac'd the slave; _ 20 
 
 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. 
 
 Duncan. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! 
 
 Sergeant. As whence the sun gins his reflection 25 
 
 Shipwracking storms and direful thunders breaking — 
 
 18. execution. Often in Shakes, and Milton the -^on is dissyl. — 19. 
 minion — favorite, darling) Fr. mignon, dainty, neat, pleasing; Ital. 
 nUgnone, a minion; Old H. Ger. minna, minni, memory, love (minne- 
 singer, singer of love) ; related to Eng. mind, man, to think. Brachet, 
 Skeat. Man is the thinker. Has Lat. minus, minimum, influenced the 
 meaning! — 20. The abrupt curtness of a verse brings the recital to a 
 sudden check. Elvrln. " Single lines with two or three accents are 
 frequently interspersed amid the ordinary verses of five accents. In 
 the present instance this irregular line is explained by the haste and 
 excitement of the speaker." Abbott, 511. See notes on lines 5, 7, 34. — 
 21. -which — and he [DarmesteterJ ? who [Dyce] 1 Most editors think 
 the text corrupt here ; but what could be more natural than that the 
 blunt, excited soldier should be slightly incorrect in speech! But is it 
 incorrect 1 — " Which is used interchangeably with who and that. " Abbott, 
 265. — shook hands — took leave [Hudson] ? became reconciled? We 
 shake hands in token of friendship, whether at meeting, or on cessa- 
 tion of enmity, or in making an agreement, or in parting. The common 
 explanation here makes it identical with "bade farewell." Would "be- 
 came friends" be better? — 22. ft-om the nave. The critics object to 
 this seemingly upward stroke -^ but may we not safely let the enthusi- 
 astic soldier tell his story in his own way, and Macbeth hack his en- 
 emy as he is best able? Shakespeare had undoubtedly read in Nash's 
 Dido (1594), "Then from the navel to the throat at once he ript old 
 Priam. " — 24. cousin. Duncan and Macbeth were grandsons of King 
 Malcolm II, who died in 1033. Duncan repeatedly refers to this con- 
 sanguinity. For the word cousin, see note on "coz," IV, ii, 14. — 25. 
 gins, A. S. ginnan, to begin. "The original word whence begin, is 
 formed. It should therefore never be denoted by 'gin, but the apos- 
 trophe should be omitted. From i/ghan, to strike." Skeat. Hudson 
 changes gin to gives. Well? — reflection. For ■4on, see line 18. — As 
 whence .... shipwrecking, etc. — as from a clear sky whence the 
 light of the sun is transmitted in his full brightness [Hudson] ? as 
 thunder and storms sometimes come from the east, the quarter from 
 which we expect sunrise [Clark and Wright] ! The allusion is to the 
 equinoctial gales ; the beginning of the reflection of the sun is the epoch 
 of his passing from the severe to the mildest season, opening, however, 
 with siorms [Singer] ? Storms in their extremest degree succeed often 
 to a dawn of the fairest promise [Capell] ? As storms spring from the 
 vernal equinox, whence the sun begins his reflex course toward us after 
 passing the equator [Moberly?] Four explanation! your reason! Ter- 
 rible storms come from the east upon the coast of Scotland, as illus- 
 trated in Hugh Miller's My Schools and Schoolmjisters. For the folio 
 spelling, shipwracking. see I. iii. 114. — 26. breaking. This reading of 
 
SCENB n.] MAOBETH. 55 
 
 So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come 
 
 Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: 
 
 No sooner justice had with valour arm'd 
 
 Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, 30 
 
 But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, 
 
 With furhish'd arms and new supplies of men 
 
 Began a fresh assault. 
 
 Duncan. Dismay'd not this 
 
 Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? 
 
 Sergeant. Tes; 
 
 As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. 35 
 
 If I say sooth, I must report they were 
 As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks; 
 So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: 
 Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 
 Or memorize another Golgotha, 40 
 
 all but the first folio was changed by Pope to break. Most editors fol- 
 low him. (The first folio ends the line with thunders, and this is per- 
 haps the true reading.) But though the syntax of Tireaking is a little 
 less smooth, the present participle brings the tempest and crash of 
 battle more strikingly to the mind, and that was perhaps the principal 
 thing with Shakespeare 1 Read, So discomfort swells from that 
 spring (our costly victory, which had wearied us) whence comfort 
 seemed to come ; as (like) shipwrecking storms and direful thunders 
 breaking (from the east) whence (every day) the sun begins his reflec- 
 tion (shining) ? The thought of Norway, off at the east, suggests the 
 rest? — 38. swells. " The idea of a spring that had brought only com- 
 fort, swelling into a disastrous flood [Elwin] ? — Marie. Note the 
 freedom and boldness. Verisimilitude 1 — 30. skipping iLerns. Why 
 not gallowglasses, too? I. ii. 13. — 31. Norweyan. HolmshedhasNor- 
 waygian. Better? — surveying vantage — perceiving his opportu- 
 nity [Rolfe] ? watching his opportunity [Hudson] ? VarOage is a head- 
 less form of Fr. avcmtage, fr. Lat. abante; ab from; amte, before; Fr. 
 dvant, before, forward ; avantage, that which advances, profits, sets us 
 avant. Skeat, Brachet. — 33. farbish'd — not used since polished?^ 
 34. captains. The commentators make a trisyl. of this. Abbott, 477, 
 506. May the sergeant's condition account for a hiatus? Line 43. — 
 The Old Fr. and Mid. Eng. form was eapitain, fr. Low Lat. eapitanus; 
 fr. Lat. caput, head. — 36. sootb (A. S. sodh, true) meant originally no 
 more than "being," "that which is," hence "that which is real, truth," 
 and was at first the present particible of t/as, to be. Skeat. — 37. can- 
 nons. Anachronism? — cracks = reports? effect for cause? metonymy? 
 Crack was a word of emphasis and dignity in Shakespeare's time; he 
 terms the general dissolution of natjire Vie crack of doom in IV, i, 117. 
 Johnson. — 38. So ^hey .... foe. An Alexandrine line which many 
 have tried to reduce to a pentameter. Needlessly? — 39. except— un- 
 less? Present usage? — 40. memorize — make memorable? modern 
 meaning? Henry VIII, IIIj ii, 53. — Golgotha (place of a skull), 
 where our Savior was crucified, is our Calvary (fr. Lat. ealva. bare 
 
56 MACBETR. [act i. 
 
 I cannot tell — 
 
 But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. 
 
 Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds; 
 They smack of honor both. — Go get him surgeons. 
 
 \Ex!it Sergeant, attended. 
 Who comes here? 
 
 Enter Ross. 
 
 Malcolm. The worthy thane of Ross. 45 
 
 Lennox. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should 
 he look 
 That seems to speak things strange. 
 
 Boss. God save the king! 
 
 Duncan. Whence earnest thou, worthy thane? 
 
 Ross. From Fife, great king; 
 
 Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky 
 And fan our people cold. Norway himself, 60 
 
 scalp). Mark, xv. 22; John, xix. 17.— 41. cannot tell, what? For the 
 metre, see lines 20, 7, 5; Abbott; 511. — 43. so. Bearing in mind thata« 
 is simply a contraction for al{-so (aUe, aU, as), we shall not be surprised 
 at some interchange of so and as. . Abhott, 275. — 43. smack. A. S. 
 smote; Ger. sehmeeken, to taste. Wedgwood regards it as imitative of 
 sound. — 45. thane. A dignitary among the English. A. S. IMgen, 
 thegn, thin, mature, grown up; talt, to generate; Gr. tkvov, a child. 
 Skeat. "An Anglo-Saxon nobleman inferior in rank to an earl or ald- 
 erman." Bosworfh. See V, viii, 62, 63, 64. — 46. a baste. So first 
 folio ; the others omit a. Which reading best gives the impression of 
 rapidity? Note the vividness in the personification of haste I See m, 
 i, 127. — should — would? ought to [Abbott, 323] 1 I, ill, 45 ; V, v, 31. 
 
 — 47. seems, etc. — appearance corresponds with the strangeness of 
 his message [Clark and Wright] 1 has the air of bringing strange news 
 [Darmesteter] ? appears to be on the point of speaking things strange 
 [Heath] ? is like a man in a dumb show expressing a tragical catas- 
 trophe [Pleay]? "Shakespeare undoubtedly said teems!" John- 
 son. Comes, seeks, d&ems, have also been suggested for seems. Wisely? 
 Richard II, III, ii, 194-197. —48. Fife, a Scotch county and peninsula, 
 with the North Sea, the Friths of Tay and Forth, on the east, north, 
 and south, respectively. In round numbers the two battle-fields 
 were about 100 miles apart! — 49. flout — mock? often so in Shakes. 
 Merely a peculiar use of flute as a verb, borrowed from Old Du. fluyten, 
 to play the flute, to jeer, impose on. Lat. flare, to blow. Skeat. Gray, 
 in his Bard, lines 2, 3, 4, beautifully utilizes Shakespeare's metaphor. 
 
 — 50. fan .... cold = chill . . . with apprehension [Elwin] ? " The 
 standards being taken by Duncan's forces and fixed in the ground, the 
 colors idly flapped about, serving only to cool the conquerors." So 
 Clark and Wright. Was ever metaphor squeezed drier? Ross is liv- 
 ing over again the events of the day. Again he sees the Scotch forces 
 filled with chilling apprehension at sight of the multitudinous Norwe- 
 gian banners, that seem to have brought the cold air of the northeast 
 with them? By contrast the splendor of Macbeth's achievements is 
 
BCBNB 11.] MAOBETS. bi 
 
 With terrible numbers, 
 
 Assisted by that most disloyal traitor, 
 
 The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; 
 
 Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, 
 
 Confronted him with self-comparisons, 58 
 
 Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, 
 
 Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude, 
 
 The victory fell on us. 
 
 • 
 heiglitened? — ^Norway himself. See note on rv, iii, 43 ; also Hamlet, our 
 edition, I, i, 61. — 51. terrible numbers. Pope changed this to num- 
 bers terrible. He improved the metre : but with what eflect npon the 
 energy and naturalness? — 53. Cawdor, a parish of the counties of 
 Nairn and Inverness. Cawdor Castle, an imposing fortress in excellent 
 preservation and still used as a summer residence by the Earl of Caw- 
 dor, is about five miles south of Nairn and about fifteen from Inverness. 
 In it Lord Lovat, the Jacobite conspirator, was long concealed. There 
 is a tradition that Duncan was murdered here. Holinshed alludes to 
 the treason of the thane, but says nothing of his connection with the 
 invading Norwegians. — 34. till that. Istliat here a demonstrative? 
 a conjuotional affix? Abbott, 287. — Bellona's. Roman goddess of war, 
 sister and wife of Mars. Shakes, may have read in Virgil (JEneid, Til. , 
 319. ) , Et Bellona mcmct te jyrovmba, and, as brides-maid, Bellona awaits 
 you. Is Macbeth likened to Mars? — lapp'd. "An older form was 
 wlappen; la/p is a corruption of vyrap. The Mid. Eng. form wlarppen 
 explains the latter part of the words develop, en-ueZop. Skeat. — proof 
 = armor that has been tested and found impenetrable? Lat. probare; 
 Old Fr. %»-emier; Mod. Fr. prouver, to try, prove, test; Late Lat.profio, 
 Ital. prova, proof. — 55. confronted him with self-comparisons = 
 gave him (Norway) as good as he brought [Warburton] ? met him at 
 equality, equal arms, equal valor [Capelll? loith self-comparisons ^ia 
 such a way that each niight fully compare himself with his adversary 
 [Moberly] ? acts of comparing or measuring himself with the other 
 personally [Schmidt] ? in personal conflict to prove which combatant 
 was the better man [Clark and Wright] ? with self matching self [our 
 Masterpieces in Eng. IM., p. 112] ? Hudson reads caparisons, and ex- 
 plains: " Caparisons for arms, ofEensive and defensive, the trappings 
 and furniture of personal fighting. Here, as often, self is equivalent to 
 selfsame. Self-caparisons means that they were both armed in the self- 
 same way. It was Scot against Scot." Your judgment? Does Mm 
 mean the king of Norway or Cawdor? If the latter, why should Mac- 
 beth in I, iii, 73 call him "a prosperous gentleman? " If the former, 
 why should his sword-point or arm be called "rebellious?" — 56. re- 
 bellious arm? or rebellious point? Some think that rebellious (fr. 
 Lat. re, meaning back or again, and beUum, meaning war) signifies war- 
 ring bach, opposing. Shakes, almost always uSes rebel and its deriva- 
 tions in a bad sense. Duncan being rightful lord of Scotland, could 
 Sweno, allied with Cawdor, be said to wield a rebellious sword? Could 
 Macbeth vanquish Cawdor and yet not know his antagonist in I, iii, 72, 
 73? The foUos place the comma after point. — 57. lavish = unbounded 
 in the •indulgence of passion [Clark and Wright]? overweening [Mo- 
 berly]? unrestrained [Rolf e]l —lavish spirit = reckless or prodigal 
 daring [Hudson] ? — 58. thatnow. "So before f ftat is very frequently 
 omitted." Abbott, 283. "Rarely we have a short line (like tftot mote) 
 
58 MACBETH [act l 
 
 Jhmccm. Great happiness! 
 
 Rosa. That now 
 
 Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition; 
 Nor would we deign him burial of his men 60 
 
 Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's Inch 
 Ten thousand dollars to our general use. 
 
 Duncan. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive 
 Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, 
 And with his former title greet Macbeth. 65 
 
 Ross. I 'll'see it done. 
 
 Duncan, What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. 
 
 ScBNK III. A Heath. 
 
 Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 
 
 First Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 
 
 Second Witch. Killing swine. 
 
 Third Witch. Sister, where thou? 
 
 First Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap. 
 
 to introduce the subject." 4Z)6ott, 511. — 59. NopwayB'=Norwegian8' 
 JRolfe] 1 Abbott, 4fe. — composition = an arrangement, treaty [Mo- 
 Derly] 3 terms of peace [Clark and Wright] % armistice [Hudson] ? Lat. 
 eamponire, to put together ; con, together : ponfre, to place ; compoBitio, 
 a putting together. — 61. disbursed. Old Fr. (Ua-, fr. Lat. dto, apart; 
 Fr. bourse; Low Lat. bursa, a purse; Gr. ^lipcn), burse, a hide, skin, 
 of which purses were made. Skeat. — Saint Colme's Inch = St. Col- 
 umb's Island, Inchcolm, Inchcomb? In the Frith of Forth, near the 
 coast of Fife, 2 m. south of Aberdour, and not far from Edinburgh. 
 It contains the remains of a monastery founded in 112S, and still older 
 ruins. St. Columb, who died in 597, is said to have resided- here for a 
 time. The island is not to be confounded with Colme-kill, II, iv, 33 — ' 
 Colme is a dissyl. — Inch, Gael. InU; Lat. Insula; Bug. isle, fr. Lat. tm, 
 lalo, in the main sea, salum being cognate with Gr. o-aXo;, sales (for 
 o-FaAos, swalos), the swell or surge of the sea, cognate with Eng. 
 sweU. Thus insula = in the swell of the sea. SKeai.-rlnch is found in 
 the names of many Scotch islands. — 63. dollars. G«r. thaler, fr. ttal, 
 a dale. First coined about 1518 in the valley of St. Joachim, Bohemia. 
 Is the anachronism a serious matterl I, ii, 37 ; n, 11, 70. — 64. bosom 
 interest = close and intimate affection [Clark and Wright] ? interest^ 
 concern, advantage [Schmidt] ? — present = early? instant? This 
 word, like the phrase by aiid hy, has lost in force. In Shakespeare's 
 time, they meant immediate and immeMately. See Matthew, xxvi, 53 ; 
 xiii, 21 ; iMke, xxi, 9. Scan the line. As to the genuineness of this 
 scene, see Dowden's Shakespeare's Mind amd Art, p. 218, and the author- 
 ities there cited. Could it be omitted without serious loss? 
 
 Scene III.— 2. swine. Witches specially hated swine. "Pres- 
 ently after her (the witch's) departure, his (Lathburie's) hogs fell sick 
 and died to the number of twenty." A Detection of Darmuible DrUfs 
 
BCBNB m.] MACBETH. 59 
 
 And munch'd, and munch'd, and mimch'd. • Give me, 
 quo til I: 6 
 
 '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. _ 10 
 
 Second Witch. I '11 give thee a wind. 
 
 First Witch. Thou 'rt kind. . 
 
 Third Witch. And I another. 
 
 First Witch. I myself have all the other. 
 
 Practiced ty Three Witches (1579), quoted by Stevens. — 5. munch'd = 
 chewed with, closed lips? "mumbl'd with toothless g:ums?" imitative 
 word? Mid. Eng. mom, mum, expressive of the least possible sound 
 with the lips, whence mumble and mttmmer. We cannot deduce It from 
 Fr. manger, for phonetic reasons ; but mamger may have helped to sug- 
 gest the special sense. Mamger, to eat, is f r. Lat. mamducoj-e, to chew. 
 Skeat. — Give me. She wants chestnuts to eat ? or for her magic mixture? 
 — Quoth. A. S., cwethan, to speak; past tense cweth, spoke, said; 
 whence gueath, in bequeath; Mid. Eng. guod or qiio0i. — 6. Aroint thee 
 = begone? " It is a corruption of the provincial Eng. rynt ye, or rynt 
 you, used by milkmaids in Cheshire to a cow when she has been milked, 
 to bid her get out of the way. Clark and Wright. — Icel. ryma, to make 
 room, to clear the way. Bynt ye is an easy corruption of rime ta, i. e., 
 do thou make room ; where ta is for thou. Skeat. — Lear, m, iv, 115. — 
 rump-fed = fed on offal [Colepepper] ? fat-rumped [Nares, and 
 Schmidt] ? " She fed on the best joints ; I hungry and begging for a 
 chestnut." Moberly. —ronyon = scurvy drab TWhite]? scabby or 
 mangy woman [Grey] ?— Fr. rogne, the itch; fr. Lat. roblginem, rust, 
 scab, itch ; whence Old Pr. roigne and Fr. rogneux. Braehet. — 7. Aleppo. 
 InHakluyt's Voyages (1589), the ship Tiger, of London, is said to have 
 made a voyage in 1583 to Tripolis, whence several passengers went by 
 caravan to Aleppo, about seventy miles from the Mediterranean. la 
 Twelfth Night, V, i, 56, a ship is called Tiger. — 8. sieve. In January, 
 1591, one Dr. Fian, a notorious sorcerer, was burned at the stake in 
 Edinburgh, convicted of sailing the sea in a sieve ! The Gr. ini piVous 
 irAeix, to go to Sea in a sieve, was proverbial for an enterprise ex- 
 tremely difficult or impossible. It was a favorite style of navigation 
 with witches, who "can sail in an egg-shell, a cockle or muscle-shell, 
 through and under the tempestuous sea." Scot's Discovery of Witch- 
 craft, 1584. — 9. tail. A witch could take the shape of any animal, but 
 it would beminusatail! Similarly deficient was a werewolf (man met- 
 amorphosed into a wolf) . — 10. I'll do — ^what? raise the winds [Dar- 
 mesteter] ? gnaw a hole through the ship's hull and make her leak 
 [Clark and Wright] ? work wild mischief generally? — "Tails are the 
 
 rudders of water animals, as the rat is occasionally She would 
 
 find her port without rudder, as well as sail in a sieve." CapeU. — 11. 
 wind. Witches were supposed to sell winds. In Summer'i Last WiU 
 •nd Testament, a play by Nash (1600), we read: 
 
 " In Ireland and in Denmark both, 
 Witches for gold wiU sell a man a wind," etc. 
 Ulysses tells how jSJoIus, ' ' having flayed, gave me a wallet of the bide 
 
eO MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 And the very ports they blow, 15 
 
 All the quarters that they know 
 
 I' the shipnian's card. 
 
 I '11 drain him dry as hay: 
 
 Sleep shall neither night nor day 
 
 Hang upon his pent-house lid; Sli 
 
 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. 85 
 
 Look what I have. 
 
 Second Witch. Show me, show me. 
 
 of ( a nine-yeaxs-old ox, and therein he bound fast the ways of the howl- 
 ing winds." Odyssey X, 19, 20. In Macbeth IV, i, 52, Macbeth says to 
 the witches, "Though you untie the winds," etc. — 15. blow — tot or 
 from7 or upon [Steevens] ? — 17. card = chart [White, Hunter,Dyce, 
 etc.] 1 circular card on which the points of the compass are marked 
 rClark and Wright, Schmidt, Moberly, etc.] ? — "JohnDanesco said that 
 he had seen the sea-card, and that . . the coast ran east and west." Hak- 
 luyt's Virginia Bichly Valued (1609). — SMpmen in \ Kings, ix, 27; Acts, 
 xxvii, 27,30.-18. drain— by my witchcraft?— Holiushed (1577), de- 
 scribing the bewitching of King DufEe (968-973), saijrs : " The soldiers, 
 .... breaking into the house, found one of the witches roasting upon 
 a wooden brooch an image of wax .... resembling in each feature the 
 king's person Another of them sat reciting certain words of en- 
 chantment, and still basted the image As the image did waste 
 
 before the fire, so did the body of the king break forth in sweat. And 
 as for the words of enchantment, they served to keep him still waking 
 from sleep; so that, as the wax ever melted, so did the king's flesh." 
 It was an old superstition. In Virgil {Eologue viii, 81, 82) , as also in The- 
 ocritus, an image of wajc, or wax and clay resembling Daphnis, is 
 treated in like manner. Horace alludes to the practice in his seven- 
 teenth epode, and eighth satire, first book. — 20. pent-house (corrup- 
 tion of Fr. pentis, pentice, or appemtis, shed pent-house, Lat. appendi- 
 eium, appendage; ad, to, pendere, to hang), an "appendage" or out- 
 building ; a shed projecting from a building. Braehet, Skeat. — The eye- 
 lid is so called without any reference to the eyebrow, simply because 
 it slopes like the roof of a pent-house or lean-to. Clark amd WrigM. — 
 The transfer of French words to English often strikingly attests the 
 Ignorance of our ancestors. Thus icrevlsse became crayfish ; chartreuse, 
 charter-house ; chausie, causeway ; bU de Mars (March wheat) , bloody 
 Mars ; Bellerophon (classical proper name given to a French ship of 
 war). Bully-ruffian; guelffues choses, kick-shaws ! — 21. forbid = under 
 an interdict, ban, or curse? The punishment was severe, cutting off 
 the excommunicated from the society and the friendly offices of aU 
 men. — ^22. se'nnig^hts. We have lost the word for seven nights, thqjjgh 
 we retain the " fortnight " (f ourteen-nights) . The old Eng. night, year, 
 etc., had no plural? — ^. dwindle, etc. "Pining away, the disease now 
 known as marasmus, was one of the evils most commonly attributed to 
 witchcraft." White. — peak = grow sharp-featured? — Peak is akin to 
 
scBNEin.) MAG BETH. 61 
 
 I^rst Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, 
 Wreck'd as homeward he did come. [Drum vrithin. 
 
 Third Witch. A drum, a drum! 30 
 
 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, 35 
 
 And thrice again, to make up nine. 
 Peace! the charm's wound up. 
 
 Miter Macbeth and Banquo. 
 
 Macbeth. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. 
 
 Banquo. How far is 't call'd to Forres? What are these 
 So wither'd and so wild in their attire, 40 
 
 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 understand me. 
 By each at once her choppy finger laying 
 
 pifce, and Irish peac, a sharp-pointed thing. — 88. thumb. Good for 
 the caldron, IV, i, 3-383 — The deep longings of his last moments gave 
 
 magic power to the parts of his body [Moberly]? — pilot's 
 
 ^rrected. " Macbeth is the pilot who has saved the vessel of the 
 state, and on his own homeward way he is met by the temptation that 
 shall wreck his life. ' ' MorUy. — 32. weird=unearthly, wild and super- 
 natural? — A. S. wyrd, wird, umrd, fate, destiny; that which happens : 
 weorthan, allied to Ger. werden, to become, to happen. "White would 
 sound the e as long a. The Latin word Parcae (the three fates or god- 
 desses of destiny) in Virgil is translated by Gawin Douglas (1513) by 
 "weird sisters." See Holiushed, quoted on p. 21. — 33. posters = 
 swift couriers? Post originally = something ftced; as, a stake in the 
 ground; afterward a &xei station; next, the person that passed regu- 
 ularly, as to carry letters, between the stations ; then any swift trav- 
 eller. Lat. pon^e, to place ; positMS, placed. — 35. thrice. Note the magic 
 numbers, 3,9, and 9 times 9. Others ? — Pythagoras called 3 the perfect 
 number, expressive of "beginning, middle, and end," and symbolic of 
 Deity. The witches go round the ring three times for each *itch? 
 They enchant the place where Macbeth is to appear [Darmesteter] ? — 
 38 foul and fair = foul as to weather, fair as to victory [Elwin, 
 Darmesteter, etc.] ? foul and fair as to the varying fortune of the day 
 [DeliusJ ? foul and fair as to weather changed by witchcraft [Clark 
 and Wright] ? — Dowden, noting the resemblance between this line and 
 I, i, 11, says, "Shakespeare intimates by this that, although Macbeth 
 has not yet set eyes upon these hags, the connection is already estab- 
 lished between his soul and them. Their spells have already wrought 
 upon Ms blood." Likely? — 4S. question = converse with [Schmidt] ? 
 ask questions of? Mer. of Venice, IV, i, 65, 337 ; Hamlet, I, i, 45. — 44. 
 choppy. Spelled also ehapjyy. Mid . Eng. chappen, choppen, to cut; 
 to gape open as if cut; chap, to cleave, crack; a cleft. Alliea to Gr. 
 
62 MAOBETH. [act i. 
 
 Upon her skinny lips: you should be women, 46 
 
 And yet your beards forbid me to interpret 
 That you are so. 
 
 Macbeth. Speak, if you can: what are you» 
 
 First Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of 
 Glamis! 
 
 Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of 
 Cawdor! 
 
 Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king 
 hereafter! 50 
 
 Bcmqvo. 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 56 
 
 Of noble having and of royal hope. 
 That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not, 
 
 KdirTeiK, koptein, to cut, chop. — 45. Bhonld, etc. = Your general ap- 
 pearance makes me suppose you are [Clark and WrightJ ? I, ii, 46 ; V, 
 V, 31. — 46. beards. In Beaumont and Fletcher (Honest Man's For- 
 tune) a beard is said to be a token of a witch. See, too. Merry Wives of 
 W., IV, ii, 169. — 48. Glamis (monosyllable in Scotch pronunciation; 
 a is sounded as in alms), a parish of Forfarshire, 5}i m. S. W. of For- 
 far, about 25 m. N. E. of Perth. The castle, beautifully situated, is 
 stately, and very impressive from its magnincence and its historical 
 associations. See Rolfe's ed. of Macbeth, p. 160. — 51. why do you 
 start? Why more than Banquo? A very suggestive manifestation, 
 this starting? — 53. fantastical = creatures of fantasy [Johnson, 
 White, etc. 1 ? imaginary [Schmidt] ? quaint and capricious ? Holin- 
 shed's word.. — .54. show = appear? I, ii, 15. — 55, .56. present grace 
 = thaneship of Glamis [Hunter] ? present grace referring to noble hav- 
 ing [Clark and Wright]! — great prediction of noble having = 
 thaneship of Cawdor [Hunter] ? great prediction referring to roj/a! hope 
 [Clark and Wright] ? Clark and Wright make both the ' 'present grace' ' 
 and the "noble having" alike include the two thaneships, and they 
 make the " great prediction " refer to "royal hope" alone; butHunter, 
 if we rightly understand him, would have the "present grace" in- 
 clude the thaneship of Glamis only, the "noble having " include the 
 thaneship of Cawdor only, and the " great prediction " include both 
 the thaneship of Cawdor and the kingship. — Your view, and your rear- 
 sons for it? — having = possession, estate? — 57. that = which? so 
 that [Clark and Wright, Hudson, Rolfe, etc.] ? I, ii, .58. — rapt=trahs- 
 ported, entranced, absorbed in ecstacy? — Lat. rapSre, to snatch away; 
 raptus, caught away or up, ravished. Does the word, like " ecstacy," 
 in, ii, 21, show that they entertained decided views as to the possible 
 existence of the soul apart from the body? — The folios have wrapt, but 
 all the editors adopt Pope's change to rapt. Properly? — withal (in 
 the first folios, wUhatt) = with? with it? with it all, or with them all? 
 Emphatic at end of sentence for with, or vMh it, or in addition, etc. 
 .iUbottf 196. Ja rou IMe It, I, ii, 22; III, ii, 291. 392, 293, etc, ; Mer. of 
 
BCBNB m.] MACBETH. S3 
 
 If 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 60 
 
 Your favors nor your hate. 
 
 First Witch. Hail! 
 
 Second Witch. Hail! 
 
 Third Witch. Hail! 
 
 First Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 65 
 
 Second Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 
 ■ Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be 
 none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! 
 
 First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail! 
 
 Macbeth. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: 70 
 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 '5 
 
 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. 
 
 Ten., m, iv, 72. — 58. seeds. Vividness of imagination? felicitous or ' 
 strainedl — 60, 61. beg . . . favors . . . fear . . . hate? For a similar 
 distribution, see lines 55, 56; Winter's Tale, III, ii, 164, 165; Ham- 
 let, our edition, 111,1,151. — 65. lesser. Stillusedadjectively, but never 
 adverbially [Rolfe] ? — 66. happy = fortunate, like Lat. feUx [Rolfe, 
 Schmidt] I auspicious? — 3. happier, more blessed [Schmidt] ? — 6i. get. 
 WasBanquoreally an ancestor of the Stuarts? — 70. Stay, etc. Con- 
 trast the mental attitude of Macbeth with that of Banquo towards the 
 witches. — 71. Sinel's. So Holinshed. His true name was Pinleg, 
 says Ritson. Beattie conjectured Sinane, and that Dunsinane (hiU of 
 Sinane?) IV, i, 93, thence got its name. Reasonable? — 73. prosper- 
 ous. Had Macbethjust vanquished liim? Is he merely testing the 
 witches? See lines 108-116; I, ii, 56. "It appears that Cawdor was 
 taken prisoner ; for in the same scene the king commands his present 
 death." Johnson. " It not only does not appear that Cawdor was taken 
 prisoner in the battle, but Shakes, is careful to show that he was not 
 in the battle." Morley. Which? — 74. prospect of belief. Is belief 
 personliied here? See "eye of honor," Mer.of Ven., I, i,137. — 75. nc 
 more = any more. Force of double negative in Shakes. ? Abbott, 406, 
 explains the repetition as originating in "a desire of emphasis." — 76. 
 owe = are under obligation to impart? are in debt for, possess, have? 
 A. S. a^an, to possess, to have. The change from 4 to o is perfectly 
 regular. The g passes into w as usual. Mid. Eng. awen, owen, orig. to 
 possess. Oiuen, pp., shortened to ow« = possessed. /Sfteot. Oii6=pos- 
 
64 MACBETH. Iact i. 
 
 Banquo. The earth hath bubbles as the water has, 
 And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd? 80 
 
 Macbeth. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted 
 As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd! 
 
 Banquo. Were such things here as we do speak about? 
 Or have we eaten on the insane root 
 That takes the reason prisoner? 85 
 
 Macbeth. Your children 'shall be kings. 
 
 Banquo. You shall be king. 
 
 Macbeth. And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so? 
 
 Banquo. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here? 
 
 Enter Ross and Angus. 
 
 Rosa. The king hath happily received, Macbeth, 
 The news of thy success; and when he reads 00 
 
 Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, 
 His wonders and his praises do contend 
 Which should be thine or his: silenc'd with that, 
 
 sess iu III, iv, 113? Often so in Shakes. — 79. babbles. Shakespeare's 
 seething imagination bubbles up in the speech of his most prosaic char- 
 acters ! — 80. of them. Partitive o/, or possessive! — 81 . corporal = 
 material? pertaining to the body? "Shakes, never uses corporeal or 
 incorporeal."— seem'd. Emphatic [Elwin] ?— 84. eaten on = fed on 
 [MoberlyJ? "II you feed your minister on gruel week-days, he will 
 leed you on gruel Sundays." ToJmooe. — "lam glad on 't," Mer.of 
 Ven., II, vi, 66; "I am glad of it," Mer. of Ven^ ifl, i, 95. — insane = 
 making insane? prolepsis? — root=hemlock[Steevens]? deadly night- 
 shade TClark and Wright! ? hyosoyamus [Jean Bauhin, 1619J 1 Douce 
 and White think it was henbane {hyoscyamvs niger) . V, i,60. — 88. 
 How may we explain the incompleteness of this line? I, ii, 5, 7, 30. 
 — 86. Your children, etc. Envy and fear have already seized upon 
 him : here is the germ of the soliloquy (of Macbeth) in III, i [Darmes- 
 teter] ? — 89. The folio has Basse; but that, spelled with an e, was "an 
 "an Irish dignity." The Scottish title, which omits the e, really be- 
 longed to Macbeth, who, by the death of his father, Finley, was right- 
 fully thane or " maormor " of Ross [French's Shakespearecma Oeneal- 
 ogica, 1869] ? —91. rebels' or rebel's^ Why? — 93, 93. his wonders 
 and bis praises do contend which should be thine or bis. — 
 " ' Thine ' refers to ' praises,' ' his ' to ' wonders,' and the meaning is . 
 There is a conflict in the king's mind between his astonishment at the 
 achievement and his admiration of the achiever ; he knows not how 
 sufficiently to express his own wonder and to praise Macbeth ; bo that 
 he is reduced to sUenoe." ClarH and Wright. " His wonder, whioh is 
 his own, contends with his praise, which is yours." Moberly, quote", 
 by Rolfe. Does praise belong to Macbeth more than wonder, or won- 
 der to Duncan more than praise? Does it mean that the expression of 
 wonder contends with the expression of praise? or that the 
 emotion of wonder vies with the ability to praise? — Hudson changes 
 whicii to what, and interprets thus: "His wonders and his praises aio 
 
RCBNB m.j MACBETH. 05 
 
 Jn viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, 
 
 He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, 85 
 
 Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make. 
 
 Strange images of death. As thick as tale 
 
 ISO earnest and enthusiastic that they seem to be debating or 
 raising the question whether what is his ought not to be thine — 
 whether you ought not to be in his place. ' ' Hudson adds despairingly, 
 " Commentators have tugged mighty hard to wring a coherent and in- 
 telligible meaning out of the old readings, and I have tugged mighty 
 hard to understand their explanations ; but all the hard tugging has 
 been in vain." In our Masterpieces In EnglUh LUarature, p. 115, the 
 passage is interpreted thus ; " His wonders and his praise s do contend 
 (with each other) , which should be (i. e., which should survive the 
 rther, wonder struggling with the utterance of praise, a struggle for 
 existence), thine or his (i-e., 'thine,' the praise; 'his,' the wonders). 
 
 Admiration contends with ability to praise, overpowers his 
 
 speech, and the result is silence. " This vivid personification is quite in 
 Shakespeare's manner; but, on more mature reflection, the present 
 editor inclines to a different explanation, which he first published in 
 Ediioatmn (Boston) , May number, 1887. There is no need of changing 
 the text. The king speaks, though vaguely, of "a greater honor," of 
 Ivhich the thaneship of Cawdor is but "an earnest." That "greater 
 honor " can hardly be anything less than the crown itself. Originally 
 (see Sir Walter Scott's Summary, p. 14) the claim of Macbeth to the 
 throne was better than Duncan's, and now Macbeth has by his valor 
 saved Scotland, while old Duncan has done nothing. , Duncan is con- 
 scious of "ingratitude" (I, iv, line 15) in bestowing nothing but the 
 petty thanedom of Cawdor as a reward for Macbeth's brilliant serv- 
 ices; wishes "that the proportion both of thanks and payment" (iv, 
 19) might have been in his (Duncan's) power to bestow, but feels that 
 "morels due" to Macbeth "than more than all" (more than the en- 
 tire kingdom) " can pay." The kingdom is Macbeth's by right, Dun- 
 can's by possession. Whose shall it be? He is in doubt which thing 
 to give Macbeth, which thing to retain as his own ; and a contest like 
 that between night and morning (III, iv, 137) arises. In this mood, 
 "His wonders and his praises do contend (as to) which (i. e., which 
 thing, be it dignity, wealth, power, the forfeited thanedom, ortheking- 
 4om Itself) should (ought to) be thine (Macbeth's) or his." Ross and 
 Angus evidently think the magnanimous king is on the point of abdi- 
 cating in favor of his heroic cousin. But the king, after hinting at 
 such abdication, prudently checks himself, "silenced with that." — 
 Test these explanations. — 96, afeard. Shakes, uses afeard 32 times, 
 afraid H times. Rolfe. — Nothing. So something and alt things are used 
 adverbially in this play. — 97. images of death. A recollection of 
 plurima mortis imago, very many an image of death (JEneid II, 369) ? 
 This is usually interpreted as meaning corpses! Is it not rather the 
 shapes in which Death presents himself? Or should we pause after o/, 
 and interpret, "Nothing afraid of death, which thou didst make strange 
 images of? " See Masterpieces, p. 115. — tale (A. S. talu, number, reck- 
 oning; Ger. zahl), count, counting. Many editors have substituted 
 hcM, but does not hail suggest down-falling, pelting with "unsuccessive 
 multitudinous rapidity? " "To say that men arrived as fast as they 
 could be counted is an admissible hyperbole ; to say that men arrived 
 as close together as hail-stones in a storm is equally absurd and ex- 
 travagant." White. £1 win finds in line 100 con^mation of the sug- 
 
66 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 Game post with post, and every one did bear 
 Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence, 
 And pour'd them down before him. 
 
 Angvs. We are sent 100 
 
 To give thee from our royal master thanks; 
 Only to herald thee into his sight, 
 Not pay thee. 
 
 Moss. And for an earnest of a greater honor, 
 He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor: 105 
 In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! 
 For it is thine. 
 
 Sanquo. What, can the devil speak true? 
 
 Macbeth. The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress 
 me 
 In borrow'd robes. 
 
 Angus. Who was the thane lives yet, 
 
 But under heavy judgment bears that life 110 
 
 Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was oombin'd 
 With those of Norway, or did line the rebel 
 With hidden help and vantage, or that with both 
 He labour'd in his country's wrack, I know not; 
 
 gestion that haU is the right word; for "the messengers dis- 
 charged themselves of their news as melting hail pours forth its wa- 
 ters." But does thick-coming hail instantly pour forth its waters? If 
 tote makes good sense, have we a right to substitute a different word? 
 L li, 14. — 98. came. The folios have can. All the editors change it. 
 Rightfully? — 104. earnest. Welsh entes, em, a pledge; perftotps allied 
 to 6r. appo^cor, arrabo, earnest-money, fr. Hebrew erabon, a pledge; 
 Lat. orrha, Gael, otto, a pledge. S/teot. — 106. addition. Hamlet, I, 
 iv, 20. A title given to a man besides bis Christian and surname, show- 
 ing his estate, degree, mystery, trade, pla<!e of dwelling, etc. Cowel's 
 Law Diet. — Seem, i, 9^. — 107. devil, Necessarily a monosyl. here? 
 See below on line HI. — 108. dress, etc. Metaphorlcall Hunter thinks 
 that a real ceremony of investiture takes place here, as Sir David 
 Murray was actually so invested April 7, 1605, for a service to James 
 similar to that of Macbeth to Duncan, and that this circumstance helps 
 to fix the date of the play. Probable? See Bolfe, p. 164. — 109. who = 
 
 — 1 Abhott, 351. — Ill to 114. whether , ivrack. Discrepancy 
 
 between this account and that in Scene ii? — ivhether, etc. £ach line 
 requires five accented syllables. May we scan thus : v_/ — , ,_/ — . ^ — . 
 
 — ~_-_^. . — ? Abbott, 486, shorten whether to wheW, and he icos to h' woe, 
 
 and accents was! This preserves the metre, but spoils the sense? — 
 113. line = strengthen, fortify? — Lat. limum, flax; A. S. Ito, flax, linen. 
 To line garuents is, properly, to put Jtnen inside themi — vantage. 
 " A headless form of advantage." Skeat. See I, ii, 81. — 114. wrack. 
 So the folios, for wreck. Wrack is a doublet of wreck. A. S. wraee, ex- 
 pulsion ; wraecan, to drive ; Du. wrak, wreck. The literal sense is that 
 which drifted or driven ashore. Mod. Fr. varech, sea-weed cast on 
 
SCENE III.] MAGBETH. 67 
 
 But treasons capital, confess'd and prov'd, 115 
 
 Have overthrown him. 
 
 Macbeth. [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 
 Promis'd no less to them? 
 
 Banquo. That trusted home 120 
 
 Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, 
 Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 't is strange: 
 And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, 
 The instruments of darkness tell us truths, 
 Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's 125 
 
 In deepest consequence. — 
 Cousins, a word, I pray you. 
 
 Macbeth. \Aside^ Two truths are told, 
 
 As happy prologues to the swelling act 
 Of the imperial theme. — I thank you, gentlemen. 
 \Aside?\ This supernatural soliciting 130 
 
 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 
 
 shore, and pieces of a wrecked ship cast on shore. Ske^, Brachet. — 119. 
 The thane = The thane himself? the title [Clark and Wright] ? — 12C, 
 home = to the utmost [Dyce] ? The orig. sense is resting-place. \/tli, 
 to rest; Mi/um Tteimai I lie, allied to Gr. /tiini?, kome, a village. 
 A. S. ham, home, dwelling. Sfceot. — 131. enkindle = incite you to 
 hope for [Clark and Wright]? "exalt your rank by making you " the 
 possessor of [J. F. Brown, in Slwkeapawiana, April, 1884] ? — 126. How 
 fill out the line? I, ii, 7, 34. — 127. cousins. Cousin was loosely used 
 for any relative; as nephew, niece, uncle, brother-in-law, grandchild; 
 or sometimes it was a merely complimentary title. — Low Lat. cosinus, 
 fr. consobrinus; con for cum, together; sobrlnus, a cousin-germanby the 
 mother's side, fr. sosor, soror, sister. — Banquo's simple and grand 
 words, 120-127, are either unheard or willfully put aside [Moberly] ? 
 This warning, 130-127, comes oddly enough from the lips of a man who 
 has just questioned the witches himself with such haste and eagerness. 
 Here we have the first glimpse of the deceit and falsehood practiced 
 by Banquo upon himself [Plathel? Is Banquo honest? — 139. pro- 
 logues .... act. Shakes, is fond of metaphors drawn from the the- 
 atre. II, iv, 5, 6; M Ymi Like It, II, vii, 139-166, " All the world's a 
 stage," etc. — happy. As in line 66? — 130. soliciting = incitement 
 [Johnson]? " earnestly asking." Macbeth is asked to 6eMe«e, not to do 
 [J. P. Brown, in Shdkespearimia, April, 1884] ? — 134. suggestion = 
 prompting, temptation [Clark and Wright] ? a theological word, one of 
 Lhe three ' ' procurators or tempters ' '^gf Sin, Delight and Consent being 
 
68 MACBETH. ]act i. 
 
 Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair 135 
 
 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 140 
 
 Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is 
 
 But what is not. 
 
 Banquo. Look how our partner 's rapt. 
 
 Macbeth. \Aside^ If chance will have me king, why, 
 chance may crown me, 
 Without my stir. 
 
 Banqrw. New honors come upon him, 
 
 the others J^Hunter]? — Lat. ««p for sub, under; gerire, to carry; sucr- 
 aestus, carried under, introduced indirectly, hinted. — Tempest, IV, 1, 
 26. — Duncan not having announced the succession, is Macbeth over- 
 hasty? —135. unflxmy hair. See V, v, 11-13; HamUt, I, v, 18, 19; 
 Virgil's steterunt comae, hair stood on end, Mrwtd, II, 774; Tempest, I, 
 ii, 213. What basis of truth, if any, for such a belief? —136. seated.= 
 fixed, firmly placed [Steeveus]? — "They plucked the seated hills." 
 Par. Lost, VI, 644. — beart Knock at my ribs. A trace here of 
 Shakespeare's reading of .iGschylus' Prometheus, 881, xpoSia ^6?^ 0p<Va 
 KoKriiti, kradia phobo phreno laktizei, my heart knocks at my mid- 
 riff with fear. — 137. fears = apprehensions? fear-striking objects 
 rColeridge] ? objects of fear [Clark and Wright] ? — MiOmmm^rN. D., 
 V, i, 21", Hamlet, HI, iii, 25. — 139. fiemtastical = imaginary? See I, 
 iii, 53. — Scan. May the line end with a dactyl ( — ._)?— 140. single= 
 individual [Schmidt] 1 indiBWua!, in opposition to a commonweolt/i [John- 
 son]? "Man is compared to a kingdom or state which may be de- 
 scribed as ' single ' when all faculties are at one, or act in unison undis . 
 turbed by conflicting emotions ; .... or is ' single ' used in a deprecia- 
 tory sense (for simple, weak), as in I, vi, 16" [Clark and Wright]? 
 sinjcle state of man— my inadequate unsupported manhood [White] ? 
 toy feeble manhood of reason [Hudson]? shakes so my single stale. 
 etc. = so shakes the natural and airect work of thought upon objects 
 before me that the inward vision alone seems real [Moberly] ? — func- 
 tion = the active exercise of the faculties [Clark and Wright] ? active 
 performance? — Lat, fungi, to perform. — 141. 8urmise-=ima^nation? 
 guesswork, conjecture? suspicion? — Old Fr. swrmise, accusation; sur, 
 upon; Lat. super: Pr. mettre; Lat. mittlire, to send, put; Fr. swmettre, 
 to put upon, accuse, make one suspected of. — 141, 143. 
 "Where every something, being blent together. 
 Turns to a wild of nothing." Mer. of Venice, III, ii, 181, 182. 
 The visible, tangible, and present are as nothing ; the invisible, intan- 
 gible, and future, everything? — BuckniU, commenting on 180-1^, re- 
 marks, "This early indication of Macbeth' s tendency to hallucination 
 is most important in the psychological development of his character." 
 Mad Folk of Shakespeare, p. 13. See Hudson also (school edition, p. 61) .^ 
 143. rapt. I, iii, 57. — ^144. Stir, motion, action. A. S. styriam, to move, 
 stir; Gten. sVoren, to disturb ; allied io storm, j/stab, to spread, scatter. 
 STceot.— Will he wait passively? — Darmesteter quotes from Thomas 
 
flCENE III.J MACBETH. 69 
 
 I 
 
 Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould 145 
 But with the aid of use. 
 
 Macbeth. \Aside^ Come what come may, 
 
 Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 
 
 Sanquo. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. 
 
 Macbeth. Give me your favor: my dull brain was 
 wrought 
 With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 150 
 Are register'd where every day I turn 
 The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. — 
 Think upon what hath chanc'd, and at more time, 
 The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak 
 Our free hearts each to other, 
 
 Hughes' Misfortunes of Arthur, played by the students of Gray's Inn in 
 1587, Bacon among them, "whom chance hath often missed, chance hits 
 at length ; or if that chance hath furthered his success, so may she 
 mime, — for chameehath made me king." Payne ColUer, 11, 431. — 145. hon- 
 ors come ■= honors do come? or, honors Turning come? — strange = 
 unknown or unused before [Schmidt] ? new [Eolfe] ? foreign? — 147, 
 time and the hour, etc. [Lat. tempus et hora; Ital, tt tempo e V ore) = 
 Time and occasion will carry the thing through, and bring it to some de- 
 termined point or end, let its nature be what it will [Mrs. Montague] ? 
 equivalent to time and tide, etc. JWhite]? to every diflculty there 
 comes its appropriate hour of solution [Elwin] ? the day most thickly 
 bestead with trouble is long enough and has occasions enough for the 
 service and the safety of a ready, .quick-witted man [White] ? — "Every 
 one knows the Spanish proverb, ' Time and I against any two.' " Hud- 
 son. — runs. Time and the hour together are but one? or is this an 
 instance of the old plu. in s? Abbott, 332, 333, 334, 336.— The expression 
 is supposed to be proverbial. — So " Hanging and wiving goes by des- 
 tiny." Mer. of Venice, H, ix, 83. — 148. stay upon= stay because of? 
 are awaiting? — 149. favor— pardon, indulgence [Steevens] ? — ^wrought 
 —acted upon or operated upon [Schmidt]? worked? agitated? — The 
 expression " worked up," equivalent to " painfully exercised," is used 
 in some parts of New England. — To account for his apparent absence 
 of mind, does he pretend that he has been trying to recall something 
 forgotten? — May forgotten refer to things forgotten by the people, *. e., 
 Maobeth's right to the throne? — 151. register'd, etc. In the "tablets 
 of his memory," nvfuiotrii' ieAToi; ^pei/ux, mnemosin deltois, phrenon, 
 ./Eschylus' Prometheus, 789; Hamlet, I, v, 98. — Note the beauty of 
 thought and language. — 153. more time — more leisure [Clark and 
 Wright] ? — For m^re — greater, see, V, iv, 12. — 154. the interim = 
 in the interim. Abbott, 303. Interim is personified [Clark and Wright] ? 
 — Which is more Shakespearian? — " Lat. inter, between; im, old accu- 
 sative of fe, he, that, it. Used at least 14 times in Shakes." Sheat. — 
 free — freely [Hudson, etc.] ? now guileless? — Proleptic use of free? — 
 As to the witches in this scene. White remarks, "It is possible that 
 these persons were the disguised agents of a faction inimical to Dun- 
 can, who, taking advantage of the belief then existing in witchcraft, 
 adopted this course to egg on the successful generals to an expedition 
 against the throne." Studies in Shakespeare, p. 64. White also thinks, 
 Jbtd, p. 63, that Macbeth had " sworn to his wife that he would murder 
 
10 MACBETH. [ac* t. 
 
 £avquo. Very gladly. 155 
 
 Macbeth. Till then, enough. — Come, friends. [Exeunt 
 
 ScENB IV. Forres. The Palace. 
 
 flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lbit- 
 Nox and Attendants. 
 
 Duncan. Is execution done on Cawdor? Or not 
 Those in commission yet return'd? 
 
 Malcolm. My liege, 
 
 They are yet not come back. But I have spoke 
 With one that saw him die, who did report 
 That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, • 
 
 Implor'd 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 ow'd 10 
 
 As 't were a careless trifle. 
 
 the king and usurp the throne at the first opportunity." Probable? 
 I, vii, 58, 59. 
 
 Scene IV.— Op. So first folio. The others have Are, which has 
 been generally adopted. Of course, are is understood in folio 1. Are, 
 without or, makes a question slightly incongruous with the preceding? 
 — May we interpret thus : Has Cawdor been executed, or is it too early 
 to ask the question? — 2. liege. Old Fr. liqe, fr. Old High Ger. Udec, 
 ledlB, Udic, lidig; free, unfettered. Ger. leMg. A liege lord seems to 
 have been a lor4 of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under 
 him, were privileged men, free from aU other obligationSi their name 
 being due to their freedom, not to their service. Skeat. Stormonth, 
 following Duoange, derives it from Low Lat. litits, a man between a serf 
 and a freemen, and bound to the soil. It is commonly connected with 
 Lat. ligrttvs, bound, ligare, to bind; but Skeat remarks, "Thefactis, the 
 older phrase was 'a liege lord,' and the older sense free lord,' — 3. 
 are .... come. "With some intransitive verbs, mostly of motion, both 
 be and ftaue are still used." Abbntt,295. So ■witb gone, gca/ped, arrived, 
 stolen, etc. Is expresses present state: has the activity necessary to 
 cause this state? Verify. — spoke. A frequent form of the partici- 
 ple, in use as late as the last century. Clark and Wright. It arose from 
 the tendency in Elizabethan times to drop the inflection -em. Abbott, 
 343. — leaving. The grammarians are puzzled to decide whether 
 " leaving" is a participle or a noun. If a noun, why is it not followed 
 by of; and if a participle, why is it preceded by "the"? Confusion of 
 verbal noun with present participle? Abbott, 93. — 9. been studled= 
 made it a study [Schmidt] ? well instructed JHudson] ? — 10. ow'd. I, 
 iii, 76. — 11, as t ivere = in the way in which he would throw away 
 [Abbott, 107 ; " 4s appears to be, though it is not, used for as if. The 
 if is implied in the subjunctive "] ? II, ii, 27. — careless. Adjectives, 
 especially those ending in fvl, less, bU, and ive, have both an active and 
 a passive meaning. Abbott, 3. Which sense here? II, i, 36. — Tbere's 
 
6CENE rv.J MAOBETIT. 71 
 
 Duncan. 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, Banqtto, Ross, and AwGira. 
 
 O worthiest cousin! 
 The sin of my ingratitude even now 15 
 
 Was heavy on me; thou art so far before 
 That swiftest wing of recompense is slow 
 To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserv'd, 
 That the proportion both of thanks and payment 
 Might have been mine! only I have left to say, 20 
 
 More is thy due than more than all can pay. 
 
 Macbeth. 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 servants; 25 
 
 Which do but what they should, by doing everything 
 Safe toward your love and honor. 
 
 no art, etc. — Euripides' Medea, 516-520, has been cited as a parallel 
 passage, oiSeis xapoKTrtp e/nre<^vKe tru/iari, oudeis Character empephuke 
 Bomati, no distinguishing mark has been set by nature upon the 
 body (i. 6., by which one may distinguish between the bad and the 
 good man). — Had Shakes, read .lEsohylus? — Note the high dramatic 
 skill in that the simple-minded Duncan, at the very moment when he 
 is telling of his absolute trust, built upon Cawdor's innocent looks, is 
 f atallj' deceived by the smiling face and the lying words of a far worse 
 traitor! — 14. trust. "The pause on the word trust, shortening the 
 line by two syllables, is very suggestive." Moberly. How? — 17. slow 
 = too slow [Clark and Wright] 1 — 19. proportion = comparative re- 
 lation (that it had been in my pow6r to reward thee in proportion) 
 [Schmidt]! due proportion [Clark and Wright, Hudson, etc.]? appor- 
 tionment? balance?— 20. mine = in my power? mine to give [Rolf e] ? 
 in my favor? — Only, etc. = I can say nothing else than that more is 
 due you than all I have, and more too, can repay ? See note on I, iii, 93, 
 93. — 33. pays itself = is its own reward [Kolfe] ? As for the s in 
 pays, see Abbott, 332,333,336; also I, iii, 147. — 24. duties=f acuities 
 and labors of duty [Hudson] ? — " Such high-pressure rhetoric is the 
 right vernacular of hollowness. " HuOsnn. Do you concur? — 27. safe 
 toward = with sure tendency, with certain direction [Seymour] ? with 
 a sure regard to [Clark and Wright] ? respectful, loyal [Singer] ? which 
 they can do safely as regards [Knight] ? which secures to you [Elwin] ? 
 Safe toward j/our-=sure to show you J^Schmidt] ? ^ This seems to have 
 been taken from the customary saymg in Lat., salvo honore dei, the 
 honor of God being safe ; or, in the old French phrase, sauf voire fton- 
 neur; or, inNorman Fr., saulf lafoy gue;je« doy nostre seignor le roy, a 
 phrase of reservation in acknowledgments of allegiance or avowals of 
 
72 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 Duncan. Welcome hither : 
 
 I have begun to plant thee, and will labor 
 To make thee full of growing. — ^Noble Banquo, 
 That hast no less deserv'd, nor must be known 80 
 
 No less to have done so, let me infold thee 
 And hold thee to my heart. ^ 
 
 Banquo. There if I grow, 
 
 The harvest is your own. 
 
 Duncan. My plenteous joys, 
 
 Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves 
 In drops of sorrow. — Sons, kinsmen, thanes, 85 
 
 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 honor must 
 Not unaccompanied invest him only, 40 
 
 But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine 
 On all deservers. — From hence to Inverness, 
 And bind us further to you. 
 
 Macbeth. The rest is labor, which is not us'd for you. 
 
 fealty. Sprague's afogterplece* in Erne. Jyit., p. 118. Hudson interprets 
 thus : " 'with a firm and sure purpose to have you loved and honored :' 
 or, 'so as to merit and secure love and honor from you;' perhaps both 
 meanings." — 28. have began, etc. Still keeping up Macbeth' s hope 
 of the crown? — 30. nor. For and? Double negative for emphasis? 
 AOboli,, 406. — 31. thee = thee, tool emphatic? — 33. grow = cling 
 close and increase [Clark and Wright] i Is this a continuation of the 
 metaphor of four or five lines before? — 83-35. Bjota. and Jul., Ill, ii, 
 102-104. In Trinfer'8TaI«,V,ii, 48,weread, "Their joy waded in tears." 
 Malone quotes Lucan, " Non alUer mamlfesta pot&ns obsaonAere mentis 
 OoMdia quam laerymia^l' unable to hide the manifest joys of the mind but 
 by tears. Phanalia, IX, 1038. " There was no English translation of 
 Lucan before 1614," and Macbeth must have been written earlier than 
 that? — 34. wanton. A. S. wcm, wanting, without; fr. wandmi, to 
 decrease, wane, akin to want; ton fr. towen, A. S. togrni., educated; fr. 
 tedn, to draw, educate, train, bring up, akin to tug; hence ««inton prop- 
 perly = untrained, ill-bred, unmannerly, rude. — Walker says line 
 35 " is suspicious ; " for sorrow could hardly " ever have been a trisylla- 
 ble." May a natural pause after the word, and before the following 
 announcement, account for the break in the metre ? I, ii, 7. — 35. The first 
 folio has hinsmem; the others, Mnsman. Preference? — V, viii, 63. — 
 87. ■will establish, etc. The throne was not hereditary [Rolf e] ? See 
 extract from Holinshed, p. 21. — 39. Cumberland. Since the year 946 
 it had belonged to Scotland. It included also Westmoreland and North- 
 em Stratholyde. To be Prince of Cumberland then was like being 
 Prince of Wales now ; so Macbeth' s hopes are dashed I — ^Prom hence. 
 Spoken to whom? — All the folios have Envemes, which Hunter thinks 
 more euphonious than Inueniesg. Rightly? — 44. The rest, etc. The 
 exact converse of " Most busy, least, when I do it," in Tempest, HI, i, 
 
SCENE IV.] MACBETH. ^3 
 
 I '11 be myself the harbinger and make joyful 45 
 
 The hearing of my wife with your approach; 
 So humbly take my leave. 
 
 Duncan. My worthy Cawdor! 
 
 Macbeth. [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! 50 
 
 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. [Meit. 
 
 Duncan. True, worthy Banquo: he is full so valiant, 
 And in his commendations I am fed; 55 
 
 It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, 
 Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome: 
 It is a peerless kinsman. [JFTourish. Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. Inverness. A Room in MachetKs Castle. 
 
 Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter. 
 
 Lady Macbeth [Reads]. They met me in the day of suc- 
 cess : and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have 
 
 15 : rest, not being used for the king, is like toil ; toU, undergone by- 
 Ferdinand for Miranda, is like rest ! See in Stiakespearicma, April, 1884, 
 a note by the present editor on this quotation from The Tempest. — 45. 
 harbinger — forerunner? — Icel. here, an army; hiarga, to save, help, 
 defend; herbergi, a "host-shelter," harbor, inn, lodging; A. S. here, 
 army ; beorgcm, to preserve ; Mid. Eng. here-bergeour (-our denoting the 
 agent), one who provided lodgings for a host or army; Old Fr. herber- 
 ger. The n in harbinger stands for r. A harbor was originally an inn. 
 Skeat, Brachet, — "V, vi, 10. — 50. stars. Is it night? or is he thinking 
 of night as the fit time for murder? — 51. Let not, etc. To whom is 
 this addressed? — 52. The eye. Let? — wink at=encourage [Hndson] ? 
 not seem to see [Meiklejohn] ? See note on vrink in our ed. of 
 Milton's Comm, line 401. — yet let that be=yet let the eye per- 
 mit that to take place {Delius]? To let that come to pass? — 54. True. 
 What? — Does Duncan's reply to something Banquo has privately said 
 in praise of Macbeth show "how constantly Shakes, kept the stage 
 and the audience In mind" [White] ? — full so valiant — quite as brave 
 as you say [Moberly] ? — 55. fed. Winter's Tale, I, ii, 91. — 56. ban- 
 quet. Play on the name Banquo? — 58. There is a touch of affection- 
 ate familiarity in the phrase "it is" [Clark and Wright] ? — " I al- 
 ways think there is something especially Shakespearian in Duncan's 
 speeches throughout this scene — such pourings forth, such abandon- 
 ments — compared with the language of vulgar dramatists, whose char- 
 acters seem to have made their speeches as the actors learn them." 
 Coleridge. Verify this. — Value of this scene? 
 
 Scene V. — 2. perfectest report = most accurate intelligenoa 
 
74 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 more in them than mortal knowledge. Wlien I burned in 
 desire to qiiestion them further, they made themselves air, 
 into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder 
 of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed me ' Thane 
 of Cawdor;'' by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted 
 me, and referred me to the coming on of time, ioith ' Hail, 
 king that shalt beP This have I thought good to deliver 
 thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightest 
 not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what 
 greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and fare- 
 well. 
 
 Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be 13 
 
 What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature ; 
 It is too full o' the milk of human kindness 15 
 
 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 wo.uldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, 
 And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'dst have, great Claims, 
 That which cries, ' Thus thou must do, if thou have it;' 31 
 And that which rather thou dost fear to do 
 
 [Johnson] ? i. e. my own experience [Clark and Wright] ? — 5. Whiles. 
 WhUe is properly a noun — A. S. fttirt!, a time; probably allied to Lat. 
 QUies, rest. Whites is the genitive case used adverbially, as in tiol-eg, 
 twice ; needles, of necessity, needs ; Skeat. Abbott, 137. Shakes, often 
 uses while and whilst. — missives = messengers? So in Antimy and 
 Cleop., II, ii, 74. — Lat. mUtire, to send; missus sent. — 6. all-hailed. 
 The 1st folio has the hyphen ; the others omit it. Better? — Florio in 
 his (Italian) Worldof Wordes, 1598, defines "salutare, to salute, to greet, 
 toalhaile." See line 53. — 9. deliver = report to? So Tempest, V, i, 
 313. — 10. dues. French du, due; devoir, Lat. dehere, to have away 
 (on loan) , to owe ; from de, away, habere, to have. — Had Lady Macbeth 
 read this letter before? Do we have the whole of it? Had another 
 preceded? — 14. I fear = I am in f ear f or [Delius] ? Meas. for Meas,, 
 in, i, 73. — 15. milk. IV, iii, 98; Bom. and Jul., Ill, iii, 55: Lear, I, 
 iv, 333. See line 46. — Has Lady Macbeth a right estimate of her hus- 
 band's nature? Bodenstedt says no; Ulrici, yes. — See White's Lady 
 OruacVs Husband in his Studies in Shakespeare. — 16. wouldst = 
 wishest to [Abbott, 329] ? —18. iUness = evil? evil nature [White] ? 
 Not used elsewhere by Shakes, in this sense [Clark and Wright] ? — 
 Not wickedness only, but remorselessness, or hardmess of heart. Hudson. 
 —19. wouldst. Abbott, 329. Wishest to? See I, vii, 34.-20-23. 
 This passage is difficult, and has given rise to a great deal of comment 
 and many proposed emendations, no one of which is entirely satisfac- 
 tory. Retaining the old reading, may we interpret thus ; Thou 'dst 
 have, great Glamis, that (i. e. the crown) which (crown) cries, "Thus 
 thou must do, it thou have it (i. e. me, the crown)," and (thou wouldst 
 have) that(i.e. the murder) which rather thou dost fear to do, thanvnsh- 
 
SCENE v.l MACBETE. 15 
 
 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 SB 
 
 All that impedes thee from the golden round 
 
 Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem 
 
 To have thee crown'd withal. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 What is your tidings? 
 
 Messenger. The king comes here to-night. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Thou 'rt mad to say it: 
 
 Is not thy master with him? who, were 't so, 30 
 
 Would have inform'd for preparation. 
 
 Messenger. So please you, it is true: our thane is coming. 
 One of my fellows had the speed of him, 
 
 est should be Tindone (i. e. unperformed) ? Darmesteter would inter- 
 pret, • " Thou wouldst like to see accomplished that thing (i. e. the 
 death of Duncan) , which (death) cries, ' Do it thyself, if thou wouldst 
 have it,' and what thou fearest to do thyself rather than dfesirest to 
 have unaccompUshed. ' ' Delius thinks it is ' 'the cold-blooded instinct to 
 murder, ' ' that cries. Judge !— 33. Hie thee = hie thou (t7i66 seems to 
 be used for tTiou) [Rolfe] ? The Elizabethans reduced tftou to tftee. 
 Abbott, 313. A. S. Mgian to hasten. AMn to /ci'eij/; kiein, to go; Lat., 
 ciere, to cause to go; cttvs, quick. Skeat. Intransitive always? — 35. 
 chastise. Accented here and in Biehard II, 11, iii, 103, on 1st syl. ? — 36. 
 golden roniid. rv, i, 88. — " FuU well did I cause to be graven In 
 thy golden round," etc. Abraham Paunce to a Wedding Ring, in 1591. 
 — 37. metaphysical = supernatural? So defined in Minsheu' s Span- 
 ish Diet., 1599, and Florio's World of Wordes, 1598. — Gr. (le™, meta, 
 after ; ijuo-iica, phusioa, physics ; ^eri ri ifvo-uci, after those things which 
 relate to external nature. . — doth seem to have = (nearly) would 
 have [Rolfe]-? doth seem to be likely to have [Moberly] ? doth seem to 
 desire to have [Boswell]? — Bailey prefers to read, in place of seem, 
 either deem, or aimi, or mean, or design, or ween.' — Seem is not here 
 equivalent to a/ppear, but rather to reveal [Delius] ? — Seem appears to 
 be almost periphrastical [Schmidt, Rolfe, etc.]? — Seel, ii. 47. — 38. 
 withal. Note on I, iii, 57. — tidings is both singular and plural in 
 Shakes. — Icel. thvndi, news ; Mid. Eng. ttdlng. ' The s is an Eng. ad- 
 dition to mark the plural. A. S. tid, time; ge-tidan, to happen; fr. 
 Teut, base ti, to divide. — 89. madj etc. Is she momentarily thrown 
 ofEher guard by the strange and sudden announcement? — "In the 
 fierce delight of her soul, she almost interrupted the messenger with 
 the exclamation." White. — 30. Is not, etc. Is she seeking to divert 
 attention from her startled utterance and manner? — 33. speed (A. S., 
 sp^(J, haste, success ; f r. sp&wam, to succeed) = start ? superiority in 
 swiftness? — had the speed of = outstripped [Rolfe, etc.]? "The 
 
 Ehrase is remarkable." Clark and Wright. — May "had the speed of 
 im ' ' mean, had, as an avant^courier from Macbeth, the parting word 
 "speed," or "Gtod speed you?" Does not the word "message" in 
 jine 35 show that Macbeth had sent him forward? See "speed" in 
 Browning's How They Broughtthe Good News from Ghent to Ala. This ex- 
 
16 MACBETH. [act l 
 
 Who, almost dead for breath, had Bcarcely more 
 Than would make up his message. 
 
 JOady Macbeth. Give him tending; 35 
 
 He hjg-ngs great news. [Exit Messenger. 
 
 ., f The raven himself is hoarse 
 
 That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 
 Under^^ battlements. — Come, you spirits 
 That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, 
 And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full 40 
 
 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, 45 
 
 planation of "had the speed of him " was first published hy the pres- 
 ent editor in the column S/iofcMpertorea, in the May, 1888, number of The 
 Student, a magazine published by the undergraduates of the North 
 Dakota University. — 34. dead for breath. Significance ominous? 
 — 35. tending. Shakes, uses tettdonce also. — 36. he brings. Who? 
 — To whom is this spoken?— 36. raven. "The raven messenger has 
 lost his voice, and is hoarse in giving his message [Delius, Moberly, 
 etc.]? — Are hoarseness and lack of breath identical? concomitant! 
 Does one suggest the other. — Even the bird, whose harsh voice is 
 accustomed to predict calamities, could not croak the entrance of 
 Duncan but in a note of unwonted harshness [Johnson, Hunter, Rolfe, 
 etc.] 1 Hudson finds prolepsis ; " The raven has made himself hoarse 
 with croaking." Correctly? — 37. entrance. Trisyl. here? Abbott, 
 477; "This additional syllable is very frequently required for the 
 metre in words where a liquid follows a mute." See " monstrous " in 
 in, vi, 8. May we imagine her pausing and listening to the raven, 
 and so filling out the time of the line? Must she speak in perfect pen- 
 tameters? See note on I, ii, 5. — 88. battlements. Note how, the 
 black purpose darkens the utterance. If she thinks of a bird it is one 
 of evil omen, a raven ; if of a sound, it is ill-boding, a hoarseness, a 
 croaking; if of a ceremony, it is of fatal import; if of any part of the 
 castle, it is something threatening, as battlements 1 Shakespeare as an 
 .Auflior, lecture by the present editor. "If all this be accident," says 
 Lowell, it is at least one of those accidents of which only Shakespeare 
 was ever capable." But U it peculiar to Shakespeare? — To make the 
 metre perfect. Pope would insert "all" after "come." Stevens 
 would read, "Come, come!" Knight finds great sublimity in the 
 pause after "battlements." You?^ — 39. mortal = human, pertaining 
 to mortals? deadly? HI, iv, 81; IV, iii, 3; Par. Lost, I, 2. —40. top- 
 full. So in iTimg JoTm, ni, iv, 180. — 42. access. Accent on 2d syL 3 
 Usually so in Shakes. Abbott, 490. — remorse = relenting [Clark and 
 Wright] ? pity? — In Shakes, the word is applied to crime conceived and 
 tp crime perpetrated. With him we still use remorseless in the sense 
 of pitiless? Lat. re = again; mordere, to bite. Spoken of the gnaw- 
 ings of a guilty conscience? Mer. of Veniee, IV, i, 20; Tempest, V, i, 76. 
 — 44, 45. Keep peace between the effect and it = may stop the 
 meditated blow [Clark and Wright] ? aUow no truce between the pur- 
 
SCENE v.l MACBETH. 7? 
 
 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, 60 
 
 Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark. 
 
 To cry ' Hold, hold!' 
 
 pose and its execution [Moberly] ? — In the mental picture a peace- 
 maker stepping, like a constable, between two would-be-combatants 
 and keeping tbem apart? — Hudson substitutes "break" for "keep." 
 Johnson inclines to read "keep pace." Bailey, "keep space." Is 
 there need of a change? — 46. take my milk for gall = use my milk 
 as if it were gall [Clark and Wright] 3 take away my milk and put gall 
 into the place [Johnson, Hudson, etc.] ? turn my milk to gall [Rolfel ? 
 infect my milk with gall [Knightley] ? give me gall instead of milk 
 [White] ! nourish yourselves with my milk, which through my being 
 unsexed, has turned to pall [Delius] ? Select 1 — See line 15 . — 47. 
 sightless substances = invisible forms ; as careless in I, iv, 11, means 
 not cared for [Clark and Wright] 1 a quality which will not bear looking 
 at, which is repulsive to behold [Delius] ? — Preference i — See II, i, 36 ; 
 note on I, iv, 11. — 48. mischief, etc. Are ready to abet any evil done 
 throughout the world [Clark and Wright] ? tend on offences against 
 nature [Darmesteter] ? — thick night. See "thick darkness," Ex- 
 odtts, X, 22 ; Macbeth, III, ii, 50. — 49. pall =: wrap ? — Lat. ■palla, a man- 
 tle ; paWlvm,, a coverlet ; A. S. paell, purple cloth. — I, iv, 50. — dunnest. 
 — A. S. du/n, dark. The word was criticised in the Rambler as undig- 
 nified. Is it so now? — 50. see not= reflect not in the brightness of 
 the blade [Elwin] ? — The vividness of this personification is wonderful. 
 Shall we turn it into prose? — 51. peep = gaze earnestly and steadily 
 [Keightley] ? — Old Fr. pi/per, to peep out, to pry. How piper came to 
 be used in that sense will appear at once, if we refer the verb, not to the 
 bird, \)Mttotlie fowler who lies imwaM for Mm; "piper, to whistle or chirp 
 like a bird; also to cosen, deceive;" plpM, the peeping or chirping of 
 small birds, counterfeited by a bird catcher, who pipes and slUy observes at 
 the same time. Skcat. — blanket = the covering of the sleeping world 
 [Clark and Wright] ? Collier would substitute ' 'blankness ; ' ' Coleridge 
 " blank height " (but he afterwards withdrew the suggestion) ; Bailey 
 "blackness;" Jessopp, " blankest." — Malone thinks blanket was sug- 
 gested by the coarse woolen curtain of Shakespeare's own thea- 
 tre, through which probably the great dramatist had himself often 
 peeped. Whiter (1794) says, "All the images of this passage are bor- 
 rowed from the stage. The appropriate dress of tragedy is a pall and 
 knife; the stage (in tragedy) was hung with black; probably the 
 heavens or roof of the stage, underwent likewise some gloomy trans- 
 formation. In the Ba^e of lAurece, 764-788, we have not only ' Black 
 stage for tragedies and murders fell,' but also 'Comfort-Killing Night, 
 image of Hell .... again 'Though Night's black bosom shouldmot 
 peep again.' " — Rolfe cites Milton's, " Sometimes let gorgeous tragedy, 
 In sceptered pall come sweeping by;" II Penseroso, 97, 98. — " The met- 
 aphor of darkness as a blanket wrapped round the world so as to keep 
 the Divine Eye from seeing the deed, is just such a one as it was fitting 
 for the boldest of poets to put into the mouth of the boldest of women." 
 Budson. — As if darkness might be .lit up by lightning flashes, and 
 Heaven at any instant might thunder "Hold 1" —58. Hold. Any al- 
 
78 MACBETH. [act j. 
 
 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 66 
 
 The future in the instant. 
 
 Macbeth. My dearest love, 
 
 Duncan comes here to-night. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. And when goes hence? 
 
 Macbeth. To-morrow — as he purposes. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. 0, never 
 
 Shall sun that morrow see! 
 
 Your face, my thane, is as a book where men 60 
 
 May read strange matters. To beguile the time, 
 Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, 
 
 lusion to the fact that capital punishment was inflicted upon him who 
 struck his adversary after the proper authority had commanded 
 " Hold" !— See V, viii, 34. — 52, 53. The critics note the lack of terms 
 of endearment here! Fair inference from the omission? — all-hail 
 hereafter = the "all-hail" that will afterwards salute you as king 
 [Meiklejohn] ? glorious hereafter 1 — 54. letters. More than one i 
 May " letters," like the Lat. plural IWSrae, denote a single epistle. — 
 How many days have elapsed since the battles? — 55. i^orant== 
 unknowing [Johnson] i unknown, obscure, inglorious [Dehus] ? which 
 is more poetic? — See "i^orant concealment," Wimtert TaU, I, ii, 385. 
 — present. Tempest I, i, 25. — This line is said to lack a sellable, and 
 most editors go to work to supply it. Pope inserted "time" after 
 "present;" Lettsom and Hunter, "e'en," before "now." Abbott, 484. 
 and Rolf e make " feel " a dissyllable, accenting "and" and /e-, Ist 
 syl. of " fe-61." Must we piece out the metre, and tame this fiery im- 
 petuosity! See I, ii, 7, 34. — Is there in the passage a recollection of 
 the phraseology of the Absolution in the Book of Common Prayer, "that 
 those things may please him which we do at Oils 'present, and that the 
 rest of our life hereafter may be pure," etc. ? — 56. instant = present 
 moment? — Lat. in, upon ; stare, to stand ; Fr. instant, pressing. Rom. and 
 Jul., I, i, 100. — " Expectation quickens the dull present with the spirit of 
 thefuture." Hudson. — 58. as he pnrposes. Does he add this as a hint 
 that the purpose may be defeated? Was he used to lying? See a sim- 
 ilar expression inn, ili, 34, "He does — he did appoint so." — 59. A 
 broken line. " She pauses to watch the effect of her words." Abbott, 
 511. Likely? — 60. Your face, etc. Does she mean that she has dis- 
 cerned in his looks his murderous intent? or that she fears that others 
 may discover by his looks that all is wrong? " His face does not wear 
 a look of welcome" [Meiklejohn]? Settle this question. — 61. 
 strange = new, and therefore alarming [Meiklejohn] ? — besuile 
 the time = wile away the time? "delude all observers" [Clark and 
 Wright] ? — Twafth Night, JH, iii, 41. See post, I, vii, 81. — " Time is 
 here put for its contents or what occurs in time. It is a time of full- 
 hearted welcome and hospitality ; and such are the looks which Mac- 
 beth is urged to counterfeit" [Hudson] ? -^ See White's Studiea in 
 
SCSNB v.] MACBETH. 19 
 
 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 65 
 
 This night's great business into my dispatch; 
 
 Which shall to all our nights and days to come 
 
 Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. 
 
 Macbeth.. We will speak further. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Only look up clear; 
 
 To alter favor ever is to fear: TO 
 
 Leave all the rest to me. [Exeuni. 
 
 Scene VL Sefore MacbetKs Castle. 
 
 Hcmtboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donal- 
 BAiN, Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, Ross, Angus, and 
 Attendants. 
 
 Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air 
 Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
 Unto our gentle senses. 
 
 Shakespeare, p. 66. — 64. serpent. Similarly in Richard II, III, ii, 19, 
 20; 2 Henry VI, III, i, 328. — 6fa. my dispatch. Does she mean to Mil 
 the king with her own hands? II, li, 12, 13. — 70. To alter favor ever 
 
 Is to fear = change of countenance is ever a symptom of fear [Clark 
 and Wright] ? to bear an altered face marks fear in you and creates it 
 in others [Moberly] ? to wear an altered face is at the same time to be 
 irresolute, and to render others apprehensive of a hidden intention [El win] 1 
 to fear = to give cause for fear [Seymour] ? " To alter your expression 
 of confident innocence actually begets fear." Rev. W. W.Davis. — 
 favors look, countenance? Lat. favor, Fr. fameur, kindliness, grace. 
 It is creditable td human nature that this word came to mean the 
 human countenance and is often so used in Shakespeare. It is now 
 unfortunately obsolete in this sense, or nearly so; though we some- 
 times say "well-favored" or "ill-favored." Genesis, xli, 3, 3, 4. — 
 " Lady Macbeth detects more than irresolution in her husnand's last 
 speech " [Clark and Wright] ? — What progress is madd in this scene 
 in the development of the plot? What light does it throw upon the 
 characters of any of the personages? upon Shakespeare's imagination? 
 Verisimilitude in the scene? Could it have been omitted without seri- 
 ous injury to the play? 
 
 Scene VI. — Hautboys. Fr. hamt, high, fr. Lat. altus (! being soft- 
 ened into V before a consonant) ; Fr. bois, wood, fr. Low Lat. boseum, 
 buscum, wood; Old Higli Ger. buse. The lit. sense is "high wood," the 
 hautboy being a wooden instrument of a high tone. Doublet, oboe. — 
 Braahet, Sheat. — The scene that follows has been greatly admired for 
 Its quiet and repose, contrasting so sharply with the preceding and the 
 following, All the images are of peace and cheer ; no raven now, no 
 ftocwsencss, no croaMng, no fataH ceremony, no menacing battlements! 
 Lecture on Sliakespeare as an Author, by the present editor. — 3. gentle^ 
 " The air attempers our senses to its own state, and so mofces then 
 
80 UACBETH. [act t, 
 
 Sanqiio. This guest of summer, 
 
 The temple-haunting martlet, does approve 
 By his lov'd mansionry that the heaven's breath fi 
 
 Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, 
 Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird 
 Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle: 
 Where they must breed and haunt, I have observ'd 
 The air is delicate. 
 
 Enter Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Duncan. See, see, our honor'd hostess! 10 
 
 The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, 
 
 gentle." Hudson, Is the word used proleptically (anticipatively) as 
 Hudson and Rolfe think? — senses " are nothing more than each man's 
 sense" [Johnson]! Astothetwosyllablesof senses, and the extra syllar 
 ble so introduced into the middle of the line, the critics quote Abbott, 
 471, " The plural and possessive oases of nouns in which the singular 
 ends in 8, «e, «», ce and pe, are frequently written and still more fre- 
 quently pronounced without the additional syllable." But why thus 
 restrict the poetl Dactyls, troches and anapests may be freely used? — 
 4. martlet. This word was substituted by Rowe (1709) for the evi- 
 dent misprint Borf!et. — A martlet (meaning "little martin," martin 
 being a nickname, like Robin, for a bird) was a kind of sparrow? 
 " Martin " from Lat. Mars, god of war. — approve = prove? So in 
 Mer. of Yen., HI, ii, 79. — Lat. probm, good; probm-R, to pronounce good, 
 to test. Ad strengthens the simple word? — 5. mansionry = abode? 
 mansion-building? Shakes, does not use it elsewhere. Pope changed 
 it to masonry. Well? — Staunton would read " love-mansionr^." The 
 original word is ma/rmmry; would an i be more liable to be omitted, or 
 an n to be inserted? — 6. Jntty, a projection over? same word as jetty 
 
 iSteevens, Rolfe, etc.] ? Used twice by Shakes. — From Old Fr. jetter, 
 ja,i. jadare, to throw. Jutty is a verb in Henry V, III, i, 13. — ft'ieze= 
 line of wall below the parapet [Moberly] ? Braohet derives itfr. Span. 
 friao. Skeat thinks it may be akin to friz, to curl. Cotgrave defines 
 it "the broad, flat band below the cornish." — 7. coign of vantage 
 = projecting' angle in the masonry [White] ? convenient corner [John- 
 son, Clark and Wright, etc,] ? projecting bartizan or " swallow's nest" 
 [Moberly] . Old E^. eolgne, nook, corner. Lat. careneus, a wedge. — 
 For Dontaere, see I, ii, 31. — 9. We follow the folios here, must is 
 changed to most by the editors, who put a colon after "cradle" in place 
 of the comma, and substitute a comma for the colon after "haunt." 
 The old folios make a very neat meaning; viz., the wooing air, the lo- 
 cation, and the advantageous comers, make it unavoidable that they 
 should breed and haunt here. To the king's remark about the air, he 
 replies that he had noticed its delicacy. — Shall it be must or most/ 
 Which is prose fi-^t, and which poetic imagination? — The Collier MS. 
 has much. — On pendent and procreomt, Moberly remarks, " The effect' 
 of an unusual Latin or Greek word in poetry is often very great." 
 Verify. — 10. Our honored hostess. Is it said to her, or of her? — 11. 
 love, etc.= loving attentions sometimes give us trouble, yet we th^uk 
 
BCBNB VI.] MACBETH. 81 
 
 Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you 
 How you shall bid God 'ield us for your pains 
 And thank us for your trouble 
 
 Lady Macbeth. All our service 
 
 In every point twice done and then done double 15 
 
 Were poor and single business, to contend 
 Against those honors deep and broad wherewith 
 Your majesty loads our house: for those of old, 
 And the late dignities heap'd up to them, 
 We rest your hermits. 
 
 Duncan. Where's the thane of Cawdor? 20 
 
 We cours'd him at the heels, and had a purpose 
 To be his purveypr; 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. 
 
 the love that prompts them [the present editor in Masterpieces] 1 kind 
 hearts, even if troubled by attention, give thanks for it [Moberly] ? — 
 Sometime is used by Shakes, interchangeably with sometlmies. — Abbott, 
 68a. Eph«8tons, ii, 13; Colossiams, i, 21; iii, 7; Macbeth., IV, ii, 75. — 12. 
 Herein = by this (illustration) ? — 13. bid = pray. A. S. blOdcm,, to 
 pray. To bid beads was orig. to pray prayers. Sheat. — 'ield for yield 
 =pay, reward. A. S. gieidan, to pay. So in Haimlet, IV, v, 41 ; As Tou 
 lAke It, Til, iii, 66, etc. — "The kind-hearted monarch means that his love 
 is what puts him upon troubling them thus, and therefore they will be 
 grateful for the pains he causes them." Hudson. — To her and Mac- 
 beth the pains are a pleasure, the troubles are a joy. — 16. single. I, 
 iii, 140. ' 'There is a whimsical likeness and logical connection between 
 this phrase and one that has lately come into vulgar vogue, ' a one- 
 liorse affair,' ^ a one-horse town,' etc." White. — contend against = 
 vie with, match [Hudson] ? — 17. honors deep. Effect of placing the 
 adjective after the noun as in the French language? Abbott, 419. — 18. 
 to = in addition to [Clark and Wright, etc.]? Abbott, 1S5. Macbeth, 
 III, 1, 51. — 30. rest = cease from labor? remain permanently? — her- 
 mits = beadsmen [Steevens, White, Moberly, etc.]? — Fr. hermtte; 
 Low Lat. heremita; Gr. epTnuiVris, eremites, a dweller in a desert; 
 ipriiiof, deserted. Skeat. The hermit is one who has retired from the 
 world to spend the rest of his life in prayer. Lady M. says in effect, 
 " So we shall ever pray for you." — the thane, etc. A delicate sug- 
 gestion of the honor he had bestowed? Note the compliments in this 
 neat speech. — "Where's the thane? Where was he? dressing? I, 
 vii, 36. — 21. coursed. Metaphor from what? ^ Lat. c«rs«s, course; 
 citrrfre, to run. — 32. purveyor. Lat. providere, to foresee, act with 
 foresight. Pro, before, became Fr. pour; Lat. videre, to see, becatae 
 Old Fr. veier; whence vey in survey. Provide is a doublet. Skeat. — 
 The harbinger (I, iv, 45) provided lodgings; the purveyor, food?^How 
 accented here? Abbott, 492. — 23. holp. A. S. heVpan^ to help; past t. 
 healp; past part, holpen; Mid. Eng, holpen, as in Imke, i, 54. There was 
 a very strong tendency in the Elizabethan age to drop altogether tha 
 
82 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 Iiody Macbeth. Your servants ever 85 
 
 Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, 
 To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, 
 Still to return your own. 
 
 Duncan. Give me your hand; 
 
 Conduct me to mine host: we love him highly, 
 And shall continue our graces towards him. 30 
 
 By your leave, hostess. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. MacbetKs Cattle. 
 
 Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Servants 
 with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. Then en- 
 ter Macbeth. 
 
 Macbeth. If it were done when 't is done, then 't were well 
 It were done quickly: if the assassination 
 
 inflection in -en. AVboVL, 848; Tempest, I, ii, 63. — 36. in coinpt=under 
 account [Moberly] ! in account, accountable [Rolf e] S subject to account 
 rSteevens] ? — Lat. computore, to reckon ; Fr. compter, to count ; compfe, 
 doublet of Fr. comput, computation. — 37, make their audit = sub- 
 mit their accounts or business for examination ! — 38. return your 
 own. Is this an echo of I Chronicles, xxix, 14, "Of thine own have we 
 given theei " — 30. In order to scan this line, Abbott, 493, makes towardg 
 a dissyllable accented on to- ; Clark and Wright would make our a dissy 1. 
 (as if ou-er] , and towards a monosyllable. Judge 1 — 31. He takes her 
 Dy the hand? — In this scene Coleridge thinks he detects a " labored 
 rhythm and hypocritical overmuch in Lady Maobeth's welcome." Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds is charmed in the short dialogue between Duncan 
 and Banquo, with "what in painting is termed repose." Sheridan 
 Knowles finds no repose, but a straining and intensifying of the inter- 
 est, because we know the king is going to his death. Franz Horn com- 
 ments on the exquisite naturalness of the dialogue between Duncan 
 and Banquo, and the wisdom with which the repose is introduced, " in 
 order to deepen the tragic pathos that follows." Moberly sees in the 
 peaceful imagery, and in the objects that meet Duncan's and Banquo's 
 gaze, the same poetic instinct that Homer shows (in Iliad, XXII, 126) 
 when he Introduces "into- Hector's bitter farewell to life the soft Im- 
 age of the ' youth and maiden conversing near some oak-tree or by 
 some shadowy rock.' " Test these views. 
 
 Scene VII. — sew^er. "An ofiScer who set and removed dishes, 
 tasted them, etc." A. S. seoAV, juice; sauce; boiled meat. Skeat. The 
 old derivation was from the Old Fr. essayeur, an officer who tasted each 
 dish to make sure there was no poison in the food. Darmesteter, Hud- 
 son.', Cla/rle amd Wright, etc. — 1. White puts a period at the end of the 
 first line, omits the comma after qutckly in the next line, reduces the 
 capital I of the folio in */ (3d line) to small t, and interprets thus : "If 
 it were done [ended] when 'tis done [performed], then it would be 
 well. It were done [ended] quickly, if the assassination could clear 
 ^elf from all consequencea," etc. For this he argues ingeniously. 
 
SCENE VII.] MACBETH. 83 
 
 Could trammel up the consequence, and catch 
 
 With his surcease success; that but this blow 
 
 Might be the be-all and the end-all here, 6 
 
 But here, upon this bank and school of time, 
 
 We 'd jump the life to come. But in these cases 
 
 But the old punctuation, which nearly all editors follow, though they 
 change the capital I in if (line 2) , makes good sense. Macbeth is indeed 
 "too fuU of the milk of human kindness to catch the necwMt way." 
 Nothing more natural than for him, without wholly abandoning the 
 project, to postpone action. He finds special reasons for refraining, at 
 least for the present. To himself he pictures the circumstances that 
 make the killing morp hazardous and more damnable than ordinary 
 murder ; to his wife he expresses his unwillingness to stab ungrate- 
 fully the king, who has just honored him, and to " cast aside so soon " 
 the golden popularity just earned. It will be more safe and less atro- 
 cious to kill the king by and by. Shall it be now, or in the indefinite 
 future? Well, the circumstances just now are specially unfavorable. 
 I have no fear of the life to come, but my deed will teach others how 
 to serve me in this life. To be sure, I would do it now, were it not for 
 these adverse considerations ; but, on the whole, I incline to wait awhile. 
 Besides it were mere tautology for Macbeth to say, as White would 
 make him, " It were done [i.e., ended, cleared from all consequences] 
 quickly, if the assassination could clear itself from aU consequences," 
 etc. — If it w^ere done, etc. = if it were to be all over and ended as 
 soon as the fatal blow is struck, then it would be well to strike it 
 quickly? The second done means performed. Masterpieces to Eng.itf., 
 p. 123. — 3. trammel up = gather up and hold? entangle as in a net 
 [Clark and Wright, etc.] ? tie up or net up [Schmidt] ? Fr. tramall, "a 
 tramell or a net for partridges." Cotgrave. Low Lat. tramacula, a 
 trammel, net, shackle, anything that confines or restrains. Skeat. — 
 Spenser uses it as meaning a net for the hair ; Markham, as a sort of 
 shackle for a horse. — 4. his = its? the assassination's [Johnson] ? 
 the consequence's [ElwinJ ? Duncan's [Jennens] ^—Its is rare m Shakes., 
 is found but three times m Milton, and not at all in King James' ver- 
 sion of the Bible (161t). — Surcease (Pr. suraeotr, to pause, intermit, 
 leave off ; siirsis, sursise, intermitted ; Lat. super-sedere, to forbear, desist 
 from, omit), delay? arrest (of the consequence) [Elwin, Clark and 
 Wright] ? conclusion or cessation (Rolfe] ? — success=sequel [Staun- 
 ton] ? issue, result [Meiklejohn] ? good results, prosperity? — 6. but 
 here = only here? — school. So the third and fourth folios; thefirst 
 two have schoole. Most editors change it to shoal, which means either 
 a shallow place or a sand-bank or bar. Their Interpretation either 
 mixes the metaphors in bcmh and shallow, or is tinged with tautology, 
 "bank and up-sloping sandbank of time? " Tieck, Heath, Elwin, etc., 
 take bank to mean school-bench. " It is a doublet of bench. The old- 
 est sense seems to have been ' ridge,' whence bank, a ridge or shelf of 
 earth. A. S. bane, Dutch and Ger. bank, a bench. Mmmtebamk, a-char- 
 latan.isonewhomountsabench to proclaim his nostrums." Skeat. Those 
 who retain school as the reading find confirmation in lines eight and 
 nine, in the words teach, Vnatrueliona, and taught. Does this interpreta- 
 tion make good sense? — 7. jump = try to overleap and take no cog- 
 nizance of [Meiklejohn] ? risk, hazard [Clark and Wright, Schmidt, 
 etc.] ? — "I am about to take my leap in the dark," i. e., die. Bab- 
 tlais. Swedish crumpo, to spring, jump, or wag about heavily; Dan. 
 gwinpe, to jolt. — life to come=lue after death [Malone] ? remaining 
 
84 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 We still have judgment here ; that we but teach 
 
 Bloody instructions, which being taught return 
 
 To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice 10 
 
 Commends the ingredience 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, 15 
 
 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-tongu'd against 
 
 The deep damnation of his taking-off; 20 
 
 And pity, like a naked new-bom babe, 
 
 years of this life [Keightley] 1 — Does a loss of belief in a retribution 
 after death tend to open the path to the commission of crime? Does 
 Macbeth believe in a future state? — 8. that = so that [Clark and 
 Wright] ? I, ii, 58. —10. this. Omitted by Pope for the sake of the me- 
 tre. Judiciously? — 11. commends = offers [Steevens, etc.]? com- 
 mits? entrusts? applies? — Lat. cum, with, together : mcmdore, to com- 
 mit. Under commend, Skeat says m<m^re is " a word of uncertain ori- 
 gin;" but under mandote he says of it, "Lit. to put into one's hand, 
 from man; stem of monus, the hand, and dare, to give." — See HI, i, 
 38. — ingredience. So the folios reaid. Pope and almost all the editors 
 since have changed it to ingredUnts. The latter naturally refers to the 
 separate component materials; the former to the resulting mixture? 
 Which is better here? — Lat. in, in, into; graM, to walk: toffredi, to 
 enter upon: ingredient- (stem of present participle), enter into; Fr. 
 ingredient. IV, i, 34; Par. Loat^ XI, 417. — chalioe=oup? communion 
 cup? Root RAL, to hide, contam, A. S. calie, cup, fr. Lat. calio!, ecM- 
 cam; Fr. caiice, a calix, cup. Skeat. — Any allusion to the euoharist? — 
 12, double. It has often seemed to me that triple would be better 
 here, if we could change and in line 13 to next. But have we a right to 
 make such changes ? — IB. Besides this, etc. The word this goes better, 
 perhaps, with hesidea; but the folios join it to Duncan, and all the edit- 
 ors have followed them. It seems a little strained to say " This Dun- 
 can," as if he were to be singled out ? — 17. facultie8:=honors, digni- 
 ties, prerogatives [Hudson] ? Ofaoial powers [Rolfel?— Faeultfes are 
 active powers, abilities, capacities to do, rather than honors received 
 and "dignities heaped up" upon one? Lat. faXire, to do; /aoiMtag, 
 /'oculfas, capability to do; Fr. facultS. — meek. Adverb or adjective? 
 Abbott, 1. — 18. clear = pure, stainless, guiltless? — 20. takins-ofC. 
 Euphemism? See III, i, 104; Lear, V, i, 65. — 21. babe, etc. "Either 
 like a mortal babe terrible in helplessness: or like heaven's child- 
 angels mighty in love and compassion " [Keightley] i Keightley adds, 
 " This magnificent passage seems founded on the history of Darnley's 
 murder (Froude ix, p. 86). The banner (of the confederates against 
 Queen Mary) was spread between two spars. The figure of a dead 
 
 man was wrought on it, lying under a tree and a child 
 
 on its knees at its side, stretching its hand to heaven and crying, 
 'Judge and revenge my cause, OLord.'" But does not Eeightly miss 
 
WENE Tir.J MAOBETTI. . 85 
 
 Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, hors'd 
 
 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 23 
 
 To prick the sides of my intent, but only 
 
 Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself 
 
 And falls on the other — 
 
 the point? Itwasnota " TCew-boni " babe that knelt and cried! Nor 
 is a babe ever terHble. It is not terror but tenderness that "a naked 
 new born babe" symbolizes and awakens; and it is tender pity, not 
 terrible vengeance, that Macbeth is thinking of in lines 16-25. Yes, 
 the " milk of human kindness" is fully recognized by him as pervading 
 others' breasts if not his own. — 23. striding, etc. Pity? orthebabe? 
 — cherubin = cherub? or cherubs? Clark and Wright say, "The 
 plural is unquestionably required," and they change the word to the 
 Hebrew plural cherubim. But Snakes., like Spenser, always makes 
 cherubin singular. For plural, Spenser repeatedly has cherubim and 
 serapMns. — "What is the impropriety in interpreting thus : Pity, strid- 
 ing the blast, like a naked new-born babe in its tenderness, or like a 
 heavenly cherub in its swiftness (and saorednessi), horsed upon, etc.? 
 The word " babe" suggests a cherub. Hebrew fc'r-uT), plural k'ru'bim. 
 — 23. sightless. I, v, 47. H, i, 36. — See note on I, iv, 11. — cour- 
 iers = winds [Johnson] ? not winds, but invisible posters of the 
 divine will [Seymour]? — French cowr-rier a courier, fr. cowrir, to run; 
 Lat. cmrire, to run. — This line reminds of Psalms, xviii, 10 ; q. v. — 2.5. 
 that ^ so that? See line 8. — drow^n, etc. A very copious down- 
 pouring of rain sometimes seems to stop the wind. — " Tears like rain 
 shall lull the wind which bears the tidings " [MoberlyJ ? The meta- 
 phor is about as extravagant as that in Julius Cmsar I, i, 59, 60, where 
 the " commoners " are told to weep their tears into the Tiber " till the 
 lowest stream Do kiss the most exalted shores of all." TroUus and 
 Cressida, IV, iv, 53. — no spur . . . but . . . ambition = 
 no spur besides ambition [Clark and Wright, substantially] ? no spur ; 
 but I have ambition? — " Upon this 'I have no spur,' follows close, with 
 poetical aptitude, the entrance of Lady Macbeth." Morley.^26. in- 
 tent Metamorphosed into a steed? Some speak of a "man of one 
 idea " as " riding his hobby " everywhere? — 27. itself. Landor sug- 
 gests its seU, i. e., saddle. Needfully? — Self stands here for aim or pur- 
 pose, as we often say such a one ouersTiot himself, that is, overshot his 
 mark or aim [Hudson] ? So we say " he overreaches himself " ? — 28. 
 th' other — what? side [Hudson, Hunter, etc.]? Steevens says, 
 " The general image, though confusedly expressed, relates to a horse, 
 who, overleaping himself, falls, and his rider under him !" The other, 
 then, would mean the other — individual? Staunton mates intent and 
 ambition two steeds, one lazy to the last degree, the other so fiery that 
 it overreaches itself and falls on its companion horse ! Bailey would 
 change th' other to the earth! He would also change self to seat. Mason 
 substitutes the rider for th' other! Jackson would read theory, as a good 
 thing to fall on I Hudson says " The sense feels better without " side ; 
 but he afterwards inserts it ! — Rev. John Hunter makes other mean 
 "dishonor and wretchedness, instead of glory and felicity." — Mas- 
 sey, who would change sides to side, says, "As the text stands, we have 
 
 a most extraordinary horse and rider. Macbeth was 
 
 no more likely to wear a siuGrle spur that would strike on both sides 
 
86 MACBETH. [act x 
 
 Eater Lady Macbeth. 
 
 How now! what news? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. He has almost supp'd : why have 
 you left the chamber? 
 
 Macbeth. Hath he asked for me? 
 
 Jjady Macbeth. Know you not he has? 30 
 
 Macbeth. We will proceed no further in this business: 
 He hath honor'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 Macbeth. Was the hope drunk 35 
 
 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? Prom this time 
 Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard 
 To be the same in thine own act and valor 40 
 
 than the Irishman was to discover the gun that would shoot round 
 the corner. Mor,eover his horse must have had three sides to it at the 
 least. Now, a horse may have four sides, right and left, inside and 
 outside, and the street gamins will at times advise an awkward horse- 
 man to ride inside for safety ; but it cannot have three sides 1 And if 
 the single spur had pricked two sides, there could have been no other 
 ^eft for ' vaulting ambition ' to fall on. The truth is that sides is a 
 misprint. The single spur of course implies a single side — the side of 
 Macbeth's intent, which leaves 'thsotTier' for the 'vaulting ambition' 
 to alight on in case of a somersault — the side of Macbeth's unintent." 
 — 29. Why have you left, etc. Why had he? Was it a suspicious 
 circumstance? — 33. bongbt = acquired JClark and Wright]? gained 
 by paying for them? See " purchased " m Mer. of Venice, II, ix, 43. — 
 34. wonld=requireto [Abbott, 339]? should [Clark and Wright] ? de- 
 sired to be [Moberly] ? would, as persons, like to be? — Shakespeare 
 abounds in metaphors from dress. Instances? — 35, 36. hope drunk 
 
 dressed. " Objectionable ; for it makes Hope a person 
 
 and a dress in the same breath. It may, however, probably be justified 
 on the supposition that Lady Macbeth is playing on her husband's pre- 
 vious expression, 'I have bought golden opinions,' etc." — Is a mixture 
 of metaphors natural in her astonishment at her husband's sudden 
 change of purpose in this most critical hour? — Hudson thinks dress'd 
 is fo." addressed, meaning prepared, made ready. He prints 'dress'd. — 
 When did he dress himself in hope? I, vi, 30. — Bailey, to avoid the 
 " absurdity of dressing in what may become intoxicated," says, "Read 
 blessed for dress'd, and all is plain and apposite and Shakespearian." — 
 Your judgment ! — 39. such = a sickly affair? Bailey, who would 
 change did in line 38 to eyed, because Hope should not look backward, 
 cooly proposes to read here, "Such I account thy liver"! " The liver 
 being the organ of courage, or rather, perhaps, of cowardice." — " I ac- 
 count thy love .... only such as this hope, a mere drunken 
 fancy." Bitter. — 39. afeard. I, iii, 96; rv, iii, 34. — 41. have. John- 
 
BCENE VII.] MACBETH. 87 
 
 . 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? 
 
 Macbeth. Prithee, peace: 45 
 
 T dare do all that may become a man; 
 Who dares do more is none. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. 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 50 
 
 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 fitness now 
 Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know 
 How tender 't is to love the babe that milks me: 55 
 
 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 
 
 Bon suggested and Moberly adopts Uave for have; Beoket suggests 
 crave; Hudson adopts lack. Choose! — that = the crown? the cour- 
 age? — 43. esteem = estimation? — In Euripides, Electra says to 
 Orestes, "Do not, through' cotuardlce, become unmanly." Trace of 
 Shakespeare's Greek studies? — 45. adage. Low Lat. Catvs amat 
 Pisces, sed non vuU tiiigere plantar; Fr. Le chat aimc le poisson, mais U 
 n'aimepasi,mowlUerseapattea; Heywood'a Proverbs (1566) has "The cat 
 would eat fish and would not wet her feet." — Pr'ythee =Ipray thee? 
 — 47. do. The folios have no. Rowe, 1709, made the ichange, and 
 nearly all editors have followed him. Hunter retains no, and assigns 
 the line to Lady Macbeth ; but this makes the then, at the end of the 
 line, come in awkwardly. — As Macbeth had expressed a readiness to 
 do more than was becoming to a man, she adroitly employs the argu- 
 mentum ad hxyminem; he must be a beast or fiend, or under brutal or 
 diabolic influence ! "Beast" she chooses to say, and with great em- 
 phasis. In 49, 50, 51, she refutes his "who dares do more is none"? — 
 Collier would read boast; and Bailey, baseness, instead of beast. Beaxt 
 was a far less offensive word in that age, equivalent to creature? See 
 Rev. vii, 11 — 4. break = broach? disclose? — When did he break it 
 to her? — 50. to be ^ in being? to, sometimes, with infinitive form = 
 for, about, in, as regards, etc. 4bboft, 356. — 53. adhere = cohere 
 [Rolfe, etc.] ? agree or consist with the purpose [Hudson] ? — 53. that 
 their fltness. A Latin idiom? — 55. babe. Any historical mention 
 of her offspring? — 58. the brains. The is often used for the possess- 
 ive pronoun in the old writers. Greek idiom? — Sworn. When! Is 
 here an allusion to conversation on the subject before the battles de- 
 scribed in the second scene? "At last he satisfied his wife by swear- 
 ing that he would murder the King and usurp the throne at the first 
 opportunity." White's Studies in Shakespeare. — Moberly says, "He 
 
88 MACBETH. [act i. 
 
 Have doue to this. 
 
 Macbeth. If we should fail? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. We fail? 
 
 But screw your courage to the sticking-place, , 60 
 
 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, 65 
 
 Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason 
 A limbeck only: when in swinish sleep 
 Their drenched natures lie as in a death, 
 
 had not sworn ; in fact had only agreed to 'speak further.' " See p. 21. 
 
 — 59. If we should fail 7 — We toil ? — Mrs. Siddons, after much 
 experiment, preferred to give the falling inflection to the last fatl, 
 "modulating her voice to a deep, low, resolute tone, which settled the 
 issue at once." Says Mrs. Jameson, " This is consistent with the dark 
 fatalism of the character and the sense of the line following, and the 
 effect was sublime, almost awful." Try it! We adopt here the folio 
 punctuation, but it is confessedly bad in many places, and is nowhere to 
 be implicitly followed. Some emphasize we with a tone of indignant 
 surprise. — Says Dyce, "She hastily interrupts her husband, check- 
 ing the very idea of failure." This would require the rising slide on 
 faUl — Says Hudson, " I take the meaning to be, ' If we fail, then we 
 fail, and there's the end of it ;'" and he punctuates thus ; ' If we fail, 
 — . — 60. screw. Metaphor from some engine or mechanical contriv- 
 ance [Clark and Wright] 1 from the tuning of a stringed Instrument 
 [Moberly]1 screwing up the chord of stringed instruments to their 
 proper degree of tension, when the peg remains fast in its sUcktng-place 
 f SteevensJ ? Sticking-place — fixed point, with a covert allusion to the 
 death-dealing (sic) spot chosen by the butcher fMcNeil] ? Was John 
 Shakespeare a butcher? Was McNeill Lady MTacbeth? — 62. rather 
 = sooner. A. S. hrathe, quickly ; Icel. hradr, swift ; Mid. Eng. rath, 
 early; rathe, soon; rather, earlier, sooner; rathest, soonest. — See 
 "rathe primrose " in Milton's Lycldas, 142. — 64. wassail (A. S. woes, 
 be, hoel, hale, whole, sound ; waeshael! a salutation on drinking healths. 
 The answer was drlnc hael! drink hale!) revelry [Clark and Wright, 
 etc. J ? health-drinking [Moberly] i — Milton has wassaUera, Comut, 179. 
 
 — convince (Lat. con, cum, completely; rtnc&'e, to conquer), over- 
 come. — Shakes, has a large Latin vocabulary? — IV, iii, 142. — Abbott, 
 p. 12. — 65. warder, etc. The old anatomists divided the brain into 
 three ventricles. In the hindermost, the cerebellum, connected by the 
 spinal marrow with the rest of the body, they placed the memory as a 
 sentinel to warn the reason. — 66. fUme (Lat. fumus, smoke), smoke, 
 vapor i — - receipt = receptacle? — Bacon, Essays, xlvi, calls a fount- 
 ain-basin a " receipt of water." See " receipt of custom," Matt, ix, 9. 
 Lat. recJpcre, to take back, receive; re, back; capSre, to take; recepta- 
 etUum, receptacle; recepta, thing received. — "The brain itself, the 
 receipt nr receptacle of reason." CUvrk and Wright. " The cavity filled 
 by the Orain, the skull"?— 67. limbeck is contracted from Arabic 
 alemMc; al, the; anMk, a still; Gr. i/i-M, ambix, a cup, goblet; the cap 
 of a ttnU aidn to Gr, oiuticL^i', omphalos ; Lat. umbo, boss of a shield. 
 
scBNK VII.] MAGSETE. 89 
 
 What cannot you and I perform upon 
 
 The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon 70 
 
 His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 
 
 Of our great quell? 
 
 Macbeth. Bring forth men-children only; 
 
 For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
 Nothing but males. Will it not be receiv'd, 
 When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 75 
 
 Of his own chamber and us'd their very daggers, 
 That they have done 't? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other, ' 
 
 As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar 
 Upon his death? 
 
 Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up 
 
 Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. 80 
 
 Away, and mock the time with fairest show: 
 False face must hide what the false heart doth know. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 In the old distillery, the vapors of the boiling liquid were condensed 
 in the limbeck or cap at the top of the apparatus. Milton uses Umhech, 
 Fmr. Lost, III, 605. — The head is full of the overpowering fumes of 
 alcohol? — Hudson says the passage "is far from heing a felicitous 
 one." Is he correct? — 68. a death. Why is a used here? — 71. 
 spongy, " because they soak so much liquor " [Hudson]? Hamlet,lV, 
 ii, 14j 15 ; Mer. of Venice, I, ii, 86. — 73. quell = subdue, defeat 
 [Elwm]? murder [Hudson, etc.]? Schmidt thinks it euphemistic. 
 . So El win say s, " By using guell she contrives to veil the heinous nature 
 of their guilt." — Likely? A. S. cwellan, to kill; originally, probably, 
 to choke; Mid. Eng. guellen, to kill. The sense of guel! is " to choke," 
 torture, that of MI, to "knock on the head." Skeat. — By the word 
 gj-eat would she convey the idea that the act is heroic!— 73. mettle, 
 doublet of metal. " No distinction is made in old editors between the 
 two, either in spelling or use." Schmidt. — Gr. ij.iTaWav, metallon, pit, 
 mine, mineral, metal ; fr. iieraWia, metallao, I search after. Mettle is 
 spirit, ardor. The allusion is to the temper of the metal of a sword- 
 blade. Skeat. — Richard III, IV, iv, 304. — 74. received = accepted 
 (as true) ? — Meas. for Meas., I, iii, 16. — 75. marked with blood, etc. 
 Has he already formed the design to murder the chamberlains? - - 77. 
 other = otherwise? Ahbott, 13. — 78. as = seeing that [Clark and 
 Wright] ? since? — 79. bend = strain? — Metaphor from what! — 80. 
 corporal agent = bodily power? — 81. mock the time = beguile 
 the time? I, v, 61. — Dramatic value of this scene? Light thrown by 
 It on the characters of the principal actors! 
 
»0 MAGBETH. [act n, 
 
 ACT n. 
 
 Scene I. Court of MaebetKa Castle. 
 
 Enter Banquo, and Fleancb hearing a torch before Mm. 
 
 Sanquo. How goes the night, boy? 
 Fleance. The moon is down, I have not heard the clock. 
 Banquo. And she goes down at twelve. 
 Fleance. I take 't, 't is later, sir. 
 Banquo. Hold, take my sword. — There's husbandry in 
 heaven; 
 Their candles are all out. — Take thee that too 5 
 
 ACT II. Scene I. Line 1. How goes the night? In what sense 
 is 0oeg usedl — 4. Hold, take my sword. Why divest himself of his 
 swordi " Here we come," says Flathe, " to a speech of Banquo's to 
 his son, to which we must pay special heed, since upon it the earlier 
 English commentators have based their ridiculous theory that Banquo, 
 
 in contrast to Macbeth, represents the man unseduced by evil 
 
 Banquo here endeavors, as far as possible, to assert his own innocence 
 to himself, while, for the sake of his future advantage, he intends to 
 oppose no obstacle to the sweep of Maobeth's sword. , , . . He must be 
 able to say to himself, in the event of any fearful catastrophe, 'I never 
 thought of or imagined any danger, and so I laid aside my arms. ' ' ' Prob- 
 able? — husbandry = thrift! frugality, economy? — A. S. feitsbondo, 
 master of a house; Icel. }iv», a house; hucmM, dwelling, inhabiting; 
 fr. biiio, to dwell. — 5. Their. The critics make heaven a collective 
 noun. But, in this familiar conversation, may not Banquo, having 
 mentioned heaven as a place, properly say their, alluding to the dMeJlers? 
 — Take thee that, too. What? dirk, dagger, sword-belt? Banquo 
 has put from him several weapons of defense, from horror at the par- 
 ticular use his dreams have prompted him to make of them [Elwin] ? 
 Banquo hands to Fleance something else, a sword-belt or dagger, not 
 lest he might be tempted to use them, but because in a friend's house 
 he was perfectly secure [Clark and Wright] ? It is necessary that he 
 should pretend to himself that here, in Macbeth's castle, no danger can 
 threaten Duncan nor any one else. Therefore his sword need not rest 
 by his side, and he gives it to his son [Flathe] ? See also Flathe's com- 
 ment on the preceding line. — A slight indication of a want of caution 
 is intended by this parting with the weapons [Moberly] ? It may be 
 presumptuous to offer another explanation, but one who has often been 
 burdened by the weight and inconvenience of arms worn all day and 
 half the night may be pardoned for suggesting that the tired Banquo, 
 without any subtle or profound purpose, may seize the earliest possible 
 moment to divest himself of sword, belt; sash, dagger, or any armor 
 or decorations, on leaving the great dining-hall, and hand them to his 
 gon while en route for their sleeping apartment. — thee=to thee? thoui 
 
scEKtK I.] MAGBBTp. 9] 
 
 A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, 
 And yet I would not sleep. Merciful po-wers, 
 Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature 
 Gives way to in repose! — 
 
 Enter Macbeth and a Servant wiih a torch. 
 Give me my sword. — 
 Who's there? 10 
 
 Macbeth. A friend. 
 
 Banquo. 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, 15 
 
 By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up 
 In measureless content. 
 
 Macbeth. Being unprepar'd, 
 
 Our will became the servant to defect. 
 Which else should free have wrought. 
 
 Banquo. All's well. 
 
 I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: 20 
 
 To you they have sHow'd some truth. 
 
 Macbeth. I think not of them: 
 
 Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve. 
 
 See note on I, v, 23. Abbott, 312—6. heavy=drowsy, sleepy [Sclunidt] ? 
 lead. Why not " gold" ? See leaden mace in JuHus Ccesar, IV, lii, 265, 
 266.-7. would not sleep. Why? See lme30.— 8. cursed thoughts 
 =thoughts of Macbeth that arise in his mind [Plathe] ? Macbeth be- 
 comes a willing prey to cursed thoughts ; Banquo prays to be kept from 
 them [Steevens and MoberlyJ 3 — What, sir, not yet at rest? — An 
 instance of what Abbott, 513, calls " the amphibious section." See II, 
 iii, 77. — 14. offices = servants' quarters, butler's pantry, cellars and 
 kitchen [Malone]? Many change offices to officers. Wisely? — "The 
 lower parts of London houses are always called offices." Nares. — Rich- 
 ard II, I, ii. 69 ; Othello, II, ii, 8. — Lat. ops, opes, help ; facdre, to do ; officiwm, 
 the doing of service ; duty, service ; by metonymy, the place of duty or 
 service. — 15. withal. I, iii, 57. — 16. shut up = shut up all ; or shut 
 up the day ; or concluded [Clark and Wright] f summed up all (by ex- 
 pressing measureless content) [Schmidt]? (is)enclosed [Boswelll? shut 
 himself up [Singer] ? composed himself to sleep [Hudson, Meiklejohn] ? 
 It is a wonder that some Yankee does not suggest the provincial objur- 
 gation, "shut up!" i. e., " stop talking ! " — Folios 2, 3, 4, have shut it 
 Mjj; whence Hunter says it means " undoubtedly the jewel in its case. " 
 — 18. will . . . defect. Note the lively personification. — 19. ft-ee = 
 with free scope, liberally? " FFTiich refers to vHU" [Malone] ? — Abbott,!. 
 See II, iii, 119. — Note the antithesis between servant and/ree.' — All's 
 well. Note the neatness of Macbeth's apology and Banquo's reply. 
 Haumer and Capell would read All's very well, and so complete the me- 
 tre. Rightly? —20. dreamt. See lines 8, 9.— 22. entreat an hour 
 
92 MACBETH. fxcT n. 
 
 We would spend it in some words upon that business, 
 If you would grant the time. 
 
 Banquo. At your kind'st leisure. 
 
 Mcicbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 't is, 35 
 It shall make honor for you. 
 
 Banquo. So I lose none 
 
 In seeking to augment it, hut still keep 
 My bosom franchis'd and allegiance clear, 
 I shall be counsell'd. 
 
 Macbeth. Good repose the while I 
 
 Banquo. Thanks, sir: the like to you ! 80 
 
 [Exeunt Banquo and Fleance. 
 
 Macbeth. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, 
 
 to serve = ask you to put an hour at our service [Kolf e] ? prevail upon 
 an hour of your time to be at our service [Clark and WrightJ ? hour 
 to serve=favorable hour [Darmesteter] 1- - Much Ado, III, ii, 73.- -we, 
 in 22 and 23, "The royal «)6 by anticipation" [Clark and Wright] ? Why 
 not we, meaning simply ' ' yau, and I" ? — 24. kind'st. ' '-Est in superla- 
 tives is often pronounced et after dentals and liquids." Abbott, 473. — 
 25. coiisent=party [Heath, Rolf e, etc.] t opinion [Collier] 1 the agree- 
 ment with me [Delius] ? The force of f he Latin eoncentus (harmony, 
 concord, originally spoken of singing) [Steevens] ? either party or plan 
 [Clark and Wright] ? — White thinks nere is a misprint of consort, 
 meaning party. ' ' I cannot make sense of consent. ' ' KelylMey. Capell 
 and Bailey prefer ascent. In Shakespeariam,a, March, 1884, the present 
 editor wrote : "The word 'consent' is exactly right and even felicitous. 
 Macbeth at the outset is not without ambition, but he wishes to be' 
 without guilt. He would like to be merely passive. ' If chance will 
 have me king, why chance may crov^n me, without my stir.' Later 
 onpie would ;fain seem the passive recipient of the royal dignity, 
 merely giving his consent. He will wait patiently, not 'catch the near- 
 est way.' Consent is the only word that expresses the attitude in 
 which he would appear to Banquo in view Df the possible fulfillment 
 of the witch's prediction." — 'tis. What is? Macbeth meant it to 
 to be vague? — 28. Crancbis'd = free, unstained, innocent [Schmidt, 
 etc.]? Late Lat. /raneitg, free; fr. Old High Ger. /rcwico ; Fr. francMr, 
 to free one's self; franchise, freedom. Bracket. Mid. Eng. franchUen, 
 to render free, endow with the privileges of afreeman. "Love Virtue; 
 sheaione is free"; Milton's Comus, 1018. — 31. driiik. This "night- 
 cap" or " posset " was an habitual indulgence of the time [Elwin] ?— 
 II, ii, 6. — 33. strike. Subjunctive? ABboft, 811, 369.— Why is " she " 
 inserted? — bell. — " He did not venture to trust himself, or she did 
 not venture to trust him, to decide the moment when he should take 
 the fatal step ; and it was arranged between them that her striking on 
 her bell should be the signal for his entrance of the king's chamber. 
 As he was awaiting this summons in the court, his heated imagination 
 caused his eye to be deceived with an illusion. He thought he saw a 
 dagger floating in the air, with its handle toward his hand, and that it 
 moved before him toward Duncan's chamber, blood breaking out upon 
 it as it went." White. — "Macbeth wanted no such mechanical signal 
 as a bell for the performance of the murder ; the bell which afterwards 
 strikes is the clock, which accidentally, and with much more solem' 
 
SCENE I.] MACBETH. 93 
 
 She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. — \_EsiAt Serocmt. 
 
 Is this a dagger which I see before me, 
 
 The handle toward my hand? — Come, let me clutch thee. 
 
 I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. , 35 
 
 Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible 
 
 To feeling as to sight? or art thou but 
 
 A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 
 
 Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? 
 
 I see thee yet, in form as palpable 40 
 
 As this which now I draw. 
 
 Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going ; 
 
 And such an instrument I was to use. — 
 
 Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, 
 
 Or else worth all the rest: I see thee still ; 45 
 
 And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, 
 
 Which was not so before. — There's no such thing : 
 
 It is the bloody business which informs 
 
 Thus to mine eyes. — ^Now o'er the one half world 
 
 nity, reminds him it is time to dispatch." Seymour. — Choose between 
 the two. — 33. Is this a dagger. Emphasis on dagger, as if it were 
 so dim that it might be mistaken for something else? or emphasis on 
 Is, the question being as to the reoMtyf — "It is an apparition coming 
 and vanishing, a phantom raised by the witches." She7'Uian Knowles. 
 "A delusion [sic], appearing after the manner of the Highland second 
 sight, which sees, e. g., a shroud round the image of a man who will 
 soon be slain." Mdberly. "Differing from what we should term a real 
 honaflde dagger, as a painting of a dagger differs from a real one." A. 
 Boffe, 1851. — 36. sensible = perceptible, tangible [Schmidt]? See 
 note on I, iv, 11. — 41. " The missing syllables give time to glare back- 
 wards [backwards? Whereis the dagger carried?] and forwards ; first 
 at the real, then at the visionary dagger" [Moberly]? See note on I, 
 ii, 30. — 43. marshall'st. Old High Ger. marah, a battle-horse (akin 
 to Eng. mare) ; schaUi, Mid. High Ger. shalo, a servant ; Old H. G. mar- 
 aschaUi, an attendant upon a horse . Fr. marechal, Eng. mai'shal, master 
 of horse (a title of honor) , master of ceremonies. Skeat, and Bracket. — 
 44, 45. fools .... senses . . . worth all the rest, etc. Either my 
 other senses fool my eyes, or else my eyes are worth them all? — 46. 
 dudgeon = haft (of a dagger) ? The root of the box-tree was called 
 (Ju(J96ori, apparertly because it was curiously marked, "crisped dam- 
 ask-vrise" or "full of waving." The word is of unknown, probably 
 Celtic, origin. Skeat. — " Scottish daggers having generally the han- 
 dles of box-wood." Singer. — gouts = drops? — Old Fr. goute, fr. Lat. 
 gutta, drop. The sense of gout (the disease) comes from the old belief 
 that these joint-pains are caused by drops of humor which swell the 
 joints. Bracftef. — 48. informs = creates forms [Schmidt, Moberly] ? 
 shapes (the dagger) [Schmidt, Meiklejohn] ? gives information [Clark 
 and Wright]? I, y. 31, Lat. informdre, to put in form, give form, 
 mould; tell; Fr. informer, to intoTm; Lat. in, and /orma, shape, figure. 
 ~49. one half world. Why one half? Is more than half always 
 
94 MACBETH. [act ii. 
 
 Xature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 60 
 
 The curtain'd sleep ; — ^witchcraft celebrates' 
 
 Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder, 
 
 Alarum'd by his sentinel the wolf, 
 
 Wh(5se howl 's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, 
 
 With Tarquin's ravishing sides, towards his design -^5 
 
 light? — "One" was probably pronounced by Shakes, not as now, "won," 
 but "un." Xbhott, 80. Hence on and one, differed not much. — .50. 
 abuse = deceive [Clark and Wright] ? misuse [Schmidt] ? Hamlet II, 
 ii, 590. — 51. This line complete? Many critics insert now before witch- 
 craft. Others change sJeep to sleeper. "Shakes, introduced the long 
 pause (between ' sleep ' and ' witchcraft ') to add to the solemnity of 
 the description ['Knight] ? curtained sleep. Milton's phrase, "close- 
 curtained sleep,^' Comvs, 554. — I, ii, 5. — 58. Hecate's. Dissyl. ? So 
 in Comus, 135 (but not in 535) ; Lear, I, i. 108; Hamlet, III, ii, 237; Mae- 
 heth, III, ii, 41 ; V, 1. — Daughter of Parses and Asteria, and reckoned 
 one of the secondary Titans? She Is often identified with Selene or 
 Luna in heaven, Artemis or Diana on earth, and Persephone or Pros- 
 erpina in the lower world; athreefold goddess (the full moon, partially 
 illuminated moon, and the invisible moon?) ■with three bodies or throe 
 heads; attendant on the wife of Pluto; supposed to send nocturnal 
 demons and phantoms from the lower world, and to teach sorcery and 
 witchcraft ; dwelling at cross-roads, tombs, and near the blood of mur- 
 dered persons ; wandering with the souls of the dead, and evoking at 
 her approach the whinings and bowlings of dogs. The things offored 
 to her, with rites implied in the word "celebrates," were dogs, honey, 
 and black ewe lambs. — 'Why is she called "pale"?— wither'd. Why 
 vMhcredt Old in crime? Are murderers usually old or young? — 58. 
 alarnni'd = summoned? struck with alarm? — Fr. alarme, a cry " to 
 arms," the call of sentinels surprised by the enemy. Ital. alle, to tht. 
 (for a, to; le, the), and arme (plu. of armo) , weapons ; Low Lat. ad illas 
 aarmaa (where arma« is Low Lat. plu.) . Thus Ital. all 'a/rme! is our to 
 arms! Bracket, Skeat.~5i. whosehowl's his 'watch. "The wolf's long 
 howl," as Campbell has it, repeated at intervals, is strikingly like the 
 shrill, sing-song cry some of us used to hear at Libby Prison, Richmond, 
 ■Vajduring the Civil War, from the confederate sentinels, in succes- 
 sion's one after another caught it up and repeated it along the chain 
 of sentry stations — "Post No. 14, twelve o'clock, and all's well!" 
 '•Post No. 15, twelve o'clock, and all's well!" et<!. — Milton recol- 
 lects this passage when he writes Comus, S33-5S5? — 55. Tarquin's. 
 Sextus Tarquinius, guilty of the rape of Lucrece about 510 B. C. — 
 sides, etc. A difficult passage. We give the usual explanations, 
 sides = takes sides with Tarquin's ravishing? in imagination joins 
 Tarquin in his desperate crime? In Corlolanus, I, i, 186, and I'V, ii, 2, 
 " side" and " sided " are verbs, meaning "take sides with" and "taken 
 sides." Pope changed " sides " to " strides," and most commentators 
 adopt that reading, making " strides " to mean long, cautious steps on 
 tip-toe, and this reading and explanation were adopted by the present 
 editor in Masterpieces in Eng. LM., p . 128. But does not this change give 
 too much prominence to the kind of movement already sufficiently de- 
 signated? — Fleay (in Stofcenpeariano, Dec, 1883) makes "ravishing'" 
 a noun, puts a comma after it, and reads sides towards his design, mean- 
 ing "sides, or moves stealthily towards his design." Johnson would 
 put a comma after "ravishing," and read "slides toward. " Knight 
 would change "with" to "which," and interpret "sides" to 
 
SCBNB I. J MACBETH. 95 
 
 Moves like a ghost.^Thou sure and firm-set earth, 
 
 Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear 
 
 Thy very stones prate of my whereabout. 
 
 And take the present horror from the time, 
 
 "Which uow suits with it. — ^Whiles I threat he lives: 60 
 
 Words to the heat of deeds too cool breath gives. 
 
 [A bell rings. 
 
 mean " matclies," thus: "which Tarquin's ravishing matches." 
 Hunter would change " with " to " or. " Moberly retains 
 sides, and thinks it . may be a form of the Saxon " sith," a 
 step. Jackson changes sides to ideas! — But, as the present editor 
 showed in the magazine EdueaUon.in May, 1887, and again in the uni- 
 versity magazine, The Student^ in June, 1888, "sides" is here probably 
 a noun, meaning companionship, group of companions, or party. My 
 "side" is my party. In iM&rece^ stanza xxiv, lines 167, 168, we read, 
 " Pure thoughts are dead and still, while Lust and Murder wake to 
 stain and kill. " In Milton's Conrns "night and shades are joined with 
 hell in triple knot." In Macbeth, III, ii, 53, "night's black agents to their 
 preys do rouse. " Observe that to ' 'take sides' ' is a familiar expression 
 for joining a party or becoming an adherent. A "sidesman" in Milton 
 is a partisan. The word now means an assistant to a church-warden. 
 TarqwMs raviahVng sides may be Tarquin's ravishing party, the crew of 
 evil spirits, "the grisly legions that troop under the sooty flag of Ache- 
 ron," together with 
 
 " Thoughts black, hands apt, arms fit, and time agreeing. 
 Confederate season " [Hamlet, III, ii, 234, 235.] 
 
 — in a word, the gang of devilish agencies and auxiliaries "that wait on 
 nature's mischief," and that throng around Tarquin. With these, for 
 the moment, withered Murder'joins and moves towards his bloody 
 deed. — 57. steps, which, etc. = which way my steps walk. Shakes, 
 often uses this construction ; as, "You hear the learned Ballario, what 
 he writes." Meir. of Ven., IV, i, 158. Mark, i, 34; Luke, iv, 34; Abbott, 
 414. — The original in all the folios reads, ' 'steps, which they may walk. " 
 Should we retain it? Our rule is, adhere to the old folio reading, if a 
 good sense can fairly be drawn from it. — 59. take the present hor- 
 ror = take away the present horror [Steevens, Rolf e, etc.]? "Mac- 
 beth .,.. designates the murder as the preseut horror." Elvnn. "What 
 was the horror he means? Silence." Warburton. Steevens, Malone, 
 Hudson, Rolf e, Darmesteter, Clark and Wright, etc., also say silence. 
 — Bw^eiahis Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful speaks of the awful- 
 ness of silence, citing jSlneid, "VI, 264, 265. Others quote ^neid, II, 
 755 ; Statins, AehiUeid, II, 391 ; Tacitus, 4rinoI, I, Ixv.— 60. whiles. I, v, 5. 
 —61. Words .... gives = too cold breath gives (mere empty) words 
 to (match or accompany) the heat of deeds? — The commentators all 
 make toords the subject of gives; and, as this looks like the third person 
 singular, they resort to various explanations to account for the form. 
 Clark and Wright think the verb is attracted, as it were, to the singular 
 nouns between words and give». Moberly concurs. Abbott, 333, thinks 
 such apparent singular number may be really a plural form in s, such 
 as prevailed in the north of England ; as the plu. form in -en did in 
 middle England, and -th in the south. — Clark and Wright, Pleay, Hud- 
 son, and some others, regard the words from wftijes to done as inter- 
 
96 MACBETH. [act u 
 
 T go, and it is done; the bell invites me. — 
 
 Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell 
 
 That Buimnons thee to heaven — or to hell. [Exit 
 
 ScBNE II. 2%e same. 
 Enter Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. That which hath made them drunk hath 
 
 made me bold ; 
 What hath quenoh'd them hath given me fire. — Hark ! 
 
 Peace! 
 It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
 Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it; 
 The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms 5 
 
 Do mock their charge with snores ; I have drugg'd their 
 
 possets, 
 
 polated. — 62. bell. See note on line 83. — 63. knell = passing bell, 
 which was formerly tolled as the person was dying [ElwinJ ? — A word 
 of imitative origin, likeftnoc^c. A. S., cnyllan, to beat noisily; cnyl, a 
 knell. — State and discuss the most important questions raised by this 
 scene. 
 
 Scene n. — 1. matte me bold. How?— Emboldened by the guard's 
 intoxication [Moberly] S Lady Macbeth had had recourse to wine in 
 order to support her courage [Clark and Wright] ? She has just been 
 drinking [Darmesteter, who refers to I, vii, 63, 64] ! Says Mrs. Grif- 
 fith, " Our sex is obliged to Shakespeare for this passage. He seems 
 to think that a woman could not be rendered completely wicked with- 
 out some degree of intoxication." Rolfe well remarks, "Moberly's 
 explanation seems rather forced: and the other (Mrs. GrifBth's), we 
 think, goes too far in assuming that the lady was intoxicated. Tn say- 
 ing, ' that which hath made ttiem drunk,' she implies that she herself 
 was not drunk." To which Mrs. Griffith might rejoin that a drunken 
 person often thinks himself sober and others intoxicated? — Your 
 opinion? — 3. owl. The screech-owl has for many hundreds of years 
 been regarded as a bird of evil omen. Ovid's Metam., v, 550; Virgil's 
 .lEneid, iv,463,463; Spenser's Bptthalomiitm, stanza 19; Richard III, IV, 
 iv, 505. — Whenever it appeared in Rome, an expiatory sacrifice was 
 ordered. Tschischwitz (NachManger germanischer Mytlie, ii, 30) shows 
 that the superstition is common to England and Germany, and to some 
 extent to all the Indo-European family. — bellman. Spenser {Faerie 
 Queene, V, vi, 27) calls the cock " the native bellman of the night." 
 " I am the common bellman. 
 That usually is sent to condemned persons 
 The night before they suffer. " [Webster' s Duchess of Malfi. 
 — 5. srooms (A. S. guma; Icel. gumi; Lat. homo, a man), servants. 
 Old Dutch grom; Old Icel. gromr, a boy. — 6. mock. By alternate 
 snoring as if in mimicry ! By mamng a mockery of their duty by neg- 
 lect? — chapge=Duncan? the duty of watehing for the safety of Dun- 
 can. — Why does she hear them? Has Macbeth opened the door, and 
 i» he listening before closing it? — possets. " Posset is hot nuUc 
 
8CSIIB u.] UAOBBTE. 97 
 
 ITiat death and nature do contend about them, 
 Whether they live or die. ' 
 
 Macbeth. [Within.'] Who's there? what, ho! 
 
 JOady Macbeth. Alack, I am afraid they have awak'd, 
 And 't is not done. The attempt and not the deed 10 
 
 Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready; 
 He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled 
 My father as he slept, I had done 't. — My husband! 
 
 Mfiter Macbeth, 
 
 Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a 
 
 noise? 
 Lady Macbeth. I heard the owl scream and the crickets 
 
 cry. 15 
 
 poured on ale or sack (sherry) , having sugar, grated biscuit, eggs, with 
 other ingi-edients, boiled in it, which goes all to a curd." Holme,, 1688. 
 II, i, 31. Hamlet, I, v, 68. This semi-liquid curd was eaten or drunk 
 beforeretiring. — 7. that = sothat? I, ii, 58. Abbott, 2SS. Line 23. — 
 nature. Meaning? — 8. Who's there? " Macbeth fancies that he 
 hears some noise (see line 14) , and in his nervous excitement has not 
 suflcient control over himself to keep silence" [Clark and Wright]? 
 Picture the scene ! Has he at this moment committed the deed, or has 
 he, having gone in and listened, returned to the door on hearing a slight 
 noise, and then, to test the matter of a possible intruder or spy being 
 present, asked, "Who's there? what, ho?" and, hearing no answer, 
 does he return inside and close the door, and then strike the blow? — 
 9. alack. Probably not a corrruption of alas, but ah! lord! otherwise 
 it may be referred to Mid. Eng. lak, signifying loss, failure. Thus alaeh 
 would, mean ah! failure, ov ah! a loss! Skeat. — 10. The attempt and 
 not the deed = an unsuccessful attempt? the attempt confounds, but 
 the deed does not? — U.oconfounds = ruins? flUs with consternation? 
 The former is the usual meaning in Shakes. Seethe last line of the Te 
 Deum, " Let me never be confounded," and the familiar imprecation, 
 "Confound it!" Hamlet, III, ii, 160. — Confound is a doublet of confuse. 
 Lat. eon, together ; fundlre, to pour ; melt. The word is much weaker 
 than formerly?— 12, 13. Had he not, etc. " This touch of remorse, 
 awakened by the recollection of her father whom she had loved in the 
 days of her early innocence, is well introduced, to make us feel that 
 she is a woman still, and not a monster." Claa-lc and Wright. More of 
 this "sign-post criticism" would be acceptable from the keen editors of 
 the Clarendon Press edition ; for it makes us feel that they are men 
 still, and not mere grammatical machines I — 15. crickets. Accord- 
 ing to Grimm (1089) , crickets foretold death . Ikimesa. — 16. Hunter's 
 distribution of the speeches is followed by Furness thus : 
 
 Macbeth. Did not you speak? 
 
 Lady M. When? Now? 
 
 Macb. As I descended. 
 Mr. Fleay, in ShdkespeaHmia, December, 1883, arranges in the same 
 way, with the exception of taking the " Now " from Lady M. and giv- 
 ing it to Macbeth, thus : "ZiTow, a» X descended." We follow the folios, 
 
98 MAOBETE. [act h 
 
 Did not you speak? 
 
 Macbeth. When? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Now. 
 
 Macbeth. As I descended? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. A.j, 
 
 Macbeth. — Hark! 
 Who lies i' the second chamber? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Donalbain. 
 
 Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. [Looking at his hands. 8<i 
 
 Lady Macbeth. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. 
 
 Macbeth. There 's one did laugh in 's sleep, and one 
 cried " Murder! " 
 That they did wake each other; I stood and heard them: 
 But they did say their prayers, and address'd them 
 Again to sleep. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. There are two lodg'd together. 25 
 
 Macbeth. One cried " God bless us! " and " Amen " the 
 other; 
 As they had seen me with these hangman's hands, 
 Listening their fear. I could not say " Amen," 
 When they did say " God bless us! " 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Consider it not so deeply. 30 
 
 Macbeth. But wherefore could not I pronounce "Amen? " 
 
 which leave unanswered Lady Maobeth's question, " Did not you 
 speak? " The reason why it was not answered was because Macbeth 
 heard a noise which made him say "Hark !" instead of replying. We in- 
 dicate this omission by a dash. Rightfully? — Locate the apartments. — 
 20. The stage direction was not in the folios, but inserted by Capell. 
 Wisely? Line 27. —sorry. A. S. a&rig, sad; edr, sore. No etymolog- 
 ical connection with sorrow. Skeat. - "How can it be a sorry sight 
 when it crowns us?" Jlfoberly. —22. There's. That is, in the second 
 chamber, where lay the son of the murdered king [HunterJ ? or is 
 "there" a mere expletive? — 24. address'd them = uttered an invo- 
 cation? prepared themselves [Clark and Wright] ? — Lat. diHgire, to 
 direct; ad, to, in addition; Lat. directus, fr. dertgSi'e became success- 
 ively (Mrictu«,drtctu«; whence dlj'ictlare, Ital. dirteziare, drlzaare, French 
 dresser, to erect, arrange. See Hudson's note on "dressed" in 1, vii, 86. 
 — 25. lodg'd = like stags "lodged" or tracked home for to-morrow's 
 hunting [Moberly] ? prostrated JDeliusJ ? a derisive conclusion of the 
 lady to Macbeth's last words (Delius, and Bodenstedt] ? reposing in 
 bed, quartered in the apartment? Decide! — 27. as=as if ? in the way 
 in which? I, iv, 11. "jlsappearstobe, though it is not, used by Shakes, 
 for ag if." Ahtmtt, 107. — hanginan's=executioner's? — Mer. of Yen., 
 IV, i, 120. In Much Ado, HI, ii. 10, Cupid is called the little hangman! — 
 28. fear. "Surely this ought to be 'listening their jDr-o-wer.'" Bailey.— 
 "The preposition is sometimes omitted after verbs of hearing." .46- 
 bott, 199.— Julto Cceear, TV, i, 41.— 31. I amea, etc. "Egotistic 
 
BCEKE II.J MACBETH. gS 
 
 I had most need of blessing, and " Amen " 
 Stuck in my throat. 
 
 JLady Macbeth. These deeds must not be thought 
 After these ways; so, it will make us mad. 
 
 Macbeth. Methought I heard a voice cry " Sleep no 
 more! 35 
 
 Macbeth does murder sleep " — the innocent sleep, 
 Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care. 
 The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, 
 Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 
 Chief nourisher in life's feast, — 
 
 Lady Macbeth. What do you mean? 40 
 
 Macbeth. Still it cried "Sleep no more!" to all the house : 
 " Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor 
 Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more." 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Who was it that thus cried ? Why, 
 worthy thane. 
 You do unbend your noble strength, to think 45 
 
 So brainsickly of things. Go get some water. 
 And wash this filthy witness from your hand. 
 Why did you bring these daggers from the place? 
 They must lie there: go carry them, and smear 
 
 hypocrisy as if murder and praying could go hand in hand." 
 
 Boiienstedi. — 33, stuck in my throat. Is it conscience that chokes 
 his utterance! Was prayer habitual with him? I, v, 19. — 33. thought. 
 Hanmer and Keightly add on. Needfully? - - 34. So. How? — 85. 
 sleep, etc. Where should this "voice" end? With feoit [Hanmer, 
 Singer, Moberly, eto.J ? With mitriJer sleep [Johnson, Hudson, White, 
 i3tc.]? Your reason? — 37. ravell'd =tangled [M. Mason]? unwoven 
 [Elwin] ? — In Old Dutch the word raveUn has reference to the un- 
 twisting of a string or woven texture, the ends of the threads of which 
 become entangled togther in a confused mass. To ravel out is not ex- 
 actly to disentangle, but to unweave. Skeat. — sleave (Danish sloi/e, 
 a bow-knot ; Ger. schleife, a slip-knot) , soft floss-silk ; ravelVd sleave, 
 tangled loose silk [Skeat] ? Elwin retains the folio spelling, sleeve, and 
 thinks It means the arm-covering worn into loose threads.— 38. death. 
 Warburton would read Urth. Judiciously? " Poets, from the time of 
 Job till now, have spoken gently of death as a rest for the weary." 
 Masterpteees, p. 130. — See Ovid's Met., xi, 638; Sir Philip Sidney's .4.8- 
 trophel and Stella (1600) ; Wolfe's St. Peter's Complaint (1595) ; Young's 
 Night Thoughts, line 1. — 42. murdered sleep. Several editors ques- 
 tion the genuineness of lines 42, 43, on the ground that they are un- 
 worthy of Shakespeare. Justly? — 45. to thinli: = in thinking [Hud- 
 son]? by thinking? — I, vii, 50; Abbott. 356.-46. brainsickly = 
 madly [Schmidt]? timidly? giddily? feebly, sillily? Not elsewhere 
 used in Shakes.— See lines 65, 68, 73.— water. Lines 60, 67; V, i, 58. 
 — 47. witness. Personification? evidence? testimony? — 52. Infirm 
 
100 MACBETH. (act il 
 
 The sleepy grooms with blood. 
 
 Macbeth. I'll go no more : 60 
 
 I am afraid to think what I have done ; 
 Look on 't again I dare not. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Infirm of purpose! 
 
 Give me the daggers : the sleeping and the dead 
 Are but as pictures ; 't is the eye of childhood 
 That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, 55 
 
 I '11 gild the faces of the grooms withal ; 
 For it must seem their guilt. \E7At. JCnocMng within. 
 
 Macbeth. Whence is that knocking? 
 
 How is 't with me, when every noise appals me? 
 What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes. 
 Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 60 
 
 Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather 
 
 of purpose. Rev. W. W. Davis calls my attention to this phrase as 
 being from infirmUatem connUii, in Cicero ; Muliarea rnnnes, propter in- 
 firmitatem conailU, majores in tutorum poteetMe este voluerunt. Oratin pro 
 Murena. — 55. fears = affrights [Delius] ? Delius thinks devil is the 
 subject of the verb ! — 56. gild. So in King John, II, i, 316, " all gilt 
 with Frenchmen's blood." See Macbeth, II, iii, 93 ; for the play on the 
 word, 2 Henry IV, IV, v, 129, Henry V, II, Chorus, 26.-57. gilt. "Fero- 
 cious levity." ElvHn. "A play of fancy here is like a gleam of ghostly 
 sunshine striking across a stormy landscape." Clark and Wright. 
 This is capital "sign-post" criticism: but is not the lady's jest a des- 
 perate attempt to bring Macbeth back to his senses? Another parono- 
 masia in V, viii, 48? — knocking. Who knocked? See beginning of 
 next scene.— For the philosophy of " The peculiar awfulness and depth 
 of solemnity reflected back upon the murder " by the knocking at the 
 ^te, see De Quincey's Miscellaneovg Essays, p. 9, Boston, 1851, quoted 
 in Fumess, pp. 437, 438; "The knocking at the gate is heard;, it makes 
 known audibly that the reaction has commenced ; the human has made 
 its reflux upon the flendish ; the pulses of life are beginning to beat 
 again ; and the re-establismnent of the goings-on of the world in which 
 we live first makes us profoundly sensible of the awful parenthesis 
 that had suspended them." — At what time was the knocking? At what 
 time the murder? Howlongdid the knocking continue? Seelines20- 
 22, next scene. — 60. Will all great Neptune's ocean, etc. Similar 
 are (Edipus Tyrannut, 1227-8, "For I ween that neither the Danube nor 
 Phasis can wash away this stain;" Seneca's Hippol., ii, 715-718; Im- 
 eretius, I, vi, 1076; two lines quoted by Steevens from Catullus' s In 
 GelHum, 5, "not remotest Tethys, not Oceanus, sire of the nymphs, can 
 wash away." See peroration of Henry Clay's speech on the Expung- 
 ing Resolution. — 61. this my hand. Cranmer-like, lifting the right 
 hand? Why the transition from both to one? — 62. multitudinous 
 seas = aggregate of seas, or multitude of waves fSteevens] ? seas 
 which swarm with masses of inhabitants ; or the countless masses of 
 waters [Malonel ? — As admirably descriptive as Homer's iro^w^Xoio-^ow 
 tfoAairoTi!, poluphloisboio thalasses, of the loud-resounding sea. Bolfe. — 
 " Surely there is more than a verbal, there is a genuine similarity be- 
 
SCENE 11.] MACBETH. 101 
 
 The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
 Making the green one red. 
 
 He-enter Ladt Macbeth. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. My hands are of your color ; but I shame 
 To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within.'] I hear a 
 knocking 65 
 
 At the south entry : retire we to our chamber. 
 A little water clears us of this deed : 
 How easy is it, then! Your constancy 
 Hath left you unattended. [Knocking within.] Hark! more 
 
 knocking. 
 Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us 70 
 
 And show us to be watchers. Be not lost 
 So poorly in your thoughts. 
 
 Macbeth. To know my deed, 't were best not know 
 
 myself. [Knocking within. 
 
 Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 tween the ivijptiJfiov yiKatrim [anerithmon gelasma, jEsohylus' Prome- 
 thms, 90, countless laughter, many- twinkling smile] and the " unnum- 
 bered beach" [Cymbeline I, vi, 35] and "multitudinous seas." Lowell. 
 — "What home bred English could ape the high Roman fashion of such 
 togated words as 'the multitudinous seas incarnadine' — where the hud- 
 dling epithet implies the tempest-tossed soul of the speaker, and at the 
 same time pictures the wallowing waste of ocean more vividly than the 
 famous phrase of jEschylus does its rippling sunshine 1 " Lowell — 
 Had he, then, "small Latin"? — incarnadine. Lat, caro, camis, 
 flesh; Fr. incamadin, "of a deep, rica, or bright carnation." Cotgrave. 
 — 63. green, etc. "The imagination of Macbeth dwells upon the con- 
 version of the universal green into one pervaMng red" [Elwin] ? " He 
 made the Green Sea red with Turkish blood;" "The multitudes of seas 
 dyed red with blood." Beyvmod (1601). — Elwin' s view is supposed to 
 be countenanced by Hamlet, H, ii, 443, "Now is he total gules" ; and by 
 Milton's Comus, 133, " makes one blot of all the air." Murphy would 
 print, "making the green — one red," and Garrickupon mature reflection 
 adopted this reading. Weigh and decide ! — 65. heart so white. IV, 
 1, 85, "pale-hearted fear."— Bed blood a sign of courage? See Mer. of 
 Venice, H, i, 7? HI, ii, 86; Macbeth, V, iii, 11 to 18. —66. retire we. 
 First person, imperative mood THudson] 1 — 68. constancy=firmness 
 [Clark and Wright] ? courage [Singer] ? — unattended=:and now you 
 have 710 attendant? or, without your usual attendant (constancy) ? -^ 
 70. n^htgown=loose gown, or dressing gown, robe de chambref V, 
 i, 4. Object of this injunction? — In those days were nightgowns worn? 
 White says not. Shakes, is not careful in respect to anachronisms? 
 I, ii, 36, 63.-71. watchers. A. S. waclan, to wake, watch; allied to 
 Lat. tigil, wakeful. V, i, 9. — 73. poorly=meanly [Clark and Wright] ? 
 weakly? Lat. patt-per, providing little ; fr. pau, little, few; and par, 
 
108 MACBETH. [act n 
 
 ScENB in. The Same. 
 
 Enter a Porter. KTiocking vnthin. 
 
 Porter. Here 's a knocking indeed ! If a man were portei 
 of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. \JCnoch- 
 ing within^ Knock, knock, knock! Who 's there, i' the 
 name of Beelzebub? Here 's a farmer, that hanged himself 
 on th' expectation of plenty : come in time ; have napkins 
 
 (as in paran, to provide).— Blchard II, HI, iii, 128. — 73. To know=if 
 I must forever linow [Moberly] . II, iii. 111. To is often vague at tho 
 beginning of a sentence, as In ilfacfteth, IV, il, 69, "To fright," etc. .4.6- 
 Jwtt, 356, 857. Is his remark any answer to ner objurgation? — 74. The 
 folios have I would. Pope and others omit I; Steevens and others 
 change it to Ay. Propriety! — Your comments on this scene? — White 
 insists that it is a part of the preceding scene, and accordingly he so in- 
 cludes it, as well as the following, in Scene 1. Correctly? 
 
 Scene in. This solUoquy, except the last part beginning, "I'll 
 devU-porter it no longer," is pronounced by Coleridge and others to be 
 unworthy of Sliakespeare. But Hudson says of it: "My thinking is 
 decidedly different. I am sure it is like him, I think it is worthy of 
 him, and would by no means have it away. Its broad drollery serves 
 as a proper foil to the antecedent horrors, and its very discordance 
 with the surrounding matter imparts an air of verisimilitude to the 
 whole." — "The role that the porter, in his tipsy mood, assigjns himself , 
 and the speeches that he makes in character, stand in significant con- 
 nection with the whole tragedy. Awakened by the knocking at the 
 castle ^ate, he imagines himself porter at the entrance of hell. And 
 this brings us to the central point of the drama, wherein is revealed to 
 us the deepest fall made by man into the abyss of evil. For those 
 who, like Macbeth, plunge into it voluntarily and knowingly, the other 
 world can unclose no garden of delights ; an allegorical hell awaits 
 them. Therefore it is of hell that the porter speaks." Flathe. — " The 
 mind needs the change which the porter's nonsense brings, and this 
 drunken levity adds to the horror.' 'Lite, struck sharp on death, 
 makes awful lightning.'" Our Masterpieces^ p. 131. Without this 
 scene Macbeth's dress cannot be shifted, nor his hands washed. Copell. 
 — porter. The porter is a portress in Othello, TV, ii, 90, and Paradise 
 Lost, ii, 746. — old turuiiie = a fine quantity of turning 
 [Moberly]? In Mer. of Ven.j iv, ii, 16, we have "old swear- 
 mg": in Merry Wives, I, iv, 5, "old abusing." So the boys in 
 New England speak of "ahigh old time. "—B.yce pointed out thatuecchio 
 was soused by the Italians. "Old work" is said among the lower 
 classes in Warwickshire of an unusual disturbance. J. R. Wise. So 
 "auld farrant" or "old fashioned," means "cunning" in Scotch dialect. 
 — As to the " part of speech" of "turning," and the omission of " of" 
 after it, etc., see AVbott, 93. — a farmer, etc. "And hang'd himself 
 when corn grows cheap again." Hall's Satires, iv, 6 (1597). Malone 
 and others think this helps to fix the date of the play in 1606, when 
 there was unusual prospect of plenty of corn. — 5. come in time = 
 you have come in time I^Rolfe] ? You are welcome [Hudson] ? Come 
 <n,Time! ("Time" being a whimsical appellation for the farmer) 
 [Staunton] ? See below, " Come in, equivocator," etc. — be in time, 
 I. e., early [Clark] ? — napkins. " What for " ? — Fr. nappe, a tabid 
 
SCENE in.J MACBBTB. 103 
 
 enow about you; here you '11 sweat for 't. \Knocking 
 toithin.] Knock, knock! Wlio 's there, in th' other devil's 
 name? Faith, here 's an equivocator, that could swear in 
 both the scales against either scale; who committed treason 
 enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven: 
 O come in, equivocator. [^iiocMng within.'] Knock, knock, 
 knock! Who 's there? Faith, here 's an English tailor 
 come hither, for stealing out of a French hose: come in, 
 tailor; here you may roast your goose. \Ehocleing within.'] 
 Knock, knock; never at quiet! What are you? But this 
 place is too cold for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I 
 had thought to have let in some of all professions, that go 
 the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. — \K''^o''^'''''^9 
 within^ Anon, anon! I pray you, remember the porter. 
 
 [ Opens the gate. 
 
 cloth.; dim. sufBx-fcto; fr. LowLat. noijpa, corruption of moppa, cloth, 
 papkin ; whence map, a painted cloth. Shakes, uses the word repeat- 
 lOdly for pocket-handkerchiefs, as In JuHms Cmsar, III, ii, 131, " dip their 
 napkins in his sacred blood." — eno'w; old plural of enough. So 
 Mer. of Fen., m, v, 17, and IV, i, 29. A. S. genoh; Mid. Eng. inoh, inow, 
 enogh; plu. inohe, inowe. The plu. ynowe is in Chaucer. C. T., 10784. 
 Slteat. — 6. about you. Delius thinks he may have hanged himself 
 with a handkerchief, and appeared with it about the neck ! — for 't. 
 For what? — 7. other devils = Lucifer's or Satan's or — ? — 8. 
 equivocator. Warburton says it means a Jesuit. Henry Garnet, 
 Superior of the order, on trial for the Gunpowder Treason, March 28, 
 1606, is said to have avowed and justified the doctrine of equivocation, 
 viz., that it is right to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mis- 
 lead . Lat. oeguua, equal (i. e. alternative) ; voe-, base of vox, voice, 
 sense ; Lat aeguivoeue, of doubtful sense. — 10. equivocate to hea- 
 ven = get into heaven by lying. — 13. French hose, etc. — An "old" 
 joke on tailors! "A French hose being very short and strait, a 
 tailor must be master of his trade who could steal anything from 
 thence " [Warburton] ? "The Gallic hosen are made very large and 
 wide." Stutibs'a Anatonvle of Almees (15S5). It seems they were of two 
 kinds, common, and stylish; the former "containeth neither length, 
 breadth, nor sideness"; the latter "contaiiieth length, breadth and 
 sideness sufficient, and is made very round." In Mer, of Venice, I. ii, 
 6.5, the large kind is supposed to be meant. French fashions changed 
 often. — 14. goose. Why goosel Whs' roost? — 15. at quiet. Bible 
 usage ? JiMges xviii, 27. — As to of , see Abbott, 143, 1 44 ; our edition of 
 Hamlet, note on at help, IV, iii, 43, p. 151.— 18. primrose. Hamlet, I, iii, 
 50. All's Well, IV, V, 45. — 19. bonfire. " The singular words, 'ever- 
 lasting bonfire, ' have been misunderstood by the commentators. A bon- 
 fire at that date is invariably given in the Latin dictionaries as equiva- 
 lent to pyrci or rogus; it was the fire for consuming the human body 
 after death ; and the hell-fire differed from the earth-fire only in being 
 everlasting. This use of a word so remarkably descriptive in a double 
 meaning (for it also meant feu de joie: See Cotgrav^ is intensely 
 Shakespearian." Flxay. — remember the porter. By giving him 
 
104 MACBETH. fACT n. 
 
 Enter Macduff and Lennox. 
 
 Macduff. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed, 20 
 That you do lie so late? 
 
 Porter. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second cock. 
 Macduff. Is thy master stirring? 
 
 Enter Macbeth. 
 
 Our knocking has awak'd him; here he comes. 
 
 Lennox. Good morrow, noble sir. 
 
 Macbeth. Good morrow, both.25 
 
 Macduff. Is the king stirring, worthy thane? 
 
 Macbeth. Not yet. 
 
 Macduff. He did command me to call timely on him : 
 I have almost slipp'd the hour. 
 
 Macbeth. I '11 bring you to him. 
 
 Macduff. I know this is a joyful trouble to you ; 
 But yet 't is one. 30 
 
 Macbeth. The labour we delight in physics pain. 
 This is the door. 
 
 Macduff. I '11 make so bold to call, 
 
 For 't is my limited service. \Exit. 
 
 Lennox. Goes the king hence to-day? 
 
 Macbeth. He does: he did appoint so. 
 
 Lennoix. The night has been unruly; where we lay, 35 
 Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say, 
 Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death, 
 
 apenny? — 23. the secondoocfc = "about3o'oloekiu the morning." 
 So say Malone, Mason, Clark and Wright, Rolfe, etc., all quoting, 
 " The second cock hath crow'd, The curfew bell hath rungj 't is three 
 o'clock." Kom. ondjul., IV, iv, 3. But does the quotation fix the time 
 of "the second cock" any more than it fixes the time of "the curfew"? 
 — See note on II, ii, 57. — 27. timely. Adjectives are often used ad- 
 verbially in Shakes. See Abbott, I. See Macbeth, II, i, 19. — 28. 
 slipped. See note in our edition of Par. Lost, i, 178, on "slip the occa- 
 sion." — 31. physics. Gr. (firf<r«,physis, nature; Lat. physica. natural 
 science. Engphi/sic,theartof healing; aremedy; a cathartic. — Tempest, 
 III, i, 1-15 ; Winter's Tale, I, i, 36 ; CymbeUne, III,ii, 34. — 33. soboldto. 
 "In relatival constructions, e. ff. 80 . ... ax, so ... . that, etc., one of the 
 two can be omitted in Shakes." Abbott, 381. — 33. limited = ap- 
 pointed [Warburton]? restricted? conditional? Lat. Mmes, Mmttls, a 
 boundary; Fr. Hmiter, to limit. In Jlfeos. for Meas., IV, ii, 158; Ktng 
 John, V, ii, 123; Rich. Ulijy, iii, 25, limited, or limit, appears to mean 
 appointed, or appoint. — Was MacdufE a "Lord of the Bedchamber"? 
 Who seems to have put Duncan to bed? — 34. he did appoint so. 
 He starts back into a mending of his speech^ as from a spontaneous im- 
 
BCBNB III.] MAOBETR. lOS 
 
 And prophesying with accents terrible 
 
 Of dire combustion and confus'd events 
 
 New hatch'd to the woeful time; the obscure bird 40 
 
 Clamor'd the livelong night ; some say the earth 
 
 Was feverous and did shake. 
 
 Macbeth. 'Twas a rough night. 
 
 Lennox. My young remembrance cannot parallel 
 A fellow to it. 
 
 Re-enter Macdutf. 
 
 Macchiff. O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart 4B 
 Cannot conceive nor name thee! 
 
 Macbeth. I What '8 the matter? 
 
 JLennox. \ 
 
 Macchiff. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece, 
 Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope 
 The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence 
 The life o' the building. 
 
 pulse to be true to himself [Hudson] ? So in I, v, 58? — ^jpropbesying 
 = foretelling [Clark and "Wright] ? uttering solemnly [white] ? — Pro- 
 verbs, xxxi, 1, BzeMel, xxxvii, 4, 7, 9, 10 ; MaUhew, xxvi, 68. Gr. jrpiS, pro, 
 publicly, before all ; before in time ; ^rniC, phemi, I say, I speak. — For 
 the metre, see V, viii, 41. — 39. combustion = civil conflagration? 
 social contusion? — Used figuratively in Henry VIII, Y, iii, 39. — Lat. 
 con, completely; ii/rSre, to burn. — 40. new-hatch'd. TFTwif was? 
 Johnson would put a period after "events" anda comma after "time," 
 and so make it the bird. 2 Henry IV, III, i, 80 to 86, is quoted by Malone 
 as a parallel passage. It speaks of " things. As yet not come to life, 
 which, in their seeds, And weak beginnings, lie intreasured. Such 
 thinfis become the tuxtch and brood of time." — to the w^oful time = 
 to suit the woful time [Malone] ? the time's brood [Clark and Wright] ? 
 as an added woe in the sad epoch? the newest birth of a baleful tune 
 [Moherly?] — obscure = loving the dark [Dyce] ? little known? — 
 Hudson, following Walker, changes obscure to obscene, to which he 
 gives the Latin sense of ill-omened. Three folios have "obscure" ; one, 
 "obscure." — Accent? In Mer. of Ten., II, vii, 51; Biehard 11, in, iii, 
 154 ; Hamlet, lY, v, 193, it seems to be accented on 06. ^ Lat. 06 over, 
 towards; -scums, covered; -[/skti, to cover; whence A. S. scua, scuwa, 
 shade ; Sanscrit sfttt, to cover ; Icel. sky, a cloud ; Mid. Eng. shle, skye, 
 cloud; Eng. scum; Ger. schaum, Fr. icume, froth, foam covering a 
 liquid. — 42. feverous = aflicted with ague fever? CorManus, I, iv, 
 61 ; King John, H, 1, 228. — 43. parallel = bring alongside (to match) ? 
 adduce as equal [Schmidt] ? — Gr. jrapi, para, beside, alongside ; oAA^Aos, 
 alleles, one another. — 45, 46. Tongue .... beart .... 
 conceive .... name. Distribute each to each. I, iii, 60. 
 Forceof double negatives in Shakes.? Xftboft, 396. Supply ellipsis, if 
 any. — 47. Confusion = ruin, destruction? Ill, v, 29. See con/ounds, 
 n, ii, 11. — King John, XV, iii, 152. — 49. anointed temple. 1 Samuel, 
 xxiv, 10; 1 CorlrOh., vi, 19; 2 Corinth., vi, 16. Mixed metaphor? a 
 
:106 MACBETH. [act ii. 
 
 Macbeth. What is 't you say? the life? M 
 
 Lennox. Mean you his majesty? 
 
 Macduff. Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight 
 With a new Gorgon. Do not bid me speak ; 
 See, and then speak yourselves. 
 
 [Exeunt Macbeth and Lennox. 
 Awake, awake ! 
 Ring the alarm-bell. — Murder and treason ! — 55 
 
 Banquo and Donalbain ! — Malcolm ! awake ! 
 Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, 
 And look on death itself ! up, up, and see 
 The great doom's image ! — Malcolm ! Banquo ! 
 As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprites, 60 
 
 To countenance this horror. Ring the bell. \_J3ell rings. 
 
 Enter Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. What 's the business. 
 That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley 
 The sleepers of the house? speak, speak ! 
 
 Macduff. O gentle lady, 
 
 beauty, or a blemish? Hamlet, III, i, 59, arid III, iii, 57, 58. — 50. the 
 life = the Shekinah, the Divine presence [Moberly] ? — 53. Gorgon. 
 The 3 Gorgons were maidens with wings, brazen claws, enormous 
 teeth, and hair composed of serpents. Chief of them was Medusa, 
 whose aspect was so frightful as to turn every beholder to stone. After 
 she was killed by Perseus, Athena placed the head, still retaining its 
 pertif ying power, in the center of her breastplate or shield. See Class- 
 ical Dictionary, and Milton's exquisite ' explanation of the myth, in 
 Comus, 447 to 452. — Ovid's Jlfetom.jV, 189-210. — 57. downy. Sanscrit 
 dMima, Lat. fumus, smoke ; Icel. daunn, a smell, fume ; Ger. dunat, 
 vapor, fine dust. Icel. dUnn, down. Doum, fume and dust are all from 
 the same root ; down is so called from its likeness to dust when blown 
 about. Sheat. — 57. counterfeit. Bape o/ Z/Ucrece, 403 ; Mid. NigfiVa 
 Dream, III, li, 364. See 1st 7 lines of Shelley's Queen Mab. — 59. 
 doom'fs image=tmage of the Last Judgment [Delius] ! — Lear, V, iii, 
 264. — What supposed features of resemblance between the two spec 
 taclesi— 63. sprites. Ill, v, 27; IV, i, 127. Doublet of spiHa Lat. 
 epirore, to breathe ; spiritus, bredth. — 61. countenance=witness? be 
 in keeping with [Schmidt] 3 give a suitable accompaniment to [Clark 
 and Wright U encourage?— Ring the bell. Theobald omitted these 
 wordSj and Johnson and many other commentators follow his reading, 
 believmg the words to be a stage direction. Wisely? "The tempta- 
 tion to strike out these words was the silly desire to complete a ten- 
 syllable line." Knight. See notes on I, ii, 5, 7, 20, 34. — 62. business, 
 etc. Is Lady Macbeth's language always felicitous? —63. parley (Lat. 
 pardbulare, to relate, changed successively in Prance to parab'lare, par- 
 aulare, paroUr, parlor), conference as with an enemy? — A military term? 
 Pairlor is the talking-room? Parliament " the talking apparatus of a nar 
 
SCENE ui.] MACBETH. 107 
 
 'T is not for you to hear what I can speak : 65 
 
 The repetition, in a woman's ear, 
 Would murder as it fell. — '' 
 
 Ent&- Bajs^qtjo. 
 
 O Banquo, Banqno ! 
 Our royal master 's murdered. 
 
 JLachf Macbeth. Woe, alas ! 
 
 What, in our house? 
 
 JBanquo. Too cruel anywhere. 
 
 Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself, 70 
 
 And say it is not so. 
 
 Re-enter Macbeth cmd Lsirarox. 
 
 Macbeth. Had I but died an hour before this chance, 
 I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant 
 There 's nothing serious in mortality : 
 All is but toys : renown and grace is dead ; 75 
 
 The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees 
 Is left this vault to brag of. 
 
 Enter Maicolm and Donaibaix. 
 
 Donalbain. What is amiss? 
 
 Macbeth. Tou are, and do not know 't : 
 
 The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood 
 Is stopp'd, — the very source of it is stopp'd. 80 
 
 Macduff. Tour royal father 's murder'd. 
 
 Malcolm. O, by whom? 
 
 tiou " ! — 69. in our house. No pity for Duncaul The language of 
 innocence? Is there an implied reproof in Banquo's answer? — "On the 
 contrary [as contrasted with the lady] her husband, who had repented 
 
 the act, gives all the marks of sorrow for the fact itself " 
 
 [Warburton] ? Test Macbeth's language, and say if Warburton is 
 right. — 73. Had I but died, etc. Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 450. — chance 
 =accident [Darmesieter] ? event? thing that has befallen? — Lat, car 
 sure, to fall ; cadentia, falling. — ^74. mortality =this mortal life [Clark 
 and Wright] ? human nature? death? subjection to death^ or necessity 
 of dying, the condition of being mortal? — human destmy [Darmes- 
 teter] ? — 75. is dead. For the singular number, is, see note on words 
 . . . gives, U, i, 61 ; Abbott, 333, 336. — 77. is left. Abbott, 838.— vault. 
 Metaphor- this world vaulted by the sky [Elwin] ?— what is amiss? 
 As these words may go to make up either line 77 or line 78, they illus- 
 trate what Abbott, 518, calls " the ampMbwus section " ! So What, sir, 
 not vet at rest, II, i, 10. Is it important thus to fill out the lines? Sea 
 
108 MACBETH. [act n. 
 
 Ziennox. Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had done 't 
 Their hands and faces were all badg'd with blood ; 
 So were their daggers, which unwip'd we found 
 Upon their pillows : they star'd and were distracted ; 85 
 No man's life was to be trusted with them. 
 
 Macbeth. O, yet I do repent me of my fury, 
 That I did kill them. 
 
 Macduff. Wherefore did you. so? 
 
 Macbeth. Who can be wise, amaz'd, temperate and fu- 
 rious, 
 Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man : 90 
 
 The expedition of my violent love 
 Outrun the pauser reason. Here lay Duncan, 
 His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood, 
 And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature 
 For ruin's wasteful entrance; there, the murderers, 95 
 
 Steep'd in the colors of their trade, their daggers 
 
 note on line 61. — 83. badg'd. Low Lat. tocra, a ring, collar for the 
 neck; akin to Old Sax. bagor b6g; A. S. beSh,, a ring, an ornament. 
 Skeat. — In 2 Henry VI, 151, ii, 200, we find "Murder's crimson badge." 
 — 86. Emphasizing " No," to make it equivalent to two syllables [Mo- 
 berly] ? Is it necessary or important that we somehow make out ten 
 syllables in the line? See Knight's remark in note on line 61. — The 
 Globe edition, Clarendon Press, Rolfe, and some others, make a single 
 line of "Upon their pillows," and another line ol "Was to be trusted 
 with them." We follow the folios. Wrongly? — 91. expedition = 
 swiftness, haste? — "Fiery expedition be my wing." Biehard III, IV, 
 ili, 54; Two Gent, of Ver.^I, iii, 37; "with wmged expedition, swift as 
 the lightning glance," Milton's Sarrwon .apomtetes, 1283, 1384. — Lat. ex, 
 out; peg, foot; expedUus, with foot extricated or unincumbered. — 93. 
 outrun. So the folios. Still used interchangeably with outrant — 
 pauser . "The -er is often added to show a masculine agent, where a 
 noun and verb are Identical." Abbott, 443. For a scientific classifica- 
 tion of the origins and uses of the suffix -er in English words, seeGibbs' 
 Teutonic Etymology, pp. 72, 73, 74. — 93. silTcr . . . golden. "These 
 epithets may be intended to have an artificial tone ; yet they serve to 
 lighten and glorify an image of too great horror ; and, besides this, 
 they suit the conception of the saintly king, whose very bodily frame 
 is refined and precious" [Moberly] ? — "It was usual to lace cloth of 
 silver with gold, and cloth of gold with silver." Steeuens. — "I/Oc'd . . . 
 the blood .... diffusingitself into little winding streams." TheobcM. 
 "Forced and unnatural metaphors . . . amark of artifice and dissimula- 
 tion." Johnson. — "The river Avon is remarkable for its silver eels and 
 golden tench . . . whence Shakespeare drew 'His silver skin lac'd with 
 his golden blood' " 1 Harry Lowe. — "A metaphor must not be far- 
 fetched, nor dwell upon the details of a disgusting picture, as in these 
 lines. Abbott, 539.— Better in Cymbellne, II, ii, 32 ; Bom. and Jul.,IJJ, v, 8? 
 MuOiAdo, ni, iv,18. — See note on II, ii, So.^Lat. locgre, to allure ; cHrUcire, 
 to draw on ; laqiwna, a noose, knot ; 014 Fr. las, lags, a snare ; Eng. lace, a 
 
8CBNB III.] MAO BETE. 109 
 
 Unmannerly breech'd with gore: who could refrain, 
 That had a heart to love, and in that heart 
 Courage to make 's love known? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Help me hence, ho! 
 
 Macduff. Look to the lady. 100 
 
 Malcolm. [^ Aside to Donalbain.'] Why do we hold our 
 tongues, 
 That most may claim this argument for ours? 
 
 Donalbain. [^ Aside to Mal.'\ What should be spoken 
 here, where our fate, 
 Hid in an auger-hole, may rush, and seize us? 105 
 
 Let's away — 
 Our tears are not yet brew'd. 
 
 Malcolm. ^ Aside to Donalbain.'^ Nor our strong sorrow 
 Upon the foot of motion. 
 
 net-work of threads. — 97. breecli'd=covered with breeches, sheathed 
 [Farmer, Jennens, Douce, etc.] ? stained to the breeches, that is, to their 
 hilts? having their very hilt, or breech, covered [Nares]. Warburton 
 would read unmcmly reech'd; Johnson, unmanly dreneWd; Heath, in a 
 manner lay drenched; Seward, hatch'd, i. e., gilt. — " Nakedness sug- 
 gested the word 'unmannerly'; and covered, the wori ' breeehea,' the 
 covering of nakedness." Jennens. — " Strip jfour sword stark naked," 
 Twelfth Night, III, iv, 237. — On good and bad njetaphors, with brief 
 comment on this as bad, see 467)otf, 529. — 99. make's. A very com- 
 mon contraction in Shakes. — Help me hence. Pretends to faintl 
 really faints? neither? "Macbeth, by his unconcern, betrays a con- 
 sciousness that the fainting is feigned " fWhately] ? — " She neither 
 faints nor pretends to faint," says one critic. — " Any child could de- 
 clare that this swoon was only feigned to avoid all further embarrass- 
 ment. But it must not be imagined that there is any feigning here. 
 .... The deed she has done stands clear before ber soul in unveiled, 
 horrible distinctness, and therefore she swoons away" [Flathe]? "To 
 hear her husband describe his simulated rage in butchex'i ng the grooms, 
 
 and draw that painting of Duncan in his blood. ... it is too much 
 
 The nerves part at the overstrain of seeing what the deed is like, and 
 drop her helpless into a swoon" [Weiss] ? " Gruach saw at once that 
 he had blundered in killing the men, and had thus attracted rather 
 than diverted suspicion ; and she saw also that he was overdoing his 
 expression of grief and horror, and therefore instantly diverted atten- 
 tion from him by seeming to faint and by calling for assistance" 
 [White] ? — 102. argument=matter in question, or business in hand 
 [Schmidt]? theme of discourse, subject? controversy? — "To whom it 
 most belongs to take up the case ' ' JMoberly] ? — Paradise Lost, i, 24. — 
 Lat. arguire, to prove, make clear. From >/aeo, to shine. In chivalric 
 combat the champion proved by his sword the rightfulness of his 
 cause? — 105. auger-hole=uiinute hole [Clark and Wright] ?• imper- 
 ceptible or obscure place [Elwin] ? " Specifically the auger-hole is the 
 tore of a pistol, or the sheafh of a dagger." Elvrin. — Coriolanus, TV, vi, 
 88. Abbott, 480, as to the metre of line 104. TTTiere is a dissyllable [Mo- 
 berly]? Afttst we make ten syllables? Line 61. — 106. brew'd. In Titu* 
 Andron., HI, ii, 38, tears are " brewed with sorrow."— 107. upon the 
 
no MACBETH. \Kesv. 
 
 Sanqvo. Look to the lady: — 
 
 [Lady Macbeth is carried out 
 And when we have our naked frailties hid, 
 That su£Eer in exposure, let us meet. 
 
 And question this most bloody piece of work, 111 
 
 To know it further. Fears and scruples shake us : 
 In the great hand of God I stand, and thence 
 Against the undivulg'd pretense I fight 
 Of treasonous malice. 
 
 Macduff. And so do I. 
 
 All. So all. 
 
 Macbeth. Let 's briefly put on manly readiness, lU 
 
 And meet i' the hall together. 
 
 All. Well contented. 
 
 \^Exe!unt all but Malcolm and Donalbain. 
 
 Malcolm. What will you do? Let 's not consort with 
 them: 
 To show an unfelt sorrow is an office 
 Which the false man does easy. I '11 to England. 
 
 Donalbain. To Ireland, I : our separated fortune 120 
 Shall keep us both the safer ; where we are, 
 There 's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood, 
 The nearer bloody. 
 
 Malcolm. This murderous shaft that 's shot 
 
 foot, etc. Under the first stunning blow, tears and sorrow alike mo- 
 tionless? — 108. naked ftailties = our half- drest bodies which may 
 take cold [Steevens] ? Was it cold? See line 15. — 113. pretence=in- 
 tention, design [SteevensJ? pretext? — Lat. jpretendgre, to hold out as an 
 excuse, allege, pretend ; prae, before, tenOlfre, to stretch, spread. II, 
 iv, 24. — 115. manly readines8=armor [M. Mason] ? dress [Schmidt, 
 Keightley, etc.] ? complete clothing and armor [Delius] ? complete ar- 
 mor and . . the corresponding habit of mind [Clark and Wright] ? -- 
 A. S. roede, ready ; OldSwed. reda, to prepare; Icel. reidi, harness; 
 Teut. base bid, kaid, to ride. Is she ready? {Cymbeline, II, iii, 79) = Is 
 she dressed? Skeat.— 119. easy. As in II, i, 19, the adjective for the 
 adverb? Abbott,! — 132. there's=Frenchflvo.— "When the subject is 
 as yet future^ and, as it were, unsettled, the third person singular 
 might.be regarded as the normal inflection." Abbott, 335. — near in 
 blood=Macbeth, for he was nearest in blood [Steevens] ?— I, ii, 24.— 
 Near is supposed by the editors generally to be used here for the com- 
 parative nearer? Necessarily so? — AbboU, 478 — "Great men's misfor- 
 tunes thus have ever stood: They touch none nearly, but their nearest 
 blood. " Webster' s Applus and Virginia, v, 2. Richard iT, V, i, 88. — A. S. 
 neir, comparative adverb, fr. neah, nigh; Mid. Eng. nerre, nearer. 
 Near is not a contraction of nearer, but is the orig. comparative form. 
 Reform nearer is late, not found in the 14th century, perhaps not in 
 
8CBNBIV.] MACBETH. IH 
 
 Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way 
 
 Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse ; 125 
 
 And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, 
 
 But shift away: there 's warrant in that theft 
 
 Which steals itself when there 's no mercy left. \^Ex&unt. 
 
 Scene IV. Without the Castle. 
 Enter Ross and an old Man. 
 
 Old Man. Threescore and ten I can remember well: 
 Within the volume of which time I have seen 
 Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night 
 Hath trifled former knowings. 
 
 Ross. Ah, good father, 
 
 Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act, 5 
 
 Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock 't is day. 
 And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp. 
 
 tlie 15th. Skeat. — 184. not yet lighted. How so 3 — dainty of = 
 
 punctilious about? Old Fr. dalmtie, agreeableuess ; fr. Lat. dignttas, 
 dignity, worth; Old Pr. dwin, daiutyj quaint, the popular Fr. form of 
 Lat, dignus, the more learned form being dtgne; Mid. Eug. deynt, as in 
 Chaucer. "Full many a deynte horse had he in stable." Prologue, 168. 
 Skeat. — Trail, and Cresstd., T, iii, 145, "grows dainty of his worth." — 
 127. shift = steal? As Tou Like It, II, vii, 157. — warrant = justifica- 
 tion? authority? — Old Fr. warrant, voucher; protector, supporter. 
 The orig. sense was defending or protecting; Ger. wahren, to protect. 
 Skeat. — Questions raised by this scene? 
 
 Scene IV. — i. trifled. "We trifle time," Mer. of Ten. IV, i, 389. 
 "Any noun or adjective could be converted into a verb." Abhott, 390. 
 — Old Fr. trujle, mockery; dim. of tmf, a gibe, a mock, "a small or 
 worthless object, or a subject for jesting. ' ' The meaning is perhaps In- 
 fluenced by A. S. trifelian, to, pound or bruise small. Skeai,. — Know- 
 ings=things known? experiences? — 6. act .... fstage. These 
 words, as well as heavens, designating the roof or ceiling of the stage, 
 are supposed to be drawn from the theatre . Rightly supposed? See 
 I, iii, 138. — 7. strangles (Old Fr. estrangler; Pr. Wrangler; Lat. 
 strangulare; Gr.- trrpnyyaXoeiv, strangaloein, (rTpoyyoAifeir, strangalizein, 
 to strangle ; <rrpcLyya\ri, strangale, a halter ; o-Tpayyos, strangos, twisted. 
 l/sTRAO, strain, twist; whence Lat. stringire, to draw tight), suffo- 
 cates, chokes? — travelling. Written also irOBOsiKng. Spelled either 
 way it denoted paimfuUy struggling along its i-oad? Almost every road 
 in the olden time was " hard to travel " ! — " Prom a Low. Lat. verb 
 travare, to make with beams (trabes) , to pen, shackle, put an obstacle 
 in one's way. Skeat. — lamp. The sun? — Psalm xix, 6 ; l Henry IV, I, 
 ii, 186. — Gr. \ii>.Trei.v, lampem, to shine, Gr. Xaiuiri^, Lat. lampas, a 
 shiner; torch; light; O. P. lampe, a lamp. --Virgil' sG6or9ios,i, 466^8, 
 refers to similar darkness at and after Caesar's assassination. — See 
 Jlolinshed's account of phenon^ena following the murder of Kin^ 
 
112 MAC BETS. [Acrm 
 
 Is 't night's predominance, or the day's shame, 
 That darkness does the face of earth entomb, 
 When living light should kiss it ? 
 
 Old Man. 'T is unnatural, 10 
 
 Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last, 
 A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 
 "Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at [and kill'd. 
 
 Ross. And Duncan's horses — a thing most strange and 
 certain — 
 Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, 15 
 
 Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, 
 Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make 
 War with mankind. 
 
 Old Man. 'T is said they eat each other. 
 
 Ross. They did so, to the amazement of mine eyes 
 That look'd upon 't. Here comes the good MaoduflE. — 20 
 
 Enter Macdutp. 
 
 How goes the world, sir, now ? 
 
 Macduff. Why, see you not ? 
 
 Ross. Is 't known who did this more than bloody deed ? 
 
 Macduff. Those that Macbeth hath slain. 
 
 Ross. Alas, the day ! 
 
 What good could they pretend ? 
 
 Macduff. They were suborn'd : 
 
 Duff, pp. 17, 18. — 8. predominance = superior power [MeiklejohnJ ? 
 aggressiveness [MoberlyJ 1 — An astrological term often used to denote 
 the superior influence of a planet. I/ear, I, ii, 112 ; Troll, and Creae., 11, 
 iii, 138; AWs Well, I, i, 138; ParadUe Lost, viii, 160. — Lat. pre, or prae, 
 before; dominori, to be lord, to rule; dominvg, lord; domdre, to tame. 
 
 — 9, 10. Antitheses? alliteration? efffeot? — 12. towering in her 
 pride of place = soaring to the highest pitch [Hudson] ? — Towering 
 and place are technical terms in falconry. Place meant pitch or highest 
 point attained, the very top of soaring. Gr. TiJppts; Lat. twrrU; Welsh 
 fur, A. S. tOTT, a tower; Gaelic torr, an abrupt or conical hill or moun- 
 tain. — Julius CcBsar, 1, i, 73; 1 Hen. VJ, n, Iv, 11. — 13. mousing. 
 Epithet felicitous? — Darmesteter notes that line 12 is sometimes ap- 
 plied to Shakespeare fallen into the hands of commentators ! - - Observe 
 how the nouns become verbs ! Line 4. — 14. horses. Abbott, 471, 
 will have it that this word is a monosyl. SeeV,i,23. But — ? — atbing. 
 What? Good rhetorical construction? — 15. minions. I, ii, 19. — 
 nature. Their whole nature had become suddenly changed fDellus] ? 
 
 — 17. as. I, iv, 11; n, ii, 27. Aftfiott, 107. — 18. eat. Milton always 
 uses eat for the past tense. Bolfe. Ate (past tense) is not found in the 
 early editions. — 24. pretend = hold up before themselves as an 
 ol)iect or airnl iutendf— II, ui, 113. — eubomed. Lat. sub, under, 
 
SCENE IT.] MACBETH, 113 
 
 Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons, 25 
 
 Are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them 
 Suspicion of the deed. 
 
 Moss. 'Gainst nature still : 
 
 Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up 
 Thine own life's means ! Then 't is most like 
 The sovereignty wrll fall upon Macbeth. . 30 
 
 Macduff. He is already nam'd, and gone to Scone 
 To be invested. 
 
 Moss. Where is Duncan's body ? 
 
 Macduff. Carried to Colme-kill, 
 The sacred storehouse of his predecessors 
 And guardian of their bones. 
 
 Moss. Will you to Scone ? 35 
 
 secretly ; ornare, to furnish, supply. — 38. ravin =; devour voraciously. 
 Either wp or down may follow it, as is the case also with swallow, eat, 
 etc. — Anything to do with the bird raven? Lat. ravire-, to seize, pil- 
 lage; rapina, plunder; Fr. rapine, Gr. afiriiio, harpazo, I seize, snatch, 
 ( Haven, like crow, is named from its cry ; from y krap, to make a noise. 
 Sfteaf.) — IV, i, 24; AlVs Well, III, ii, 114; Meaa. for Mem., I, ii, 121. — 
 Spelled also raven. Genesis xlix, 27. — 29. like. Julius Ccesar, I, ii, 
 171 ; Mer. of Ten., II, vii, 49. — 31. Scone. Supposed to have been the 
 capital of the Pictish kingdom, two miles north of Perth. The famous 
 " stone of Scone," seated upon which the Scottish kings were crowned, 
 is said to be the same that pillowed the head of the patriarch Jacob at 
 Bethel in the plain of Luz, when he saw the ladder reaching to heaven. 
 Genesis xxviii, 12. Tradition asserts that it was first brought to Ire- 
 land, and was long used there as the coronation-seat of the Irish Kings ; 
 that Fergus, the son of Ere, conveyed it from Ireland to Ion a; that 
 afterwards it was deposited in the royal DunstafEnage Castle near 
 Oban, Co. of Argyle ; that Kenneth II transported it thence to Scone 
 in 842. In 1296, as is well known, Edward I took it to Westminster 
 Abbey, where it still remains. All the sovereigns of England, since 
 Edward, have been crowned sitting upon this stone, which forms the 
 seat of the oak coronation -chair. — 33. Colme-kill. In 10403 Icolm- 
 kill, or lona, one of the Hebrides, a barren isle, about 8 miles south of 
 Staffa. It is 3 miles long and \]4 broad. Previous to the year 563 it 
 was a seat of Druid worship, and forty years ago it was still called by 
 the Highlanders Innisnan-DrwMneaeh, or "the Island of the Druids." 
 In that year (563) Colum M'Felim M'Pergus (St. Columba), an Irish 
 Christian preacher, landed and founded a monastery. A noble cathed- 
 ral was soon built. St. Columb died at lona about the year 597. From 
 this island Christianity and civilization spread far and wide. "All the 
 kings of Scotland from Kenneth III to Macbeth, inclusive, 978 to 1040, 
 were buried here," as were also kings from Norway and from Ireland. 
 The site of the burial-place is still pointed out . The island was several 
 times ravaged by the Danes ; and in 1561, by order of the Convention 
 of Estates, the religious buildings were demolished, the tombs were 
 broken open, the books burnt, the 350 sculptured stone crosses, with 
 two exceptions, thrown into the sea or carried away. Says Dr. John- 
 son, " That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain 
 
114 MAGBETH. {iffsiu 
 
 Macduff. No, cousin, I '11 to Fife. 
 Ross. Well, I will thither. 
 
 Macduff. Well, may you see things well done there : 
 adieu ! 
 Lest our old robes sit easier than our new ! 
 Ross. Farewell, father. 
 
 Old Man. God's benison go with you, and with those 40 
 That would tnake good of bad, and friends of foes ! 
 
 \Exewni. 
 
 force upon the plain ol Marathon, or whose piety would not grow 
 warmer among the ruins of lona." — Kill is cell or chapel ; Colme-kUl, 
 the chapel of St. Columha. — There was an ancient prophecy that, 
 seven years before the Judgment Day, Ireland and (Jreait Britain 
 would be submerged by a deluge, but that lona, "Columba's happier 
 isle, shall rear Hertowers above the flood." — 36. thither = to Scone i 
 — Note the Laconic brevity of Macduff's speeches in this scene. 
 What inference from it as to his mood or pui4)0ses? — 40. benison. 
 Old Fr. Senteson, blessing, Lat. bene, well; dtcgre, to speak ; henedtctlfi, 
 a speaking of words of good omen. Shortened from benediction, which 
 is a doublet of it. — Milton's Comus, 333. — DidMacduff's absence from 
 the coronation attract Macbeth's attention? — Is this scene of any 
 special value? — Any indication in it of a readiness to suspect the real 
 murderer? — Other instances of apparent sympathy of Nature with 
 events in hiuuan affairs, of good or evil omens, etc. I 
 
MAG BETE. 115 
 
 ACT m. 
 
 ScBira I. Forres. A Hoom in the Palace. 
 
 Enter Banquo. 
 
 Bamquo. Thou hast it now, king, Cawdor, Glamjs, all, 
 As the weird women promis'd, and I fear 
 Thou play'dst most foully for 't. Yet it was said 
 It should not stand in thy posterity, 
 
 But that myself should be the root and father 6 
 
 Of many kings. If there come truth from them — 
 As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine — 
 Why, by the verities on thee made good. 
 May they not be my oracles as well 
 And set me up in hope ? But hush ! no more. 10 
 
 Serniet sounded. Enter Macbbth, as king; Lady Mac- 
 beth, as queen; Lejotox, Ross, Lords, 
 Ladies, amd Attendants. 
 
 Macbeth. Here 's our chief guest. 
 
 Iiady Macbeth. If he had been forgotten, 
 
 It had been as a gap in our great feast, 
 And all things unbecoming. 
 
 Macbeth. To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir, 
 
 ACT III. Scene I. — 7. shine=appear with all the lustre of con- 
 spicuous truth [Johnson] ? prosper [Warburton]? pour splendor? Mac 
 beth is in the focus of all the rays. — 10. hush! no more. Does he 
 check himself, because he would fight against temptation? or because 
 he heard the trumpet and knew Macbeth and suite were near? See II, 
 i, 6, 7, 8. — sennet. A strain of martial music announcing an arrival? 
 — A particular set of trumpet or cornet notes, different from a flourish. 
 JVores. Moberly derives it from Ital. aegnare (Lat. signare) , to note ; 
 "hence music played from note." — 13. all things. So the 3d and 4th 
 folios. The 1st has alZ-tftine, meaning everyway; the 2d has aU-tMngs. 
 Furness, Rolfe, and many others read all-thing^ and refer to Abbott, 
 
 (cognate with Gr. o\os, whole), entire, complete; and onnus, year; aol- 
 emnta, yearly, stated, festive, solemn." Sheat. — Tom. of Shrev>,JtL ii, 
 
116 MACBETH. [ACTitt 
 
 And I '11 request your presence. 
 
 JBanqvo. Let your highness 15 
 
 Command upon me, to the which my duties 
 Are with a most indissoluble tie 
 For ever knit. 
 
 Macbeth. Ride you this afternoon ? 
 
 JBanquo. Ay, my good lord. 19 
 
 Macbeth. We should have else desir'd your good advice, 
 Which still hath been both grave and prosperous, 
 In this day's council ; but we '11 take to-morrow, 
 Is 't far you ride ? 
 
 Banquo. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time 
 'Twixt this and supper : go not my horse the better, 25 
 I must become a borrower of the night 
 For a dark hour or twain. 
 
 Macbeth. Fail not our feast. 
 
 Banquo. My lord, I will not. 
 
 Macbeth. We hear our bloody cousins are bestow'd 
 
 05.— sapper. "Dinner being usually at eleven ortwelve, Bupperwas 
 very properly fixed at five." Na/res. — 15. Jjet your highness. — 
 Note the elegant courtesy: Macbeth uses the word "request," but 
 Banquo says " command" ! — Rowe changed the text to" Lou yowr 
 Higlmess'i; Pope to Lay your hlghnem'. Monck Mason would read 
 set for let. Kelghtly would Insert be before upon. After demand we 
 stiU use upon. — 16. which. Antecedent here! Is it rhetorically cor- 
 rect for the relative to have a clause or a contained idea for an antece- 
 dent? Why in the old writers do we have (he which (Ft. lequel) and not 
 tMwTwt Is who definite already, and which indefinite? Abbott, 370. 
 Use of the which in the Bible! — Is Banquo sincere? — 31. still = con- 
 stantly, always? — A. S. ttiUan, to rest, be still ; lit. "to remain in a stall 
 OT place" ; A. S. steal, stael, a place, station, stall. The sense of still is, 
 "brought to a stall or resting-place" ; hence, still=continuaUy, or abid- 
 ingly? Skeat. — In Timpest, I, ii, 339, attU^exed = ever-vexed. — Mer. of 
 Yen., I, i, 17, 136. In Dryden's great ode we have, "Never ending, still 
 beginning. Fighting still, and still destroying." — grave. Lat. gravU, 
 heavy ; Fr. grave, serious, weighty ; akin to Gr. papis, heavy. Ayran 
 root GARU, heavy.— prosperous=causing prosperity? enjoying pros- 
 perity? successful? favorable? — Lat. pro, before, according to; »pee, 
 hope; spero, I hope. — "This (advice) has made him feared by Macbeth. 
 See Une 53." Moberly. — ^33. take, changed by Malone to talk. Better? 
 — ^35. the better. "Because (by that, that) the night is coming on." 
 Mtiklejohn. "Considering the distance he has to go." Clark and Wright. 
 "Better than usual." Hudson. Better than so as to make night trav- 
 eling necessary. Masterpieces, p. 138. — The (in Early Eng. thi. thy) is the 
 ablative with comparatives, to signify the measure of excess or defect. 
 Abbott, 94. — Go is said to be in the subjunctive mood. Abbott. 361. 364. 
 — 27. twain (twa/ln was orig. masculine; two, fem. and neuter), A. S. 
 twegen; Aryan t/dua or t/dwa. — 38. I -will not. Did he keep his 
 promise !— 29. be«itow'd = settled, placed [Clark and Wright] ? So in 
 
SCENE I.] MACBETH. 117 
 
 In England and in Ireland, not confessing. 80 
 
 Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 
 
 With strange invention : but of that to-morrow, 
 
 When therewithal we shall have cause of state 
 
 Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse : adieu, 
 
 Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you? 35 
 
 Banquo. Ay, my good lord : our time does call upon 's. 
 
 Macbeth. I wish your horses swift and sure of foot ; 
 And so I do commend you to their backs. 
 Farewell. — [Exit Banquo. 
 
 Let every man be master of his time 40 
 
 Till seven at night. To make society 
 The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself 
 Till supper-time alone : while then, God be with you ! 
 
 \Esiiewnt all hut Macbeth and an Attendant. 
 Sirrah, a word with you : attend those men 
 Our pleasure ? 45 
 
 Attendant. They are, my lord, without the palace gate, 
 
 Hamlet, III, i, 33.^ — 31. parricide. Lat. pater, father ; caed^e, to kill. 
 Present meaning? — 33. therewitlial=besidesthat? — cause of state 
 =a subject of political importance? state matters to discuss [Moberly] ? 
 a subject of debate fClark and Wright] ? — 85. Goes Fleance ■with 
 you? Notice the adroitness of Macbeth in getting at these particulars ! 
 — 38. commend. Said jestingly, with an affectation of formality 
 [Clark and Wright] ? In this place (it means to) commit carefully or 
 makeover [El win]? Commit? I, vii, 11. — 39. Parew^ell. As to the 
 broken line — " Some irregularities may be explained by the custom of 
 placing ejaculations, appellations, etc., out of the regular verse." Ab- 
 bott, SiZ. Any other way of accounting for it? I, ii, 5, 7, 20, 34. — Inline 
 34, we have aMeu, fr. Fr. a dieu, to God (I commit you) ; in line 43 we 
 have God be with, you, generally contracted to good-bye. Fare«)eB=may 
 you speed well. A. S. faran, to go, to speed, akin to Gr. irepaio, I pass 
 through; Ger. /a?ire?i, to go. Life is ajouraej/? — 41. To make soci- 
 ety, etc. Is this plausible? — "Sweeter" to him? to them? to both? — 
 His real reason i — The folios put a comma after night, and a colon after 
 welcome. Theobald (1733) made the change. Rightly? Paradise Lost, 
 ix, 349,250. — 42. -welcome. Substantive, or adjective? — ourself. 
 Royal phraseology? See line 78; II, i, 23, 23. — 43. ■w'hile=mean- 
 while? till [Clark and Wright, Hudson, Rolfe, etc.]? In Elizabethan 
 English it meant both meanwhiU and unta. Abbott, 137. Richard II, IV, 
 i, 267; I, iii, 132; Twelfth Night, IV, iii, 39.— See Macbeth, I, v, 5; III, ii, 
 33, 53. — 44. Sirrah. A term of address, used to inferiors, or in 
 anger or contempt. Sometimes used playfully, as in IV, ii, 30. Icel. sire, 
 sirrah ; f r. 13th century Pr. aire, sir ; Lat. senior, older. Lat. senior be- 
 came successively senV, sendre, sindre, sidre, sire. Brachet. — attend 
 (Lat. ad, to, tend^e, to stretch ; attendire, to stretch toward, to heed) , wait 
 , . . upon, await?— 45. our pleasure. Account for the incomplete line. 
 Were it well to make "Sirrah" stand alone, and begin the line with "a 
 word." finding it with pleasure? Abbott, 513. — 4fl. without the pal- 
 
118 MACBETH. [act hi. 
 
 Macbeth. Bring them before us. — [Exit Attendant. 
 
 To be thus is nothing ; 
 But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo 
 Stick deep ; and in his royalty of nature 
 Reigns that which would be fear'd : 't is much he dares, 50 
 And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 
 He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor 
 To act in safety. There is none but he 
 Whose being I do fear : and under him 
 My Genius is rebuk'd, as it is said 66 
 
 Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters, 
 When first they put the name of king upon me, 
 And bade them speak to him ; then prophet-like 
 They hailed him father to a line of kings. 
 Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless crown, 80 
 
 And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, 
 Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand. 
 No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so, 
 For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind ; 
 
 acetate. How far away? Ill, iii, 13. — 48. bwt=unle88 [Staunton]? 
 To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus (is the thine to be desired) 
 [Clark and Wright] S . . . is everything [Moberly]! is sometliing 
 [Abbott, 885] ?— in=about, in the case of [Abbott, 163] 1—50. woaId= 
 should) ought to i would like to! Abbott, 829. See I, v, 20; I, vii, 34. 
 — 51. to. I, vi, 19; Ahbatt, 185. — 53. bat he=he being excepted? but 
 he is (one)? Abbott, \\%. A. S.Muton; be, by; utan, outward, outside; 
 fiiJtan, by the outside ; beyond ; except. Skeat. "Hence &ut means ex- 
 cepted or efEcepHng." AbboU. — 55,56. Genius . . . Caesar. 
 
 Thy demon, that 's the spirit which keeps thee, is 
 
 Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, 
 
 Where Caesar's is notj but near him, thy angel 
 
 Becomes a fear, as bemg o'erpower'd. 
 Antony and Cleop., 11, iii, 20. Shakespeare's conception of guardian or 
 attendant spirits may be gathered partly from his 144th Sonnet, which 
 closes with the following surprising couplet : 
 
 " Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt. 
 Till my bad angel fire my good one out" .' 
 This idea of a genius or guardian angel, of Antony, fearing the guard- 
 ian spirit of Octavius Caesar, is perhaps taken from North' s Plutarch (see 
 ed. of 1631 , p. 926) , or from Bacon's Works (see Vol. ii, p. 129, Montagu's 
 ed.) See Julius CCBsar, II, i,65. — "Not a presiding spirit, but the higher 
 nature of man, the rational, guiding soul or spirit ; which in Macbeth is 
 one of guilty ambition." Ecbtnburgh Review, July, 1869. — See the present 
 editor's explanation of correspondences between Bacon and Shake- 
 speare, in Overkmd Monthly tor September, 1886, page 332. — 62. with= 
 by? Abbott, 193. — 63. son of mine. According to tradition a son of 
 Macbeth was slain in his last encounter with Malcolm. French. — I, vii, 
 54; IV, iii. 816. —64. fll'd. A. S../ii/ton, to make foul, whence ;tIO»,/oitl, 
 
SCENE I.J MAOBBTH. 119 
 
 For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd ; 65 
 
 Put rancors in the vessel of my peace 
 
 Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 
 
 Given to the common enemy of man, 
 
 To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings ! 
 
 Rather than so, come, fate, into the list, 70 
 
 And champion me to the utterance ! — Who 's there ? — 
 
 Re-enter Attendant, vnih two Murderers. 
 
 Now go to the door, and stay there till we call. — 
 
 \Exit Attendant. 
 Was it not yesterday we spoke together ? 
 
 First Murderer. It was, so please your highness. 
 
 Macbeth. , Well — then — now — 
 
 Have you consider'd of my speeches ? Know 75 
 
 That it was he in the times past which held you 
 So under fortune, which you thought had been 
 Our innocent self. This I made good to you 
 
 de/lle, etc. See note on I, i, 13. — 65. gracious in Shakes, usually has in 
 it some feeling of divine grace. IV, iii, 4.3 ; V, viii, 73; Hamlet, I, i, 164. — 
 66. rancors. Lat. rancor, sourness, rankness, rancider, rancid, ran- 
 cidness ; f r. rancire, to stink ; Old Fr. rancour, spite. — vessel. See 
 " vessels of wrath," "vessels of mercy," Horn, ix, 23, 33; "But we have 
 this treasure in earthen vessels," 2 Corinth., iv, 7. vessel of my 
 peace = soul where peace ought to dwell [Moberly,Meiklejohn, etc.]? 
 body where peace ought to dwell? — In OtheUo, TV, ii, 83, as in 2d Cor- 
 inthians, vessel certainly means human body: probably also in Julius 
 Caesar, Y, v, 13. — Lat. vae, a vase; dim. vaaculwm, and Eub-dim. vascel- 
 lum, small vase ; Old Fr. vaissel, later vaisseau. A vessel is properly a dish 
 or utensil for holding liquids, etc. — Paradise Lost, ix, 89. — 67. eternal 
 = immortal? So in King John, III, iv, 18. — jewel = salvation JDelius] ? 
 soul [Clark and Wright]? clear conscience? illumination of the Divine 
 Spirit, called a " treasure " in 2 Corin., iv, 4, 6, 7? — 69. seeds (The 
 folios have the plural) = f ar extended descents [Elwin] ? "It indi- 
 cates an insignificance of individuality [Elwin]? posterity? t/sa, to 
 sow; A. S. saed, seed. — 70. list = space marked out for combat? A. S. 
 list, a border; Old H. Ger. llsta; Fr. lisfe, a selvedge, band, strip. 
 Elsewhere Shakes, uses list for boundary, ana lists for the space 
 marked out. — Richard 11, 1, ii, 53; I, iii, 33, 38, 43, g. v. — 71. cham- 
 
 gion =: fight against (as a champion) ? fight for me? — Lat. compits, a 
 eld; Low Lat. campus, a duel, combat; Old Fr. champUm, one who 
 fought in a champ clas, i. e. enclosed field, lists. — to the atterance 
 = to the death? Fr. eombattre a ['otitrancewas used of contests that 
 were not mere trials of skill, but combats "with deadl.y intent. — Lat. 
 ultra, Fr. outre, beyond; Eng. utterance, extremity. CymJjeline, III, i, 
 71. — See Scott's description of such combat in Ivanhoe. — 71. mur- 
 derers. Professional assassins? — 74. well — then — now. Note 
 this string of introductory words! Is he hesitating, embarrassed? — 
 If they were used to murder, would there have been such an argument? 
 
120 MACBETH. [act m. 
 
 In our /ast conference, pass'd in probation with you, TO 
 How you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instruments, 
 Who wrought with them, and all things else that might 
 To half a soul and to a notion craz'd 
 Say " Thus did Banquo." 
 
 tKrst Murderer. Tou made it known to us. 
 
 Macbeth. I did so, and went further, which is now 
 Our point of second meeting. Do you find 85 
 
 Your patience so predominant in your nature 
 That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd 
 To pray for this good man and for his issue. 
 Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave 
 .And beggar'd yours for ever ? 
 
 First Murderer. We are men, my liege. 90 
 
 Macbeth. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men. 
 As hoimds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 
 Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are clept 
 
 —79. conference. Scan the line. Any need of shortening the word 
 to two syllables? I, ii, 5, 20; Abbott, 468.— pass'd In probation 
 with = I proved to you in detail, point by point [Clark and Wright] ? 
 spent in proving [Rolfs] 1 — The word " pass'd " is used in the same 
 sense as in the phrase, "pass in review" [Clark and Wright]? — 
 Pass'd = caused to pass ? — Probation = proof, in OtheUo, III, iii, 865 ; 
 Meas. forMeas., V, i, 157, etc. — Lat. probdre, to prove, test; probcMo; 
 Ft. probation, proof. — 80. borne In hand = like pal/pare in Latin, 
 cheated, made tools of [Moberly]? kept up with false pretenses 
 [MeiklejohnJ 1 delusively encouraged [White] ? Seven times in Shakes, 
 this phrase (mcluding "bear" for "borne") is found in this sense. Honv- 
 let.II, ii, 67. —Scan the line. Six feet? .4.66ott, 468. Seein, iv, 3. Make 
 adactylof Ingtru7ji6nt«7 III, iv, 37.— 88. notion=under standing [Clark 
 and Wright] 1 mind [Rolf e, etcJ ? So Lear, I, iv, 318. See CoHolanue, Y, 
 vi, 107.— 86. predominant. H, iv, 8.— 87. so gospeird=instructea 
 in the precepts of the gospel [Clark and Wright] f of that degree of 
 precise virtue [Johnson]? governed by gospel precepts [Rolfe]? Im- 
 bued with the spirit of the gospel, which bids us pray for our enemies? 
 Matt., V, 44. A. S., god, God, and spell, history, story, narrative. 
 Thus the literal sense is the "narrative of God," i. e., the life of Christ. 
 Skeat. — Note how profoundly Shakes, recognizes one of the most dis- 
 tinctive features of Christianity. — 88. Word omitted? II, iii, 33. Ab- 
 bott, 281. — 93. mongrels (Old A. S. manglan, A. S. mengcm, to mingle; 
 numg-er-el (double diminutive), orig. little puppies of mixed breed? 
 — ^93. shoiighs=shocks? pronounced alwM. A. S. seeacga, shaggy hair. 
 The orig. sense is roughness. Skeat. In Pope's Rape of the Lock the 
 dog is called " shock," and the name is quite common. Masterpieces, p. 
 140. — water rugs = poodles [Schmidt]? The orig. sense of Swedish 
 rugg, rough entangled hair, was doubtless simply "rough," akin to A.S 
 rdh and Eng. rough. Skeat. A rug is a rough woolen covering ; ruf/ged 
 = rough, shaggy. — demi-'wolves, a cross between dogs and wolves; 
 like the Latin Ij/eisci. Johnson. — Lat. dimldius, half; dl or dis, apart; 
 medius, middle; Old Pr, denvf, half. Nothing to do with semi, DorJiemti 
 
BCENE I.] MAOBETH. 181 
 
 All by the name of dogs : the valued file 
 
 Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, 95 
 
 The housekeeper, the hunter, every one 
 
 According to the gift which bounteous nature 
 
 Hath in him clos'd ; whereby he does receive 
 
 Particular addition, from the bill 
 
 That writes them all alike : and so of men. 100 
 
 Now if you have a station in the file. 
 
 Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say 't, 
 
 And I will put that business in your bosoms, 
 
 Whose execution takes your enemy off, 
 
 Grapples you to the heart and love of us, 105 
 
 Who wear our health but sickly in his life, 
 
 Which in his death were perfect 
 
 Second Murderer. I am one, my liege. 
 
 Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world 
 Have so incens'd that I am reckless what 
 I do to spite the world. 
 
 First Mwderer. And I another 110 
 
 So weary with disasters, tngg'd with fortune. 
 That I would set my life on any chance, 
 To mend it or be rid on 't. 
 
 Macbeth. Both of yon 
 
 Know Banquo was your enemy. 
 
 — clept. Yclept is sometimes used. A. S. eUpan, clesptan, to call. 
 Hamlet, I, iv, 19.— 94. valued file = tariff with names and values at- 
 tached [Moberly] ? classifloation according to value or quality [Rolf e] 1 
 price-list? — 96. housekeeper. "In TopseU's History of Beasts (1638) 
 the 'housekeeper' is enumerated among the different kinds of dogs." 
 Clark and WrlgM. — 98. hath=possesses? or — ? clos'd=it being in- 
 closed? or— ?— 99. addition. I, iii, 106.— ft'om=apart from [Rolf e] ? 
 quite different from [MeiklejohnJ ? — "More natural to connect 'from' 
 with particular than with distinguishes." Cla/iH and Wright. Ill, iv, 
 36; Julius CcBsar, I, iii, 35. — the bill, eto.=the catalogue? Line 91. — 
 102. -worst. Quasi-dissy liable? "Monosyllables containing a vowel fol- 
 lowed by r are often prolonged." Abbott, 485. — worst ronfc=rear rank. 
 Meaning of our phrase " rank and file" ? — 105. grapples. Old Fr. 
 grappe, a hook; Fr. grappln, a grappling-iron, grapnel. Skeat. Oraxp, 
 grip, grab, grapnel, gripe, are kindred. i/eARBH, to seize. — Hamlet, I, iii, 
 63; Henrj/ y, in, prol. 18.— 106. in = in the case of , about [Abbott]? 
 during? Abbott, IW; HI, i, 4S. — 107. Scan. As to metre, is anything 
 more than five accented syllables really necessary?— .4.66ott, 497; L ii, 
 5, 7, 20, etc. — ^111. tugg'd. Low Ger, tufcften, to pull up ; akin to Ger. 
 eucken, to draw ; 2i«0, a pull. By a subtle analogy the energy required 
 in enunciating the gutteral g has made this word very significant of forc- 
 ible effort? — Differentiate these two murderers. What is each one's 
 prevailing mood ? — ^113. on 't. Line 130 ; I, iii. 84.— 115. dJHtance=eu 
 
128 MACBETH. [act m 
 
 Both Murderers. True, my lord. 
 
 Macbeth. So is he mine, in sucli bloody distance US 
 That every minute of his being thrusts 
 Against my near'st of life : and though I could 
 With barefac'd power sweep him from my sight 
 And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not, 
 For certain friends that are both his and mine, 180 
 
 Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall 
 Who I myself struck down : and thence it is, 
 That I to your assistance do make love, 
 Masking the business from the common eye 
 For sundry weighty reasons. 
 
 Second Murderer. We shall, my lord, 125 
 
 Perform what you command us. 
 
 First Mwrderer. Though our lives — 
 
 Macbeth. Your spirits shine through you. Within this 
 hour at most 
 I will advise you where to plant yourselves, 
 Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time, 
 
 mity [Warburton] ) opposition [Moberly] ? degree or measure [Hud- 
 son]? " A fencing term, denoting the space between antagonists." 
 Di/ce. Merry Wives, II, i, 201, iii, 23; Biom. and Jul., II, iv., 20. Lat. dto, 
 apart; stare, to stand. So Achilles and Agamemnon stood wgwrt in 
 quarrel, Iliad, I, 6.— 117. near'st of life = inmost life [Rolfe]?most 
 vital parts [Clark and Wright]? See V, 'A,\\. — MiboVt, 473, makes 
 nearest a monosyl. here, and in the folios it is printed neer'st. — 119. 
 avouch it=own, answer for it (as an arbitrary act) [Rolf e] 1 make 
 good, maintain [Skeat] ? be accepted as the justification of the deed 
 [Clark and Wright] ! — Lat. ad, to ; vooare, to call ; Old Fr odBouer, to 
 avouch; Fr. auoiter, to avow. —See III, iv, 34.— 120. for. The orig. 
 sense is "beyond" ; then, "before" ; lastly, "in place of" ; from same root 
 as far, fore, and fare. A. S., for, fore; akin to Lat. %iro, Gr. rrp6, Sanscrit 
 pro, before. Slteat. "For, from meaning 'in front or, came naturally 
 tomean 'in behalf of, 'for the sake of, 'becauseof'." .4.66ott, 150. — 
 121. loves. Sotheplu. in revenges V. ii, 3; viii, 61. Cortolonus, III, 
 iii, 121 ; Hamlet, I, i, 173, 1, ii, 251. So wisdoins, Hamilet, I, ii, 15 ; sights, 
 Bichard II, TV, i, 314. — may=must? perhaps stall? Abbott, 310. — but 
 a must) wail. .<lbbott, 385. — 122. who " in Shakespeare'stime was 
 frequently used for the objective case." Clarke amd Wright. Hamlet, I, 
 ii, 190. Macbeth, m, iv, 42; IV, iii, 171: Abbott, 274.-187. shine 
 throaeh. See I, ii, 46 ; Homlet, III, iv, 117.— 128. advise=inform1 
 counsel, recommend to? Lat. od, to, according to; visum, that which 
 has seemed best; pp. neuter of vtdere, to see; Old Fr. onis, opinion, way 
 of seeing a thing. Braehet and Skeat. Fr. aviter, to apprise. In Lear, 
 I, iii, 24; Two Gent, of Verona, HI, i, 122, and elsewhere, we have "ad- 
 vise" in the sense of "instruct." — 129. perfect 8py=perfeot espialor 
 discovery, the exact intimation (of the precise time) [Heath] ? the ex- 
 act means of espying (jrour time) [Fleay] ? infallible discovery by se- 
 cret and conning examination [Mwin] ? either "the result of the most 
 
scum I.] MACBETH. 123 
 
 The moment on 't ; for 't must be done to-night, 130 
 
 And something from the palace ; always thought 
 
 That I require a clearness : and with him — • 
 
 To leave no rubs nor botches in the work — 
 
 Fleance his son, that keeps him company, 
 
 Whose absence is no less material to me 135 
 
 Than is his father's, must embrace the fate 
 
 Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart : 
 
 I '11 come to you anon. 
 
 Eoth Murderers. We are resolv'd, my lord. 
 
 Macbeth. I '11 call upon you straight : abide within. 
 
 [Mceunt Murderers. 
 It is concluded : Banquo, thy soul's flight, 140 
 
 If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. \Eait. 
 
 accurate observation", or " the man who joins the murders in scene iii 
 and delivers their offices" [Clark and Wright] 1 an exact and sure note 
 or signal [Hudson] ? Many emendations have been proposed, of which 
 perhaps the most plausible is that in Mr. Collier's folio of 1633, first 
 suggested by Dr. Johnson, and adopted by White, substituting "a per- 
 fect" for "tTie perfect," and explaining it to mean the third murderer 
 in Scene iii. If we allow the folio text to stand, perhaps we shall do 
 well to extend the force of the word where to the word ocguotof ; thus : 
 " I will advise you where to plant yourselves, and where to acquaint 
 yourselves," etc. — -p/sPAK, to see; Gr. aKiwroiiai, skeptomai; Lat. speogre, 
 to see; Old Fr. eapier, to espy— 130. on 't. The time? or the deed} — 131. 
 something ft-om = somewhat away from? at some distance away 
 from [Rolf e] ? Abbott, 68, 158. — always thought = it being always 
 borne in mind? Abbott, 878. — 181. clearness, from suspicion? and also 
 completeness as regards the work done [Elwin] ? — 133. rubs were 
 impediments that might turn a ball from its course in bowling. King 
 John, in, iv, 128; Henry V, 11, ii, 188; Coriol., Ill, i, 60; Blehard II, in, 
 iv, 4. — Gaelic rub, to rub ; Irish and Gael, rubadh, a rubbing. — 136. 
 embrace. Metaphor? Schmidt defines it undergo, suffer! — Old Fr. 
 embracer. Old Fr. em; Lat. ira, in; Old Fr. bras; Lat. bracMum, arm. — 
 137. Resolve yourselves =make up your minds? form your resolu- 
 tions.— Lat. resolvSre, to unite; re, again, and solugre to loosen ;s6-, apart; 
 luire, Gr. Mtiv, luein, to loose, set free; Eng. resolve, to separate into 
 constituent parts; to free from doubt. — 138. This is an apparent Alex- 
 andrine ; but, by slighting unemphatic syllables, may it be made a pen- 
 tameter? Abbott, 497. — 139. straight. Obsolete in this sense? — 140, 
 141. Effect of rhyme at the end of a scene? — " Such negotiations 
 with assassins were not uncommon in the age of Elizabeth." A noted 
 instance, which must have been vivid in Shakespeare's memory, was 
 that in which Lodowiok Grevile, whose family were patrons of the liv- 
 ing of Stratford, hired two servants to murder his tenant in 1589. See 
 Bolfe, Hv/nter or Fwmess. — Note the ingenuity with which Macbeth 
 works upon the feelings of the murderers, before he comes to the pro- 
 posal of the plot. 
 
m UACBETH. [Acrm 
 
 ScBira n. The Same. Another Hoom. 
 Enter Last Macbeth and a Servant. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Is Banquo gone from court? 
 
 Servant. Ay, madam, but returns again to-uight. 
 
 iMdy Macbeth. Say to the king, I would attend his leisure 
 Per a few words. 
 
 Servant. Madam, I will. Mdt. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Nought 's had, all 's spent, 
 
 Where our desire is got without content : 6 
 
 'T is safer to be that which we destroy 
 Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. 
 
 Enter Macbbth. 
 
 How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, 
 
 Of sorriest fancies your companions making. 
 
 Using those thoughts which should indeed have died 10 
 
 With them they think on ? Things without all remedy 
 
 Should be without regard : what 's done is done. 
 
 Macbeth. We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it : 
 She '11 close and be herself, whilst our poor malice 
 
 Scene IL — retams again, like '■^rose again" (from the dead), in 
 the Nicene creed, was not objectionable phraseology. How is it uowl 
 3. attend = ready for? wait fori wait upon him when he is at? — 5. 
 without content. " This brief soliloquy allows us to see the deep- 
 seated misery, the profound melancholy in which she is steeped ; while 
 on the instant that she sees her husband, she can rally her forces, as- 
 sume exterior fortitude, and resume her accustomed hardness of 
 manner." Clarke. " This prof ound sigh from the depths of a deeply 
 wounded soul is the key to all that we afterwards hear and learn of Lady 
 Macbeth. . . . Here, for an instant, we overhear her, and from her 
 own lips learn what her pride, her love for Macbeth even, will not 
 suffer to be uttered aloud. . . . This short monologue is the sole 
 preparation for the sleep-walking and the death of the woman ; her 
 death would be unintelligible did we not here see the beginning of the 
 end." Oerlcke, in Fumeee. — Stratt would assign these four lines, 4 to 
 7, to Macbeth . Judiciously? — Is their " querulous spirit more in char- 
 acter with Macbeth"?— 9. sorriest, H, ii, 20. — using = cherishing 
 [Rolfe] ? keeping company with [Clark and Wright] ? — Gr. xp?<''*«"i 
 chresthai, and llat. itti, to use, have similar meanings. — PeHclea, 1, ii, 
 3.— 11. without =beyond? destitute of?— all =any? — In Mid. NighVt 
 Dr., I, i, 150, "without the peril of the Athenian law" is beyond the 
 peril, etc. HenrB TTTrr, IV, i, 113. Son»iet Ixxiv, 2. — Xbfintt, 12. 197. — 
 remedy. Unaccented syllables ignored? .46bott, 468 ; III, i, 107. — ^13. 
 scotch'd. The folios have- sccn-ched, and this would afford a good 
 meaning, but for the word close in the next line. To scotch means to 
 cut with narrow incision. The notion is taken from the slight cut ia- 
 
scBNK n.] MAOBSTE. 195 
 
 Remains in danger of her former tooth. 15 
 
 But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, 
 
 Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep 
 
 In the affliction of these terrible dreams 
 
 That shake us nightly ; better be with the dead. 
 
 Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, 20 
 
 Than on the torture of the mind to lie 
 
 In restless ecstacy. Duncan is in his grave ; 
 
 After life's fitful fever he sleeps well ; 
 
 Treason has done his worst ; nor steel, nor poison. 
 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 35 
 
 Can touch him further. 
 
 luody Macbeth. Come on ; 
 
 Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks ; 
 Be bright and jovial among your guests to-night. 
 
 Macbeth. So shall I, love ; and so, I pray, be you : 
 
 flicted by a scutcher or riding- whip. Akin to provincial Eng. scutch, to 
 strilie or beat slightly, to cleanse flax. So in Coriolanv^, IV, v, 188; 
 Anton, amd Cleop., IV, vii, 10. Skeat. —"The easiest of misprints (chang- 
 ing t to r) on account of the resemblance between r and t in old manu- 
 script." White. — Upton, who retains scorch'd, says, "This learned and 
 elegant allusion is to the story of the Hydra." But the scorching of the 
 Hydra was eSectual, while the cutting off was a failure ! See Class. 
 Diet. — Tlieobald, who first changed scorch'd to scotch'd, thinks Shakes. 
 had in mind the old belief that a serpent cut asunder would grow to- 
 gether again if the parts were placed in contact. — 15. her. So the 
 snake is fem. in Mid. Night's Dr., U, i, 353.— 16. frame of things, the 
 orderly universe, the "cosmos." Hamlet, II, ii, 394; Par. Lost, V, 154; 
 viii, 15. — both the worlds = heaven and earth. So Moberly, who, 
 however, adds, "The meaning is shown by Hamlet, Act IV, v, 116, 'both 
 the worlds I give to negligence' " ; but the commentators agree that in 
 Homlet the meaning is f/iis leoHd and the next. — dreams. "The sleep- 
 walking scene, V, i, was doubtless in the poet's mind already." Clark 
 and Wright.—^, to gain our peace. So the first folio, which has 
 been followed by about half the commentators. The others adopt the 
 word place, the reading of the later folios. Much may be said in favor 
 of either reading. Your view?— Keightly prosily suggests seat; Bailey 
 distressingly, pangs.' — 21. torture=therackS — Metonymy? — 32. ecs- 
 tasy (Gr. iKcTTaffis, ecstasis; «, out, araan standing; placing, t/sta, 
 to stand), trance, distraction; state of being "beside one's self" ; condi- 
 tion of one "out of his head," whether fx'om joy or sorrow; alienation of 
 mind ; being "out of one's senses" from any cause. — IV, iii, 170 ; Hamlet, 
 H, i, 103; III, i, 160; iv, 136; Tempest, IH, iii, 108.-33. fitful. Propri- 
 ety of this term ! Note the effect of the repetition of the / sound in 5 
 syllables preceding the «.' — JMeas. /or Ikfeog., Ill, i, 75. — 26. touch. A 
 touch in old language was often used to express a pang or wound. 
 Staunton.- 37. Gentle my lord. "So Shakes, has dear my lord, dear 
 my brother, dread my lord, good my knave, good my girl, good my fellows, 
 good my friend, good my mother, good my mouse, poor our sex, sweet my 
 child, good yourgraces, and even good my complexion, etc. So, "Art thou 
 
126 MACBETH. [act hi. 
 
 Let your remembrance apply to Banquo ; 80 
 
 Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue : 
 
 Unsafe the while, that we 
 
 Must lave our honors in these flattering streams, 
 
 And make our faces visards to our hearts, 
 
 Disguising what they are. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Tou must leave this. 85 
 
 Macbeth. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! 
 Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. But in them nature's copy 's not eterne. 
 
 Macbeth. There 's comfort yet ; they are assailable ; 
 Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown 40 
 
 His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons 
 The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums 
 Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done 
 
 that my Imi, Elijah!" I Kings, xviii, 7. Abbott, 13.— sleek. Milton's 
 Comus, 882, has "Sleeking her soft, alluring locks." — Icel. slikr, sleek, 
 smooth; akin to Ger. echlick, grease, slime, mud; and to Eng. slinh, 
 slide, slip; from y sab, to now, glide. The orig. sense of sleek is 
 "greasy," like soft mud. Skeat. — Usually an adjective and spoken of 
 the hair. — 30. remembrance. Quadrisyllable here? Abbott, 477. — 
 apply=attach itself, be specially devoted [Clark and Wright] ? devote 
 itself [Schmidt] i -- Lat. ad, to; pUcare, to fold or lay together; Gr. 
 wKiKeiv, plekein, to plait; Lat. applicdre, to join to, attach; turn or direct 
 towards. Sfceot. — Antony and Cieop., V, ii, 136. — 31. Present him, 
 etc. "Is this a piece of irony? or is it meant as a blind, to keep his 
 wife ignorant and innocent of the new crime on foot?" Hudton, — 33. 
 Unsare the ivhile that = we being meanwhile unsafe, since? the 
 time being unsafe in which ? Abbott, 384 ; III, i, 43. — 34. visards <Fr. 
 "Disiere, the iitoer or sight of a helmet." Cotgrave. From Ft. vis, the 
 face, and so called from its protecting the face. In the same way the 
 "vizard" was named from its covering the face. Lat. videre, to see; 
 «isus, sight. Skeat.) masks?— 35. leave,oft? So in Kicftord II, V, ii, 4, 
 "Where did Heave?"— Verbal play with lavej — 36. fall of scorpions. 
 Note vividness!— 37. lives. See runs, I, iii, 147. Abbott,SS6. — 38. na- 
 ture's copy = the human form [Steevens, M. Mason, ElwinJ ? the 
 stamp of life [Moberly] ? the deed by which man holds life of Nature 
 [Clark and Wright, Rolfe, etc.] ? Copyhold tenure is by virtue of the 
 copy of the court-rolls. Othello, V, ii, 11 . "Thou cunning'st pattern of 
 excelling nature," favors the first explanation ; "bond," in line 49, fa- 
 vors the last. — Judge! — Shakes, is fond of law terms, as in Sonnet xiii, 
 5, and Maebeth,TV, i, 99. — Of line 38 Morley asks, "Is this a note of ac- 
 cord with his design ?r It may be but a weary commonplace of conso- 
 lation." — 41. cloister'd. "Thebats wheeling round the dim cloisters 
 of Queen's College, Cambridge, have frequently impressed on me the 
 singular propriety of this original epithet." Steevens. — 48. shard- 
 borne = borne along by its shard or scaly wings [Steevens] ? Shard is 
 literally "a broken thing," fr.A.S.sceord, adj., broken; sceran, to shear; 
 allied to shred. Skeat. "The shell of an egg or a snail." Baret, 1580. 
 — ^Two folios have -bom for -borne. Meaning then ?— Gray, in his Elegy, 
 
SCENE ir.] MAOBETE, I2l 
 
 A deed of dreadful note. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. What 's to be done ? 44 
 
 Macbeth. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, 
 
 Till thou applaud the deed Come, seeling night, 
 
 Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day. 
 
 And with thy bloody and invisible hand 
 
 Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond 
 
 Which keeps me pale ! — Light thickens, and the crow 50 
 
 Makes wing to the rooky wood : 
 
 Good things of day begin to droop and drowse. 
 
 Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse. 
 
 Thou marvell'st at my words ; but hold thee still : 
 
 Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill. 55 
 
 So, prithee, go with me. ^Exewnt. 
 
 stanza 3, has this passage in mind? — 44. note=aistinction [Schmidt] 1 
 notoriety [Clark and Wright] ? markorbrandl sound? — '^ A note is 'a 
 mark whereby a thing is known.' Lat. nota, a mark, si^; (g)n()s- 
 cire, to know; {g)notu8, known." — 45. chuck, a variation ol the 
 word cMeken; A. S. cieen, a chicken; dim. ir. A. S. cocc, a cock (like 
 kitten for cat) . Skeat. An imitative word? Hiecke, quoted by Furness 
 and Rolf e, comments with feeling and insight on the glimpses of sen- 
 timent, character, and past life, which we gain from the terms of en- 
 dearment in this scene. What may we fairly infer from them? — 46. 
 seeling = blinding] ? — Lat. cUium, eyelid, eyelash. From y kal, to 
 hide, as in Lat. eel-ore. OldFr. cUJer lesymx, to seel, or sew up, the 
 eyelids by passing a fine thread through them ; to blind. In falconry. — 
 Offtelto, I, iii, 268; III, iii, 210; ^Infon. and Cleop., Ill, xiii, 112. —49. bond 
 =Banquo's life [Hudson] 'l either Banquo's life, or the bond of destiny 
 announced hy tbe weird sisters [Moberly] ? — See line 38, supra. If 
 Banquo holds his life by virtue of a bond, who is obligor? Cymheline, 
 V, iv, 38; Biehard in, IV, iv, 77. — Hudson substitutes paled, meaning 
 shut in or confined with paUigs ! In confirmation he quotes III, iv, 24. 
 —^0. tbickens. In Antony ami Cl6op.,li, m,2S, we have, "Thy lus- 
 tre thickens." — 51. rooky=misty, gloomy [Clark and Wright, etc.] ! 
 rook-haunted [Rolfe, Hudson, etc.]? — Book, meaning a kind of crow, 
 is of imitative origin, like croak. From A. S. hr6c. The word means 
 croaker! But many scholars prefer to derive it from the provincial 
 wordrofte, meaning fog, mist, or steam; from A. S. rio, vapor; Dutch 
 rook; Gter. ranch, smoke, fume; loel. rokr, twilight. See I, v, 37. — 
 53. good things, etc. "We may repeat to ourselves this line as a 
 motto of the whole tragedy." Dowden.—B3 . whiles, I, v, 5; II, i, 60; 
 III, i. 43. — agents. A covert allusion to the murderers [Hudson]? - • 
 preys. For plu. see III, i, 131 ; V, viii, 61.— 54, 55. "This couplet reads 
 like an interpolation. It interrupts the sense" [Clark and Wright]? 
 56. go with me=aid me? understand my meaning [Moberly] ? let me 
 quietly carry out my plan [Delius] ? — Must we look beyond the obvious 
 meaning? — "And so they go to the coronation feast," says Moberly. 
 But was it the coronation feast? How long since the murder? — To 
 what questions does this scene give rise? or give answer? 
 
128 MAGBETE. [act iil 
 
 ScENB 111.^-4 Park near the Palace. 
 Enter three Murderers. 
 
 First Murderer. But who did bid thee join with us ? 
 
 Third Murderer. Macbeth. 
 
 Second Murderer. He needs not our mistrust, since he 
 delivers 
 Our offices and what we have to do 
 To the direction just. 
 
 Mrst Murderer. Then stand with us. 
 
 The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day: 6 
 
 Now spurs the lated traveller apace 
 To gain the timely inn, and near approaches 
 The subject of our watch. 
 
 Third Murderer. Hark ! I hear horses. 
 
 Banquo. [TTt^Aiw.] Give us a light there, ho ! 
 
 Second Murderer. Then 't is he : the rest 
 
 That are within the note of expectation 10 
 
 Already are i' the court. 
 
 JFirst Murderer. His horses go about. 
 
 Third Murderer. Almost a mile ; but he does usually, 
 So all men do, from hence to the palace gate 
 Make it their walk. 
 
 Second Murderer. A light, a light ! 
 
 Scene III. — 1. But implies a previous matter discoursed of [Capell 1 1 
 — needs not, etc. = we may trust him [Moberly] ? — Abbott, 308. — It 
 has been strongly argued by Mr. A. P. Paton that Macbeth himself 
 was the third murderer. He urges the following considerations: 
 Macbeth' s late entry into the banquet hall; the almost simultaneous 
 appearance of the murderer; his unwillingness to let the plot mis- 
 carry ; the third murderer, if not Macbeth, should have been the one 
 to bring tidings to him ; the superfluous savagery of the twenty mortal 
 murders on Banquo's head ; the familiarity of the third murderer with 
 Macbeth's designs, etc. ; Maobeth's levity in conversation with the 
 murderer at the banquet, Macbeth's question, as if to avert suspicion 
 from himself, "Which of you have done this?" and, "He says, in ef- 
 fect, to the ghost, 'In yon black struggle you could never know me.' " 
 Test this view. See Fwmess, Hudson, and Noteg and Queries, Sept. 11 ; 
 Oct. 3, 30; Nov. 13; Dec. 4, 1869. — 4. to. ^Ziibott, 187. — 6. lated. 
 Anton, and Cleup., Ill, xi, 3. — Abbott, 460, gives a long list of prefixes 
 dropped in Shakes. — 7. timely = welcome? opportune [Clark and 
 Wright] ? early, soon attained [Schmidt] ? — 10. note of expecta- 
 tion = list of expected guests [Steevens] ? Winter'' s Tale, IV7iii, 44; 
 Bom. and Jul., I, ii, 34. — 11. horses. " Shakes, did not dare to bring 
 upon the stage a horse"! Horn. But perhaps it wasn't convenient I 
 
acBNEiv.J MAOBSTB. 129 
 
 Enter Banquo, and Fleance viith a Jbreh. 
 
 Third Murderer. 'T is he. IS 
 
 Mrst Murderer. Stand to 't. 
 
 £anqito. It will be raia to-night. 
 
 ^irst Murderer. Let it come down. 
 
 [ They set upon Banquo. 
 
 Banquo. O, treachery ! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly .' 
 ITiou may'st revenge. — O slave ! \^Dies. Fleance escapes. 
 
 Third Murderer. Who did strike out the light? 
 
 First Murderer. Was 't not the way ? 
 
 Third Murderer. There 's but one down ; the son is fled. 
 
 Second Murderer. We have lost 
 
 Best half of our affair. 21 
 
 First Murders: Well, let 's away and say how much is 
 done. \Fxeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. Mall in the Palace. 
 
 A Banquet prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, 
 Ross, Lenkox, Lords, and Attendants. 
 
 Macbeth. Tou know your own degrees ; sit down : at first 
 And last the hearty welcome. 
 
 Lords. Thanks to your majesty. 
 
 Macbeth. Ourself will mingle with society 
 And play the humble host. 
 Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time 6 
 
 — 14. Fleance with a torch. See stage direction, II, i. — 16. rain. 
 
 Note how ingeniously Shakes . brings in the dark and threatening as- 
 pect of nature 1 How skilfully, too, the words, " Let it come down," 
 doubly apply to rain and a shower of blows on Banquo's head! — 18. 
 Fleance fled to Wales, and became the progenitor of James I, " in 
 compliment to whom," says Malone, "Shakes, describes Banquo as 
 innocent, though equally guilty with Macbeth." — What need of this 
 scene? What need of Banquo's death before our eyes? Dramatic ef- 
 fect of adding a third murderer? Does it reveal Macbeth's state of 
 mind? 
 
 Scene IV. — 1. degrees. French degri, from a supposed degradus ; Lat. 
 de, down ; gradus, a step, grade, rank ; gradi, to step. — at first and last 
 = once for all [Rolf e] ? from beginning to end [Schmidt] ? to highest and 
 lowest? — Johnsonwouldread, To ^rst, etc. — 2. your majesty. Maj- 
 esty in such phrases is usually a dissyl. Walker. Abbott, OSS. Make 
 out the five accented syllables. WUlthat suflce? See I, ii, 5; III, i, 
 80; iv, 37.-3. Ourself. Ill, i, 42.-5. state=chair of state! keeps 
 her state=is still on the dais [Moberly] ? "The 'state' was originally 
 the 'canopy,' then the chair with the canopy over it."' XweJfth Night, 
 
i30 MACBETH. [actiii. 
 
 We will require her welcome. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends » 
 For my heart speaks they are welcome. 
 
 First Murderer appears at the door. 
 
 Macbeth. See, they encounter thee with their hearts' 
 thanks. — 
 Both sides are even: here I '11 sit i' the midst. 10 
 
 Be large in mirth ; anon we '11 drink a measure 
 The table round. — [^Approaching the door.} There 's blood 
 upon thy face. 
 
 Murderer. 'T is Banquo's then. 
 
 Macbeth. 'T is better thee without than he within. 
 Is he dispatch'd ? 15 
 
 Murd^er. My lord, his throat is cut ; that I did for him. 
 
 Macbeth. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats : yet he 's 
 good 
 That did the like for Fleance : if thou didst it. 
 Thou art the nonpareil. 
 
 Murders. Most royal sir, 
 
 II, V, 42; 1 Henry IT, II, iv, 849, "This chair shall he my state." Old 
 Pr. estat, estate; Lat. stotem, to stand. From -j/sta, stand. — 6. re- 
 qaire=ask. Not demand. Henry VIII, II. iv, 144, "In humblest man- 
 ner I require your highness." 4nt. and Oleop., Ill, xii, 13. — 8. speaks 
 =says? See spoken, IV, iii, 154.— Real difference between these syno- 
 nyms? — Abbott, 200.— 10. Both sides = both sides of the table [Dar- 
 mesteter]1 both parties, she in her welcome, they in their thanks? — 
 Was it worth while for him to say that the gruests on one side match in 
 numbers those on the other?— here I'll sit. Make a diagram showing 
 the table, his position, that of Lady Macbeth, and that of the ghost 
 when it appears. — 11. large. Anton, and Cleop., Ill, vi, 93. — aaon. 
 A. S. on, &n, in one moment, once for all; on, in; in, one. The a Is 
 convertible with o in either syl. — He wishes first to speak with the 
 murderer, of whom he has caught sight at the door? — measure. 
 Lat. metlH, to measure; menswra, Fr. memire, a measure. How much? 
 — 12. "An unavenged blood-clot is conspicuous on thy brow." Aeschy- 
 lus' Aganwmiion, line 1439. — 14. thee without thanhe wlthin=out- 
 side thee than inside him [Johnson, Rolfe, etc.] ? blood on thy face 
 than he in this room [Johnson's suggestion] ? you just outside thedoor 
 than he within the room[Darmesteter] ? So Hunter, who thinks the 
 line is an aside. — Is there not a tone of reproof in the words, as if the 
 murderer had intruded? Suppose we read between the lines to the 
 following effect: "There's blood upon thy face, thou oughtest not to 
 be here." By way of excuse, and to conciliate the impatient king, he 
 replies, " 'Tis Banquo's, then." Macbeth, still vexed at the intrusion, 
 rejoins, " 'Tis better for thee to be without, attending to Banquo, than 
 for him to be within ; for, if wounded, he may come in soon ; or, if dead, 
 )^\}06fmaybebrovfiMin"l—19. nonpareil. Lat. »o», not; jiar, equal; 
 
SCENE IT.] MAO BETE. 131 
 
 Fleance is soap'd. 30 
 
 Macbeth. [Aside.] Then comes my fit again : I had else 
 been perfect, 
 Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, 
 As broad and general as the casing air ; 
 But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in 
 To saucy doubts and fears.^But Banquo 's safe ? 25 
 
 Murderer. Ay, my good lord : safe in a ditch he bides, 
 With twenty trenched gashes on his head, 
 The least a death to nature. 
 
 Macbeth. Thanks for that, 
 
 f-^sjcife.] There the grown serpent lies; the worm that 's fled 
 Hath nature that in time will venom breed, 30 
 
 No teeth for the present. — Get thee gone : to-morrow 
 We '11 hear ourselves again. [Mxit Murderer. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. My royal lord. 
 
 You do not give the cheer ; the feast is sold 
 
 Low Lat. pariculus, like, similar ; sufBxes -ic- and -uf- being both diminu- 
 tive. Sfceat. — 20. soap'd. Scopeis a mutilated fbrm of escape. Latex, 
 out of; coppa, cloak, or cape of a cloak. Old Fr. escoper, Mod. Pr. 
 iehapper, to get out of the cape (of the cloak) , to flee, escape. A parallel 
 metaphor exists in Gr. i/cSvta&ai., ekduesthai [Liddell and Scott speak 
 of the 3d aorist in the sense of escape] . Brachet, and Skcat. — Shakes, 
 uses the shortened form more than the other. — 23. casing=encasiug? 
 Lat. copgre, to take, contain, hold; capgo, receptacle, box; Old Fr. 
 casse, a case, chest; Fr. caisse, a box. — 24. cabin'd, cribb'd, con- 
 fin'd, etc. Expressive effect of these accumulated synonyms? Climax 
 here? — Welsh caban, booth, dimin. of edh, a booth made with rods set 
 into the ground and tied at the top ; Gaelic and Irish cahan. Skeat. 
 Most Celtic words tell of humble life? — A. S. crib, a manger. Akin to 
 Pr. creche; Ger. ftrfppe, a crib, manger. Eng. crib, a manger, rack, 
 stall, cradle. Verb crib, to put into a crib. In cribbooe, the crib is the 
 secret store of cards. Skeat. — 25. saucy=importunate, insolent fClark 
 and Wright, Moberly, etc.] ? unbounded, extravagant fSchmidtJ ? — 
 doubts and fears. These are his fellow-prisoners [Delius] ? Most 
 critics seem to think them his jailors ! " Macbeth is like a royal pris- 
 oner bated by insolent and pertinacious Ciowds " [Meiklejohu] ? How 
 shall we decide this ! — saucy (Lat. aaUta, a salted thing ; saUre, to salt ; 
 sal, salt ; Pr. sauce, a seasoning of salt and spices) , pungent (impu- 
 dent). Brachet, Slceat. — Othello, I, i, 118; Julius Ccesar, I, i, 19; iii, 12. 
 — 25. safe. Grim levity [Clarke]? Webster (Unabridged Diet.) de- 
 fines it here, "incapable of receiving or doing harm. In secure care 
 or custody." — bides. A. S. bidan, to await, wait. — 27. trenched. 
 Pr. tranaher, to cut, hack. Origin uncertain. Littr^ prefers Lat. trun- 
 cdre, to cut off, reduce to a trunk ; tnmcua, a trunk, stock — Two Gent, 
 of Ver., ni, ii, 7. — ^28. nature. II, ii, 7. — 29. w^orni=serpent, in Eliz- 
 abethan writers? In Anf on. and Cleop., V, ii, 243,256, etc., designating 
 a small serpent. — 32. our8eIve8=each other [Schmidt] ? Some put a 
 comma after hear, and make the owrgelves agaAn mean being owraelves 
 again, i. e., wli«i» I have recgverei f rpm "my at," Plausible?— §3. tJio 
 
138 MACBETH. [act ui. 
 
 That is not often vouch'd, while 't is a-making, 
 
 'T is given with welcome : to feed were best at home ; 85 
 
 From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony ; 
 
 Meeting were bare without it. 
 
 [The Ghost of JBanquo enters and sits in MacbetKs place.'] 
 
 Macbeth. Sweet remembrancer ! 
 
 Now good digestion wait on appetite, 
 And health on both ! 
 
 Lennox. May 't please your highness sit. 
 
 Macbeth. Here had we now our country's honor roof'd, 
 Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present ; 41 
 
 Who may I rather challenge for unkindness 
 Than pity for mischance ! 
 
 Moss. His absence, sir. 
 
 Lays blame upon his promise. Please 't your highness 
 To grace us with your royal company. 45 
 
 Macbeth. The table 's full. 
 
 cheer=the usual welcome [Clark and Wright] ? the merry disposition 
 which should attend a feast [Schmidt] ? the proi>er encouragement to 
 your guests [Moberly] 1 —Choose !— sold. As if it were a mere matter 
 of sale, without sentiment?— 34. vouch'd, warranted, attested, strong- 
 ly aflrmed? Lat. uocore.to call; Old Pr. voucher, "to vouch, cite, pray 
 in aid, or call unto aid, in a suit." Cotgrave. See III, 1, 119. — a-mak- 
 ing. The prefix a has at least 13 different values in English. Skeat; 
 who illustrates them. In this case a is short for an. Mid. Eng. form 
 of on, as "David . . . fell on sleep." .4ct«, xiii, 36 ; .4b6ot(, 24, 140. 
 — 35. To feed=mere feeding [Clark and Wright] ? — 36. ft-om, as in 
 m, 1,99,131? Abbott, 158.— 36. thence. Whatellipsishere?— Is "from 
 thence" allowable now? — 37. meeting. Clark and Wright, Rolfe, 
 etc., say that there is no pun here, as tneat was pronounced mate in 
 Shakespeare's time.* But White, Vol. XII, pp. 418, 419, says that " ea 
 had in many cases the sound which it has at the present day." How 
 was ee in "meeting" pronounced? — remembrancer^Lady Macbeth? 
 what she had just said? — " A remembrancer was an ofBcer attached to 
 a court to remind the king of the names, etc., of his guests." Melkle- 
 John. — Scan line 37. May " remembrancer " be a dactyl? Abbott, 494. 
 See III, i, 80 ; and see note on line 2 above. — At this point, according to 
 the folios, "Enterthe Ghostof Banguo, andiits in McKbeth's place." Most 
 editors put this stage direction two lines later, after highneea sit. Bet- 
 ter?— 38. Personification? "A somewhat physiological grace" ! Buck- 
 nUl.—So Hpnry VTIT, I, iv, 93.-39. please .... sit: to is in- 
 serted in line 45. Present usage? .Abbott, 349. — 40. roof d. Present 
 meaoQing not in Shakes. Bol/e.- 41. gpac'd=full of graces? gracious? 
 favored? honored? Lear, I, iv, 236.-^. Who. Ill, i, 122. Note tbe 
 neatness of this wish of Macbeth, the perfection of compliment I and 
 so the felicity of language everywhere in Shakespeare? — 46. The ta- 
 
 * White lUnstratee this Elizabethan pronnnciation by the following from 
 Eamlet, 1, li, 150, 151 : 
 
 " a baste (beast) that wants dUcoorte (disconTBe) of rayion (reuon) 
 
 Won I d hai/oe (have) moorned (moumad) longer "I 
 
BOBNB IV.] MAOBETH. 133 
 
 Lennox. Here is a place reserv'd, sir. 
 
 Macbeth. Where ? 
 
 Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is 't that moves 
 your highness ? 
 
 Macbeth. Which of you have done this ? 
 
 Lords. What, my good lord ? 
 
 Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it : never shake 50 
 Thy gory locks at me. 
 
 jRoss. Gentlemen, rise : his highnegs is not well. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Sit, worthy friends, my lord is often 
 thus. 
 And hath been from his youth : pray you, keep seat ; 
 The fit is momentary ; upon a thought 55 
 
 He will again be well. If much you note him, 
 You shall offend him and extend his passion ; 
 Feed, and regard him not. — Are you a man ? 
 
 Macbeth. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that 
 Which might appal the devil. 
 
 Lady Macbeth, O proper stuff ! 60 
 
 This is the very painting of your fear : 
 This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, 
 Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, 
 Impostors to true fear, would well become 
 
 ble's full. Had he glanced carelessly around and noted that there 
 seemed no empty seat, but not noticed the new occupant of the place 
 reserved for him? For an interesting discussion of the question 
 whether Duncan's ghost as well as Banquo's appears to Macbeth, as 
 well as whether the apparition is real (objective), or imaginary 
 (subjective) , as also whether it should be visible upon the stage, see 
 Fumess, Hudson, or Rolfe,. The Variorum Edition of Furness is espec 
 i ally full on this point. See Sftafcespeariama, August, 1888. — 55. upona 
 thought. 1 Henry IV, II, iv, 302; Love's Labor's Lost, IV, iii, 325; 
 Tempest, IV, i, 164; Julius Caesar, V, lii, 19. — 57. passion = fit? — Gr. 
 Tra»ilv, pathein ; Lat. paM, to sufEer ; passio, sufEering. — shall inter- 
 changeable with iMlU See Psalm xxiii, 6. — Abbott, 315. — Are lines 58 
 to 60 spoken in the hearing of the company? — 60. proper stuff = 
 mere nonsense [Clark and Wright] ? Proper (= fine, pretty, etc.) is 
 often so used [Rolfe]? Stufi is contemptuous? Henry VIII, I, i, 58; 
 Tempest, II, i, 249. — Hebrews, xi, 23.— Lat.proprJus, one's own; Fr. %rropre, 
 proper, fit. — Lat. sfttpa, stuppa, the coarse part of flax, oakum, tow 
 (used for sto^na things or stovping them up) ; OldFr. estoffe; Fr. &ioffe, 
 stuff, cloth. Brachet makes the word from German staff, through Ital. 
 stoffa. — Has not the unavoidable interjectional sound of the word in- 
 fluenced its meaning, and helped to make it contemptuous? — 63. flaws. 
 Norweg. flage, ]Umg, a sudden gust of wind. Metaphorically what? — 
 Paradise Regained, iv, 454. - - 64. to = compared with [M. Mason] ? com- 
 pared to [Clark and Wright] 1 To (meaning motion toward) means hera 
 
134 MACBETH. [act m. 
 
 A woman's story at a winter's fire, 69 
 
 Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself ! 
 Why do you make such faces ? When all 's done, 
 You look but on a stool. 
 
 Macbeth. Prithee, see there ! behold ! look ! lo I how 
 say you ? — 
 Why, what care I ? If thou canst nod, speak too. — 70 
 If charnel-houses and our graves must send 
 Those that we bury back, our monuments 
 Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost vanishes. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. What, quite unmann'd in folly ? 
 
 Macbeth. If I stand here, I saw him. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Fie, for shame ! 
 
 Macbeth. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden 
 time, 75 
 
 Ere humane statute purg'd the gentle weal ; 
 Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd 
 Too terrible for the ear : the times have been. 
 That when the brains were out the man would die, 
 And there an end ; but now they rise again, 80 
 
 With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, 
 
 "brought to the side of and compared with." AVbott, 187. — 65. print- 
 er's falR, n, i, 85, has "A sad tale's best for winter; I have one of 
 sprites and goblins." — 66. authorized = warranted [Clark and 
 Wright]? .Abbott accents 2d syl., 491. —68. stool. A. S. aUl. a seat, 
 a throne; Ger. «tuM, a chair. From y/STO for i/«fo, to stand. — 78. 
 maws. — A. S. maga, stomach, t/magh, to have power. — Spenser has 
 " But be entombed in the raven or the kite," Faerie Q., II, viii, 16. — 
 Gorgias Leontinus (B. C. 480-580) has the expression yBire!, ejifux"' 
 Ta<^oi, gupes, empsuchoi taphoi, vultures, living tombs. So Lucianus 
 (about A. D. 160i) has lij.^x^ "> rai^os, empsuchos tis taphos, a sort of 
 living grave. Milton, Samson AgonMes, 102, " Myself my sepulchre, 
 a moving grave". — 73. Ghost vanishes. This was inserted by 
 Rowe. Properly? —76. humane. Most editor's omit the final e, but 
 Shakes, does not. He uses the word in both senses. If hwmame makes 
 just as good sense as hvmcm, may we change it? — gentle Is said to be 
 again proleptic here. See I, vi, 3. — iveal. A . S. wecUa, well-being, 
 welfare; whence wealth. Here commonwealth? — See " sickly weal,'' 
 inV, ii, 27. — 78. have. The 1st folio reads ftos. Most editors change 
 "times" to "time." Are two times referred to? — 80. there an end. 
 Same expression in Riehardll, V, i, 69. — rise again, etc. "Just as 
 Mary and Bothwell were astonished to find that the dead Damly had 
 more power to overthrow them than he would have had when alive." 
 Moberly. — 81. twenty. Whytwenty? L,ine837, 28.— Walker and Hudson 
 object to the repetition of mwrders; but is it not natural? "Out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." — mortal. Supei^uous 
 word? I, V, 39; IV, iii, 3. — murders. — loel. morth, death; A. S. mor- 
 ther, murder; akin to Lat. mors, mortU, death. — Hudson and-Lettsom 
 
SCENE IV.] MAG BETH. I35 
 
 And push us from our stools. This is more strange 
 Than such a murder is. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. My worthy lord, 
 
 Your noble friends do lack you. 
 
 Macbeth. I do forget 
 
 Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends ; 85 
 
 I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing 
 
 To those that know me. Come, love and health to all ; 
 
 Then I 'II sit down. — Give me some wine, fill full. — 
 
 I drink to the general joy o' the whole table. 
 
 And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss ; 90 
 
 Would he were here ! to all and him we thirst, 
 
 And all to all. 
 
 Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. 
 
 Re-enter Ghost. 
 
 Macbeth. Avaunt ! and quit my sight ! let the earth hide 
 thee! 
 Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ; 
 Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 95 
 
 Which thou dost glare with. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Think of this, good peers, 
 
 But as a thing of custom : 't is no other ; 
 Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. 
 
 change "murders" to "gashes"! rightfully?— 82. push us from oup 
 stools. This is the Homeric ef e5emv arv^eKi^ai, ex hedeon stuphelixai. 
 lUad, i, 581. A trace of Shakespeare's Greek reading? (Chapman's 
 translation, the only one existing in Shakespeare's time, published in 
 1598, translates the words thus: "Take you' and toss you from your 
 throne." It will be seen that Shakespeare is much closer to the orig- 
 inal Homeric phrase.) 84. lack=need? miss? — Dutch loft, blemish: 
 Icel. takr, defective, lacking. — Corinlamis, IV, i, 15, " I shall be lov'd 
 when I am lack'd." IV, iii, 237. — 85. muse. Ital. mmo, a muzzle, a 
 snout; muadre, to muse, to think, gape idly about; OldFr. miuse, the 
 mouth, snout of an animal; museaw, muzzle, nose. "Tne image is of a 
 dog snuffing idly about, and musing which direction to take" ! Skeat. 
 - -91. thirst=wish to drink? -rJulius Omsci/r, IV, iii, 160.— 92. all to all. 
 The usual formula, meaning, "May all good things be to you all" ; or is 
 it, "Let all drink health to all" ?—Tim(in, 1, ii, 213; Henry Vin,l, Iv, 29 
 —duties. Supply the ellipsis.— 93. Avaunt=begone? — The sudden- 
 ness of this exclamation, while the glasses are at their lips, is fright- 
 ful. — French en avcmt, forward, on ! — See vantage, I, ii, 31.-95. specu- 
 lation =the power of sight [Johnson] ? in its Latin sense of vision or 
 seeing [Hudson]? intelligence, communicated and perceived [Clark and 
 Wright] ? look that reflects the image [Darmesteter] ? Lat. apecvlari, 
 to behold; spectre, to see. I. ii, 46; III, i, 127.-98. only. Position of 
 
136 MACBETH. [act m 
 
 Macbeth. What man dare, I dare : 
 Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 100 
 
 The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan 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 ; 105 
 
 If trembling I inhabit then, protest me 
 The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow ! 
 Unreal mockery, hence ! [ Gko8t vanishes. 
 
 Why, so : being gone, 
 
 this word? Ahhott. 420, m, vi, 8. — 99. I, vii, 46. Is dare archaic for 
 dasreal or should may be supplied? — 100. Russian bear. Henry V, III, 
 vii, 128. — 101. arm'd is used both of defensive armor and offensive 
 weapons [Clark and Wright]? armored (referring to the thickness and 
 hardness of the animal's hide) [Hudson] ?— Lat. arma, weapons ; liter- 
 ally "flttings," equipments; Gr. ipniiioi, harmozo, to fit together; Vah, 
 to fit, join. — rhinoceros; Gr. pn-oMpms, rhinoceros, nose-horn; pi«, 
 pi'xoi ris, rinos, nose; nepas, kSras, horn. — Hyrcan tiger. Hyr- 
 cania^ of undefined limits, lay south and south-east of the 
 Caspian. In Holland's translation of Pliny (1601) the rhinoceros and 
 Hyroanian tigers are mentioned on opposite pages. HmrUet, II, ii, 436; 
 Mer. of Yen., H, vii, 41. — "Virgil's Mne/Ui, iv, 367. — 104. — Does this 
 passage show whoet ghost, Duncan's or Banquo's, appeared? — 
 desert. Why "to the desert"? Plenty of room, and no danger 
 of interference? — 105. If tremblins I inhabit then. "This 
 is the great erux of the play," says riolft. Commentators have sug- 
 gested in place of inhabit then, the following : inhibit then, inhabit here, 
 inhibit thee, unknight me then, evade It then, exhibit then, evitate it then, in- 
 herit then, aimid it then, flinch at it then, embar thee, etc. Retaining the 
 old text, White explains thus : "If then I am encompassed by trem- 
 bling, and so, if I inhabit trembling." He cites " O thou, that inhab- 
 iteet the praises of Israel," Psalms, xxii, 3. We may be allowed to sug- 
 gest as follows : The "Hyrcan tiger" in Pliny (Virgil iv, 367, andHora- 
 lel, II, ii, 436) is associated with the " Hyrcanian deserts " (mentioned 
 in the Merchant of Venice, II, vii, 41) . Shakespeare was doubtless fa- 
 miliar also with the magnificent passage in Isaiah, describing the de- 
 struction of Babylon in the adjacent region (Isaiah xiii, especially 
 verses 20, 21)j "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in 
 from generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent 
 there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild 
 beasts of the desert shall lie there," etc. The desert, uninhabited and 
 uninhabitable, is thus suggested as a battle-ground for him. " Dare 
 me to the desert with thy sword" — what is the natural antithesis? 
 Why, to inhabit (some place) as a trembling coward I — Paradise Lost, 
 vii, 162. — 106. baby of a girl = a doll [Walker] ? infant of a very 
 young mother, likely to be puny and weak [Clark and Wright] ? female 
 baby [DarmesteterJ? a babyish girl [Hudson, suggestion of Prof. 
 Howison] ? — "With prodigious bravery, and an effort for self-posses- 
 sion that showed a power of wiU greater than he had ever had occa- 
 sion to exert on the field of battle, he fronted the vision and addressed 
 it as if it were real, approached it step by step until he finally faced it 
 down." White. — 107. mockery. pHic/wwd II, IV, i, 359; Henry Y, iv, 
 
SCENE IV.] MACBETH. 131 
 
 I am a man again Pray you, sit still. 
 
 JLady Macbeth. You have displao'd the mirth, broke the 
 good meeting, 
 With most admir'd disorder. 
 
 Macbeth. Can such things be, 110, 
 
 And overcome 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, 115 
 
 When mine is blanch'd with fear. 
 
 Moss. What sights, my lord ? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. I pray you, speak not ; he grows worse 
 and worse ; 
 Question' enrages him. At onoe, good night : 
 Stand not upon the order of your going, 
 But go at once. 
 
 Lennox. Good night ; and better health 120 
 
 Attend his majesty. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. A kind good night to all ! 
 
 [Exeunt all but Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Macbeth. It will have blood, they say : blood will have 
 blood : 
 Stones have been known to move and trees to speak ; 
 
 prol. 53. — 108. a man. Mcmlineaa is always the chief of virtues to him? 
 Verify. — 8till=yet? quiet? or quietly? — 109. — displaced = deranged 
 [Clark and Wright] ? banished [Schmidt] ? — 110. admlr'd=admirable 
 (spoken ironically) [Clarke] ? worthy of wonder [Clark and Wright] ? 
 In Bichard III, I, iv, 87, and in Milton's Epitaph on Shakes., unvalued = 
 invaluable. The -ed is used for -able. Abbott, 375. — 111. overcome = 
 come over [Moberly] ? spread over, overshadow [Clark and Wright] 1 
 — Spenser's Fairie Q«., Ill, vii, i. — 112. strange=a stranger or forget- 
 ful [Malone] ? unable to comprehend [Rolfe] ? surprised [Delius, and 
 Moberly]? not knowing, unacquainted [Schmidt] ? — 113. owe. I, iv, 
 10 ; I, iii, 76. — 116. mine. Referring to ruby [Jennens, Delius, Clark 
 and Wright] ? to clieeksf — "Shakes, did not always trouble himself to 
 make his pronouns agree with their antecedents." Bolfe. Abbott, 
 247. White reads cheek; Hudson are blanch'd. — 119. Stand not, etc. 
 — Why? — See line 1 of the scene. — "We still say, 'do not stand on cere- 
 mony. " Cla/rk amd Wright — 133. It will. What will? death of Dun- 
 can? Banquo's gory head? the unnamed deed? See refienious deod, IV, 
 i, 97. — Most editors change the comma after blood to a semicolon, and 
 remove the colon after soy. Wisely? — See note on "bloody," I, ii, 1. — 
 See Genesis, ix, 5, 6, " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his 
 blood be shed."— 133. stones="rocking stones, by which the Druids 
 tested guilt or innocence" [Paton] ? Mr. Paton says one of these rock- 
 toff stones was close to Glamis castle. — Lucan's Phanalia, VI, 439. — 
 
138 MAGBBIH. [act m 
 
 Augnres and understood relations have 
 
 By magot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth 135 
 
 The secret'st man of blood. — What is the night ? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Almost at odds with morning, which is 
 which. 
 
 Macbeth. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person 
 At our great bidding ? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Did you send to him, sir ? 
 
 Macbeth. I hear it by the way, but I will send : 130 
 
 "Probably Shakes, is here alluding to some story in which the stones 
 covering the corpse of a murdered man were said to have moved of 
 themselves, and so revealed the secret." Clarli amA TTrtohC. — trees, 
 etc. The commentators say this may allude to the story of Polydorus 
 in VirgU, JEneld, iii, 22-68. But did the tree speak? See line 43 of 
 the passage. Clarkand WrightjFurness,andDarmestetererrinprint- 
 ing 599 as one of the Virgilian Imes referred to. — 134-. angures. So 
 the folios. Most change to augurs. "In Florio'sltal. Diet., 1611, augti/re 
 is given as the equivalent both for auywio, soothsaying, and OMguro, a 
 soothsayer. In the edition of 1598, 'augure' is only given as the trans- 
 lation of auguHo, and it is in this sense that it is used here. ' ' Clark and 
 Wrtght. Moberly defines augures, auguries; so Dannesteter. Lat. 
 augurlum, augury. Max Muller makes the word from a«te, bird, and 
 -gur, telling, "ottr being connected with gcurrlre, garmlua, and the 
 Sanscrit gar or gri, to shout." — For auffur. Shakes, uses augurer. JuHus 
 CcBsar, II, i, 200; II, ii, 37. In Holland's PUny, 1601, av^ure is used in 
 the sense of augur. Bolfe. — understood relations=founded on rel- 
 ative limits [Moberly]? secret relations of things [Darmesteter] i "cir- 
 cumstantial evidence"'? "BeloMons are the connection of efEects with 
 causes." Johrwon.— 125. magot-pies. This word is not quite so bad 
 as it sounds ! Mag, Magot, Maggnty (like Madge) are various forms of 
 the name Margaret. French Mairgot, put for Marguerite, Lat. margairlta, 
 a pearl. Pie is Lat. pica; Fr. pie; a magpie. "It probably means 
 'chirper,' and is of imitative origin." Skeat. See note on "peep," I, v, 
 51. — choughs (pron. chuffls), bird of the crow family. A. S. ce6; 
 Dutch haauw, a chough, jackdaw: Dan. kaa. So named from caiMng. 
 Skeat. — Tempest. II, i, 261. — 126. secret'st. See kind'et, II, i, 24. 
 Abbott, 473. — What. Peculiar meaning here? II, 1, 1; Abbott, 253. — 
 127. at odds. Icel. oddl, a triangle. The notion of oddness arose 
 from the triangle, which has two angles at the base, and an odd one at 
 the vertex. Closely related to oddr, a point of a weapon. A. S. aid, 
 a point of a sword. The sense of " strange " or " queer " seems to be 
 a mere development from that of uneven. Icel. stamdask i odda, to 
 stand at odds, be at odds, quarrel. Skeat. — 128. How say'st thou 
 = what do you think of this circumstance [M. Mason] ? what say you 
 of the fact ? — Here b^ins the ' ' preparation for the next great passage 
 in the story, which will be the main theme of the Fourth Act"? — 
 denies. Lat. de, fully; Tie, not; aiire, to say ; denegdre, Old Fr. denier; 
 Fr. dinier, to deny, refuse. Skeat. Tempest, I, ii, 80; Mer. of Yen., Ill, 
 iii, 26, 28. — 127. sir. " This word is an emphatic proof that she is 
 wholly subjugated " [Maginn ] ? — great bidding = general invita- 
 tion [Hudson] important command? — 130. by the w^ay = in passing? 
 apropos? incidentally? casually? ^ Did Macduff absent himself 
 through distrust or dislike from the coronation? II, iv, 36? See HI, v^ 
 
SCENE v.] MACBETH. 139 
 
 There 's not a one of them but in his house 
 
 I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow, 
 
 And betimes I will, to the weird sisters : 
 
 More shall they speak, for now I am bent to know, 
 
 By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good 136 
 
 All causes shall give way : I am in blood 
 
 Stepp'd 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 scann'd. 140 
 
 .Lady Macbeth. You lack the season of all natures, sleep. 
 
 Macbeth. Come, we '11 to sleep. My strange and self- 
 abuse 
 Is the initiate fear that wants hard use : 
 We are yet but young in deed. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. A Heath. 
 
 Thunder. Enter the three Witches, meeting Hecate. 
 
 First Witch. Why, how now, Hecate ! you look angerly. 
 
 40. — a one. Theobold changed one to theme; White, to mcun. White 
 says nothing but Shakespeare's " own hand and seal could convinoe " 
 him that Shakes, was guilty of saying, " There's notaone." But Ben. 
 Jonson in Every Man in His Humor, III, ii, uses the phrase " ne'er a 
 one" ; so, too, Shakes, in Timonof Athens, V, i, 86, has " never a one". 
 Abbott, 81. See IV, iii, 66, 101 ; V, viii, 74.— 136, 137. in blood stepp'd in. 
 Tra repeated for clearness? or blunderingly? Abbott, 4107. Mtd.N.Dr., 
 Ill, ii, i7A9. — 138. as go o'er. "The Elizabethan authors objected to 
 scarcely any ellipsis, provided the deficiency could be easily supplied 
 from the context." Abbott, 382, 383, 384. —140. scanned= scrutinized? 
 Lat. scanMre, to climb, to scan a verse ; Sanscrit skcmd, to spring, ascend ; 
 Pr. sconeter, to scan (verse) . How arise the desired meaning fr. )/'skand, 
 to springupward? — Hamlet, III, iii, 75; Othello, III, iii, 245. may=can? 
 or the usual sense? — 141. season of all natures = season which all 
 natures require? that which gives a relish to all nature [JohnsonJ ? 
 that which keeps all natures fresh [Schmidt] ? — Alas, he had murdered 
 sleep ! II, ii, 36. — 142. self is an adjective? Hence the use of and? 
 See V, viii, 70. — abuse. II, i, 50. Hamlet, II, ii, 590. In Tempest, V, 
 i, 112. Lat. ab, awa3', amiss; «M, to use; ab«ti, to misuse; Fr. abuier; 
 to abuse = to delude, deceive. So abuse is deception in Henry V, ii, 
 chorus, 33. — 143. initiate. Lat. in, into ; ire, to go ; Mre, to enter 
 upon; initialis, incipient. — hard use. Proleptical? the use that 
 makes hard? — 144. in deed. The folios have indeed. Theobold made 
 the change. Well? — Note the admirable behavior of Lady Macbeth 
 throughout this scene. Progress in the plot. 
 
 Scene v. — I.Hecate. II, i, 53. A malicious friend, afHioted with 
 insomnia'; having cause to remember " Graymalkin," I, i, 8, and notic- 
 ing the spelling Hecat of the first two folios, insists that we pronounce 
 it He-cat 1 — "Shakes, has been censured for mixing Hecate up with 
 
140 MACBETH. [act hi. 
 
 Hecate. Have I not reason, beldams as you are, 
 Saucy and overbold ? How did you dare 
 To trade and traffic with Macbeth 
 
 In riddles and affairs of death ; S 
 
 And I, the mistress of your charms. 
 The close contriver of all harms, 
 Was never call'd to bear my part, 
 Or show the glory of our art ? 
 
 And, which is worse, all you have done 10 
 
 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 16 
 
 Meet me i' the morning : thither he 
 Will come to know his destiny. 
 Your vessels and your spells provide, 
 Tour charms and every thing beside. 
 I am for the air ; this night I '11 spend SO 
 
 Unto a dismal and a fatal end ; 
 Great business must be wrought ere noon. 
 
 vulgar Scotch witches smelling of snuff and usquebaugh." White. 
 Many instances of the blending of Gothic and Pagan fictions are re- 
 corded. See Wwmms. — angerly. From y agh and t/angh, to choke ; 
 Gr. avx«i>', to strangle; Lat. angor, a strangling, bodily torture; leel. 
 angr, grief: -ly, A. S. lice, adv.; Mc, adj. =like. — Abbott, 447. King 
 John, IV, 1, 83. — 2. beldams. Lat. bella, fair; chmina, lady; Pr. 
 belle, fair ; dame, lady. Ironical? — Beldam is a doublet of beUadonna! 
 — The name bettadonna (deadly nightshade) is due to the use of it by 
 ladies to give expression to the eyes, the pupils of which it expands. 
 Skeat. — 7. close. Gr. nAeiu, I shut; LatctoutZft-e, to shut; clOMmg, be- 
 ing shut, shut in; Old Fr. clos, enclosed. V, i, 17; Bom. cmdJvl., I, i, 
 141 ; I Henry IV, II, iii, 105, 106. — "In reality the harms come from 
 the secret contriver, Hecate." DeUus. — 13. loves. "There is no 
 hint of his pretending love to the witches." Clark amd Wright. This 
 is one of the many supposed indications that this scene is spurious. 
 But Morley says of this passage, " Thus far all crime has been to win 
 and to secure some earthly gain,- has had a motive with a touch in it of 
 human reason. Macbeth has been made but a wayward sou of the 
 powers of darkness, loving evil for his own ends, not for itself; not 
 for you, who are evil itself. For the complete perdition of the tempted 
 soul, it must be dragged down to the lowest deep, till it do evil with- 
 out hope of other gain than the satisfaction of a fiendish malice . " — 1.5. 
 Acheron. " Some foul tarn or gloomy pool in tho neighborhood of 
 Macbeth's castle." Clarke. "Any cave or pit communicating with the 
 infernal regions." Clark and Wright. Gr. Axipfr, Acheron, a river of 
 the nether world; f r. 6 axcn peui', ho achea reon, the stream of woe; 
 "Sad Acheron, of sorrow black and deep," Par. Lost, ii,578. — Malone 
 
scBNB Ti.] MACBETH. 141 
 
 Upon the comer of the moon 
 There hangs a vaporous drop profound ; 
 I '11 catch it ere it come to ground ; 26 
 
 And that, distill'd 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 80 
 
 His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear : 
 And you all know security 
 Is mortals' chiefest enemy. 
 
 \ Music cund a song within: "Come away, come away," etc. 
 
 Hark! I am called; my little spirit, see, 35 
 
 Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. \Exiit. 
 
 First Witch. Come, let 's make haste ; she '11 soon be 
 
 back again. [_Mceunt. 
 
 Scene VI. Forres. The Palace. 
 Enter Lestnox and arbotJwr Lord. 
 Lennox. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, 
 
 fancies that Shakes, was led hy Scripture to make Ms witches assem- 
 ble at Acheron [Bkron?]. See 2 Kings, 1, 3, 3, 6, — 33. corner of the 
 moon. See Milton's ComuSj 1016, 1017. — 24. profonnd = full of 
 secret power [Moberly] ? havmg deep or hidden qualities [Johnson] i 
 deep, and therefore ready to fall [Clark and Wright] ? brought from 
 the depths of the moon [Meiklejohn] ? Lat. pro, forward, downward, 
 far, deep ; fvmdus, the ground, bottom ; profunSAjig, deep. Skeat. The 
 position of a noun between two adjectives, as of drop between the two 
 epithets, is a favorite one with Milton. Poetic or rhetorical effect of 
 it? — vaporous drop. Is it the same as the vints lundre of Lucan, 
 Pharsalia, vi, 506, 669, a foam fabled to have been shed by the moon on 
 particular herbs, at once the effect and the cause of enchantment? — 
 26. sleights. Icel. slaegdh, slyness, cunning; fr. slaegr, sly; Swed. 
 slog, handy, expert; whence sly. Skeat. "Sle'ight is the noun from sly , 
 as drought is from dry." Note therphrase " sleight of hand." — 27. 
 artificial = artful? produced by art? Mid. NigWs Dr., Ill, ii, 303. — 
 sprites. II, iii, 60; IV, i, 127. —29. oonAision. II, iii, 47. —31. 
 'bove. For prefixes dropped in Shakes., see Abbott, 460. — 32. secur- 
 ity. Lat. SB-, free from; aura, care; securltas, freedom from care; 
 carelessness. — "At the outset it had been the suggestion of security that 
 resolved Macbeth's doubt, when he first shrunk from the murder of 
 Duncan." Morley. — The critics quote from John Webster's Duchess 
 of Mdlfi, V, ii, "security some men call the suburbs of heU." — 33. 
 song. See post. — Many commentators regard this scene as spurious. 
 Is it at all needed in the plot? Is it like Shakespeare's work? — Of the 
 two closing scenes of this Act, Moberly says that they have " touches 
 of artistic preparation for the end." 
 
 Scene TI. — 1. hit = coincided with? stirred up? been intended ta 
 
142 MACBETH. [act m. 
 
 Which can interpret farther : only I say 
 
 Things have been strangely borne. The graciouB Duncan 
 
 Was pitied of Macbeth : — marry, he was dead ; 
 
 And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late ; 5 
 
 Whom, you may say, if 't please you, Fleance kill'd, 
 
 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 ? damned fact ! 10 
 
 How it did grieve Macbeth ! did he not straight 
 
 Tn 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 't would have anger'd any heart alive 15 
 
 To hear the men deny 't. So that, I say. 
 
 He has borne all things well : and I do think 
 
 stir up [Moberly] 1 — 2. only as in III, iv, 981—3. borne = managed, 
 carried on! tolerated? See line 17 below. — 4. of. This word meanis 
 from, out of, off, in consequence of, with, at, in, by, as regards, about, 
 on, during, etc. Which here? Abbott, 170. — Marry. By Mary! — 
 "Has the force of Indeed, /orsooth, to be sure." Hudson. — Said to be 
 "here equivalent to a monosyl." But is it? 4bboff, 463; I, ii, 5, 7, 80.— 8. 
 want, etc. There has been great controversy over this line, and 
 many emendations have been proposed. The most plausible change is 
 to remove the stop after "late " at the end of line 7, and the question- 
 mark after "father" inline 10, and interpret thus: " Men, who cannot 
 help thinking how monstrous it was for the princes to kill their father, 
 must avoid night walking." The sense apparently requires to express 
 irony, "Who can want," etc., meaning " who can help thinking," etc. 
 Clark and Wright say as follows: "The sentence, if analyzed, ex- 
 presses exactly the converse of that which is its obvious meaning. 
 This construction arises from a confusion of thought common enough 
 when a negative is expressed or implied, and is so frequent in Greek 
 writers as to be almost sanctioned by usage." — " Who cannot want" 
 = " Whocannot not have " ; where the double negative, as is often the 
 case in Shakespeare, and very often ia. early English and in the Greek 
 writers, but strengthened the negation? See I, iv, 30, 31. Richard III, 
 I, iii, 90, has, "you may deny that you were not the cause," the evident 
 meaning being, " You may deny that you were the cause." Abhott, 40fi. 
 The rule in Greek is that when a negative is followed by a compound 
 negative, the negation is strengthened ; as, avev tovtov ovfiet$ vfiStv ovSenort 
 yeVoiTo av ofuis oiSii'6t = without this, uo One Of you would ever (lit. 
 never) be worth anything (lit. nothing). — If we must make any 
 change, perhaps now for not would be best. — monstrous. Trisyl. S 
 Abbott, 477. — 10. fact occurs in Shakes, 14 times, and always in a bad 
 sense. Bolfe, Delius, SehmlM. — 18. thralls. Icel. thraeU, Dstn. trael, 
 Swed. trol, a thrall, serf, slave: A. S. thraegian, to run; tTvrag, ttirah, 
 a running, course; cognate with Gr. Tpex*'", trechein, to run; rpoxi^, 
 trochos, a course. A thraU, then, is a runner, one who runs on errands, 
 a servant. Not demed, as Richardson and Trencb would have ix, 
 
8CBMB VI.] MAOBETH. 143 
 
 That had he Duncan's sons under his key — 
 
 As, and 't please heaven, he shall not — they should find 
 
 What 't were to kill a father ; so should Fleance. 20 
 
 But, peace ! for from broad words, and 'cause he fail'd 
 
 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, 
 
 Prom whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, 25 
 
 Lives in the English court, and is receiv'd 
 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 80 
 
 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, 85 
 
 Do faithful homage and receive free honors ; 
 All which we pine for now. And this report 
 Hath so exasperate their king that he 
 Prepares for some atteinpt of war. 
 
 Iiennox. Sent he to Macduff ? 
 
 from A. S. thyrlttm, to bore, drill. Skeat. " Shakes, uses the noun 6 
 times, and always in this sense, except in P P." Bo!/e.--19. and 't 
 please heaven. So the folios, but most editors change and to cm. 
 " The true explanation (of amd with the subjunctive) appears to be that 
 the hypothesis, the */, is expressed not by the and, but by the subjunct- 
 ive, and that and merely means with the addition of, plus." Abbott, 101, 
 lOa, 103.— 21. ft-om broa.d=because of bold? Henry VIII, I, i, 125; Ham- 
 let, II, ii, 538 ; HI, iv, 2.— failed. Transitive as in III, i, 27 ; Lear, II, iv, 
 136? — 24. bestows, in, i, 29. — son. The folios have the plural. — 
 25. tyrant = usurper? Like the Gr. Tiipa^i/os, turannos, which first 
 meant an absolute ruler, and afterwards a tyrant. 3 Henry VI, III, iii, 
 69; Uadbepi, IV, iii, 67. — E]dward, the Confessor. Why called pious? 
 
 — of. Line 4. — 30. Scan. Ppon Ma shortened to v/pon 'sf Abbott, 
 498 . — upon = for the purpose of [Rolf e] ? " in " or " to " [Clark and 
 Wright] f — 35. free = remove rSchmidtJ ? So in Epilogue to Tempest. 
 line 18, prayer "frees [removes] all faults". — Hudson changes /rce to 
 keep. — 36. tree = either freely bestowed, or without slavery [John- 
 son] ? such as freemen receive from a lawful king [Clark and Wright] ? 
 
 — 88. exasperate. In verbs in which the infinitive ends in -t, -ed is 
 often omitted in the past indicative for euphony. Some verbs ending 
 in -te, -t, and -d, on account of their already resembling participles in 
 their terminations, do not add ed in the participle. The same rule, 
 naturally dictated by euphony, is found in early English. Abbott, 341, 
 
144 MACBETH. \Kes in 
 
 Lcn-d. He did : and with an absolute "Sir, not I," 40 
 The cloudy messenger turns me his back, 
 And hums, as who should say "Tou '11 rue the time 
 That clogs me with this answer." 
 
 Lennox. And that well might 
 
 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 accurs'd ! 
 
 Lord. I '11 send my prayers with him ! 
 
 \_Exefwnt. 
 
 343. — their. Macduff' s an d Malcolm' s ? — Most editors change their to 
 the. Is it necessary! — The king might be construed to mean Edward? 
 — 41. cloudy = forboding [DeliusJ? frowning fRolfe]? gloomy, sul- 
 len [Clarlt and Wright] ? lH6nr|/ir,III,ii, 83. — me. '' Me,thee,Mm, 
 etc. , are often used, in virtue of their representing the old dative, where 
 we should use /or me, by me," etc. .Abbott, 220. " Me here is a kind of 
 enclitic adding vivacity to the description." Clark cmd Wright. — 43. 
 who = any one [.dbbottj 257]? So Mer. of Tenice, I, ii, 89, 40, "as who 
 should say, 'an you will not have me, choose.' " — 48, 49. suffering 
 country under = country suffering under? As to transposition of 
 adjectival phrases, see Abbott, 419a. But is there really any transposi- 
 tion here! — Is this scene of any value in itself! Is it valuable as a 
 preparation for the next Act* 
 
MAOBEIE. 149 
 
 ACT rv. 
 
 ScBNE I. A Cavern. In the Middle, a Boiling Cauldron. 
 Thwnder. Enter the three Witches. 
 
 First Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. 
 Second Witch. Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whin'd. 
 Third Witch. Harpier cries, — 't is time, 't is time. 
 IHrst Witch. Round about the cauldron go ; 
 
 ACT rv. Scene I. — " The rich vocabulary, prodigal fancy and 
 terse diction^ displayed in IV, i, 1-38, show the hand of a master, and 
 make us hesitate in ascribing the passage to any one but the master 
 himself. There is, however, a conspicuous falling off in lines 39-47, 
 after the entrance of Hecate." Clark and Wright. Verify ! — The 
 familiar spirits open the seance. How was it in I, i? — Mr. Pleay be- 
 lieves that these caldron witches are creations of Shakespeare, but 
 wholly distinct from the "weird sisters" of I, iii. — 1. brinded. 
 Icel. hramdr, a brand, flame, fire-brand; hrond, brindled; bi-enna, to 
 burn. Thus brinded is little more than another form of branded; brin- 
 dled, being an extended quasi-dimin. form. Skeat. Par. l/ost, vii, 466 ; 
 Comus, 443. —cat. Was it " Graymalkin " ? I, i, 9. — mewed. Was 
 it to give the witches a signal? — 3. Thrice. The folios put comma 
 after thrice; most editors omit it. The better? Virgil, in Bc!o(/ue, viii, 
 75, speaking of incantations and magic, says, numern deus impare gaudet, 
 a god (i. e. the gods) delights in an odd number. — the hedge pig "is 
 nocturnal in its habits, weird in its movements ; plants wither where 
 it works, for it cuts off their roots. Fairies of one class were supposed 
 to assume its form. Urchin came to mean /airy, without reference to 
 its hedge-hog shape ; hence, because fairies are little and mischievous, 
 it came to be applied to a child." Krauth. " Prom its solitariness, the 
 ugliness of its appearance, and from a popular opinion that it sucked 
 or poisoned the udders of cows, it was adopted into the demonologic 
 system, and its shape was sometimes supposed to be assumed by mis- 
 chievous elves." fTorfon. See Comus, 845, 846. whined. A signal? 
 — 3. Harpier. Pleay in ShaMspeariana, Dec, 1883, says, " It appears 
 that the familiars are, 1, cat (Graymalkin) ; 2, toad (Paddock) ; 3, 
 hedge-pig ; 4, Harpier. In Hamlet we find the cat, toad, and bat enum- 
 erated together. Query. Is Harpier the bat? A harpie with long 
 claws, bear's ears, human face, bird's body, must have been very bat- 
 like, and bats in Shakespeare's time were reckoned among birds. Of 
 course all suceubi must be sucking animals or reputed such. There is 
 a bat now called ' Harpie of the Moluccas,' on account of its appear- 
 ance." — 6r. Spjruiiii, harpuaiai, spoilers, snatchers; apirijio, harpazo, I 
 seize. Virgil's harpies are foul monsters, half woman and half bird; 
 .^neid, iii, 213, etc. Homer makes them personified storm-winds that 
 
lie MAGBETB, [act iv. 
 
 Inthe poison'd entrails throw. S 
 
 Toad, that under cold stone 
 Days and nights has thirty-one 
 Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 
 Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. 
 
 AU. Double, double toil and trouble ; 10 
 
 Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 
 
 Second Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, 
 In the cauldron boil and bake ; 
 Eye of newt and toe of frog. 
 
 Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 16 
 
 Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, 
 Lizard's leg and howlet's wing. 
 For a charm of powerful trouble, 
 Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 
 
 All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 20 
 
 carry off those who mysteriously disappear. — " Probftbly some ani- 
 mal thus designated by the witch because of the resemblance of its cry 
 to the sound of a harp-string!" GvAzot. — 't Is time. The exclama- 
 tion of the witch? of Harpieri — 5. throw. In devising loathsome in- 
 gredients for witches' messes, Liican, Pha/rsaUa, vi, 667-681, perhaps 
 excels. Clark and Wright. — 6. toad, etc. The line seems to lack a 
 syl. Some change cold to coldest; others supply the before cold; and 
 many make a disyl. of cold, as if prolonged with a shiver ! — Is the toad 
 addressed! — 8. sweltered = caused to exude by heat [Skeatjl 
 sultry and sweltry are the same word. Mid. Kng. sicelten, to die ; swoon 
 away; A. S. tivMan; Icel., gvelta, to die; ail from Teut. base swalt, 
 to die, fr. swal, to swell. There seems to have been some confusion 
 with the Teut. base swai,, to glow, be hot; from which the Eng. word 
 has undoubtedly received its present sense! this appears in A. S. 
 swelan, to burn ; tiw6l, heat, etc. Sheat. The flery activity of the venom 
 is hinted by its overcoming the coldness of the stone ; and so, if we 
 must change the line, we should prefer to read coldest. — venom. 
 Shakes, often alludes to the toad as poisonous. Hunter quotes Davy 
 as showing that the belief is well grounded, "the poison lying diffused 
 over the body immediately under the skin." As Tou lAke It, II, i, 18; 
 Richard III, I, ii, 149.— 10. toll. Personification? or —3— Note the allit- 
 eration in the passage. — The verse of four accents rarely used in 
 Shakes., except by witches or other extraordinary beings. Abbott, 
 504. — 12. Fillet = hood, head-dress? band-like skin? The cast-off 
 skin of a snake is strikingly like a ribbon I — Lat. fllum, thread; Fr. 
 filet, dim. of J!I, a thread. — 14. nevrt. A. S. efeta; ef, river; Sanscrit 
 op, water; Provin. Eng. eft, water-animal. The n is borrowed from 
 the article an. The boys in New England call the lizard 6v-et, Sf-et, or 
 eft. — 16. blind-worm=slow-worm? It is about a foot long. Its eyes 
 were so small that it was supposed to have none. — 17. howlet's. 
 Fromi/ UL, to hoot, howl, screech; A. S, vU; Dutch uU; Icel. ugUi; 
 Ger. eule; Lat. ulula; owl; Gr. vAou, I howl, bark. The word is imita- 
 tive, from the same root as howl; -el is dimin. — In spelling the h 
 is commonly dropped. Is it commonly sounded by some ia Go- 
 
SCENE I.] MAOBETH. 147 
 
 Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 
 
 Third Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf. 
 Witches' mummy ; maw and gulf 
 Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, 
 
 Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, 20 
 
 Liver of blaspheming Jew, 
 Gall of goat, and slips of yew 
 Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse, 
 Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, 
 
 Finger of birth-strangled babe 30 
 
 Ditch-deliver'd by a drab. 
 Make the gruel thick and slab : 
 Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, 
 For the ingredience of our cauldron. 
 
 All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 85 
 
 Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 
 
 Second Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood, 
 Then the charm is firm and good. 
 
 Enter Hecate. 
 
 Hecate. O, well done ! I commend your pains ; 
 And every one shall share i' the gains • 40 
 
 And now about the cauldron sing, 
 
 gland!— 22. mummy. OOwHo, III, iv, 73. On account of the aromatic 
 substance mixed or adhering, Egyptian mummy in bits, or as powder, 
 was valued as a part of the old materia mediea. "The Egyptian m'um- 
 mies which Cambyses spared, avarice now consumeth. Mummy is be- 
 come merchandise : Mizraim cures wounds, and Pharaoh is sold for 
 "oalsams!" Sir Thomas Brown (1605-1682).— maxr. Ill, iv, 73.— gulf. 
 French Bol/e, a gulf, whirlpool; a swallowng eddy; Late Gr. ic6\<(ios, 
 kolphos ; Gr. (cdAiros, kolpos, bosom, lap, deep hollow, bay. Perhaps 
 gulp is a mere variant of C"!p'' or 0»I/- Skeat. — 24. ravm'd=ravening 
 jMoberlyl? ravenous [Malone]? glutted with prey [Steevens]1 II, iv, 
 28. Abbott, 374. — 35. digg'd. The Invariable form in Shakes, and 
 Milton, and King James's Bible. — 26. liver. "Whence comes his 
 bile and spitefulness." Moberly. — 27. yew^. Reckoned poisonans. Douce. 
 —28. sliver'd. A. S. sUfan, to cleave; slitan, to slit; Prov. Eng. alive, 
 to cut or slice off ; a slice, or slip. — eclipse, a time unlucky for ordi- 
 nary mortals, most fortunate for dealers in the black art ! Shakespeare's 
 107th Sonnet; Milton's I-ycidos, 100, 101. Par. Lo»t, i, .597.-33. slab= 
 thick, viscous, glutinous? — Irish slab, Gael, slaih, mire, mud; Icel. 
 tlapja, slime, akin to slop, slaver, slabber. Sfteat.— 33. chaudron. Ger. 
 kaidaunen, tripe, entrails. This seems to have been the omentum. 
 White.— Si. ingredience. I, vii, 11.— 37. baboon's. Abbott, 490, 493, 
 gives list of words accented nearer the end and others nearer the be- 
 ginning than now. How is it with this word? — 38. The stage direction 
 in the folios is "Enter Hecat, and the other three witches." Who are 
 the other three witches? Should tlie direction be retained ? Are sia; 
 
148 MACBETH. l^cr it. 
 
 Like elves and fairies in a ring, 
 Enchanting all that you put in. 
 [Music and a song : " Black spirits," etc. 
 
 Second Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs. 
 Something wicked this way comes. 45 
 
 Open locks, 
 Whoever knocks ! 
 
 Enier Macbeth. 
 
 Macbeth. How now, you secret, black, and midnight 
 hags ! 
 What is 't you do ? 
 
 All. A deed without a name. 
 
 Macbeth. I conjure you, by that which you profess, 50 
 Howe'er you come to know it, answer me : 
 Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
 Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 
 Confound and swallow navigation up ; 
 Though bladed corn be lodg'd and trees blown down ; 65 
 
 witches needed in the dance? — 43. The stage direction is from Folio 1. 
 The song, found in The Witch of Middleton (died in 1637) begins 
 Come awav, come away, 
 
 Hecate, Hecate, come away! 
 I come, I come, I come, I come, 
 With aU the speed I may. 
 
 See post. —44. pricking, etc. "The superstition still lives which re- 
 gards pricking sensations in the thumbs, burnings in the ear, etc., as 
 omens." Masterpieces, p. 154. Upton quotes from Plautus (Miles OlO' 
 7-losua),tfa dorgiwtotusprurtt, etc., to illustrate. — 50. coi^jure (Shakes, 
 commonly, but not always, accents the first syl.), adjure? excite by 
 magic, or summon up by enchantment? — Accentuation and pronuncia- 
 tion at the present day? — Lat. con, together, jurdre, to swear ; eonjurdre, 
 to swear together, combine by oath, conspire ; Mid. Eng. conjure, to im- 
 plore solemnly ; Pr. conjurer, to adjure ; also to exorcise a spirit. Con- 
 jure, to jnggle, is the same word, and refers to the invocation of spirits 
 Slteat. — 53. untie the virinds, et<:. — See note on wind, I, iii, 11. So 
 '•They.loesed the wallet, and all the winds brake forth." Odyssey, x, 47. — 
 Mrs. Henry Pott in an interesting way points out remarkable resem- 
 blances between this passage and Lord Bacon's language in his Studies 
 of the History of the Winds. See Shakespeartana, December, 1884. — Any 
 allusion to the myth of .^olus and the winds? See, as to similarities 
 of thought or expression between Shakespeare and Ba<!on, the explana- 
 tion by the present editor in the Overland Monthly (California) for Sep- 
 tember, 1886, in his review of White's Studies in Shakespeare, and O'Con- 
 nor's Hamlet's Note Book, pp. 331, 332, 333. — 53. churches, etc. Why 
 against these?— yesty. i/TAS, to foam, ferment; A. S. gist; Icel. jagt; 
 Ger. gaseht., yeast; Gr. (ieiv, zeein, to boil, seethe; feffros, zestos, fer- 
 vent.— HarnJet, V, ii, 182. — 55. bladed=iu the blade. "Ovid afOrmith 
 that they can raise and suppress lightning and thunder, raine and hail, 
 
•CENB I.] MACBETH. 149 
 
 Though castles topple on their warders' heads ; 
 
 Though palaces and pyramids do slope 
 
 Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 
 
 Of nature's germens tumble all together, 
 
 Even till destruction sicken ; answer me 60 
 
 To what I ask you. 
 
 First Witch. Speak. 
 
 Second Witch. Demand. 
 
 Third Witch. We '11 answer. 
 
 First Witch. Say, if thou 'dst rather hear it from our 
 mouths, 
 Or from our masters'. 
 
 Macbeth. Call 'em ; let me see 'em. 
 
 First Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten 
 Her nine farrow ; grease that 's sweaten 65 
 
 From the murderer's gibbet throw 
 Into the flame. 
 
 All. Come, high or low ; 
 
 Thyself and office deftly show ! 
 
 Thunder. First Apparition : an armed Head. 
 
 Macbeth. Tell me, thou unknown power, — 
 
 First Witch. He knows thy thought ; 
 
 clouds and winds, tempests and earthquakes. Others do write that they 
 can pull down the moon and stars ; some that they can transfer eom in 
 the Made, from one place to another." Scot's Dlgeovery of WUcheraft, 
 (1584), Book Ij chap. iv. — lodg'd = beaten down so as to stay? Fr. 
 Uige, a lodge ; Low Lat. laubta, a lodge, a porch ; Old High Ger. laubja, 
 a hut of leaves ; French loger, to lodge, lie, sojourn. Bracliet, and Skeat. 
 — 57. slope. A. S. glipan, to slip, glide, pass away ; sleopan or shepan 
 (past tense sledp, p.p. stopen) to slip; akin to Icel. sUppa, to let slip. — 
 Nowhere else in Shakes. — 59. germens = germs, seeds? — Lat. ger- 
 men, a sprout, shoot; Fr. germe, a young shoot, sprout. From y'KAK, 
 to move about. Sanscrit char, to move, to live, to act. The folios read 
 germaine or gemwin. HalliweU prints german, meaning kindred, and 
 Elwin strongly concurs. With some misgivings, we adopt the usual 
 emendation in consideration of Lear III, ii, 8, "Crack nature's moulds, 
 all germens spill at once That make ingrateful man" ; also of Winter's 
 Tale,TV, iv, 467, 468. — 60. sicken^make sick? grow sick? be surfeited? 
 — 63. masters. Some put a question mark after masters. Is it proper? 
 Others make masters possessive? Rightly?— 65. farrow. A.S. fearh; 
 Old High Ger. farah,; akin to Lat. porcvs, a pig; Dan. fare, to farrow, 
 produce a litter of pigs. Skeat. "If a sowe eat her pigges, let hyr be 
 stoned to death and buried." Law of Kenneth II, of Scotland, quoted 
 by Holinshed, 1577. It is not very uncommon for a sow to eat her 
 newly-born young. Such a case occurred about ten years ago in our 
 native town. — sweaten. So foughten, Henry V, IV, vi, 18 ; strudken, 
 Tuliua Cceear, II. ii. 114 : III, i, 310. Abbott, 344. — 68. — "These appari- 
 
360 MACBETH. [aotit. 
 
 Hear Lis speecli, but say thou nought. 70 
 
 Mrst Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth ! Macbeth ! beware 
 Macduff ; 
 Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me : enough. 
 
 [Descends. 
 Macbeth. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks ; 
 Thou hast harp'd my fear aright : but one word more, — 
 IKrst Witch. He will not be commanded; here's an- 
 other, W 
 More potent than the first. 
 
 Ijhunder. Second Apparition : a bloody Child. 
 
 Second Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth ! Macbeth I 
 
 Macbeth. Had I three ears, I 'd hear thee. 
 
 Second Apparition. Be bloody, bold, and resolute ; laugh 
 to scorn 
 The power of man, for none of woman bom 80 
 
 Shall harm Macbeth. \^Descends. 
 
 Macbeth. Then live, Macduff : what need I fear of thee ? 
 But yet I '11 make assurance double sure. 
 And take a bond of fate : thou shalt not live ; 
 
 tions, 'the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying won- 
 ders' (2 Thesmloniams, ii, 9), but raise Maobeth's hopes to destroy him, 
 'keep the word of promise to the ear, and break it to the hope' ; for 
 they are really but signs of his own fall." — "The armed Tieod represents 
 Macbeth's head cut off by Macduff, V, viii, 53, 54 ; the tloody child rep- 
 resents Macduff, V, viii, 15 ; the cMM crowned, with a tree in his hand, 
 Malcolm, V, iv, 4." — "The armed head was probably a reminiscence of 
 the ' brazen head ' supposed to be made by Roger Bacon, which could 
 'read a lecture of philosophy. ' " Greene, Frtor Bacon, II, 25. — 70. say 
 thoa nought. Silence necessary in incantations? — 74. harp'd = 
 struck the ke,y-note of [Clark and Wright] ? sounded forth as from a 
 harp?— 76. more potent. Why more potent?— 78. three. Whyfftree? 
 "It is possible to pronounce the emphatic word three in such a tone as to 
 indicate that 'since he has but two ears he cannot hear.' " Whatelysays 
 this to illustrate the imperfection of any system of marks or signs, for 
 indicating tones in elocution. But the "circumflex" on three exactly in- 
 dicates the wrong delivery; as the simple falling slide does the right? 
 — 80. of woman born. A similar prediction is found in the case o* 
 m J thical heroes of other nations ; so too the story of the moving grove, 
 line 93. See Bolfe, pp. 231, 832.-84. take a bond of fate=bind fate 
 itself to my cause [Hudson] ? put it out of fate's power to break the 
 promise [Clark and Wright] ? — ^in, ii, 49. — "Referring not to a single 
 but to a conditional bond, under, or by virtue of which, when forfeited, 
 •louble the principal sum was recoverable." Ruahton (1870). Is tbii 
 
BCftNE I,] MAGBETE. 161 
 
 That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, 85 
 
 And sleep in spite of thunder. 
 
 Tkimder. Third Apparition : a Child crowned, with a tree 
 in his Jiand. 
 
 What is this, 
 That rises like the issue of a king, 
 And wears upon his baby brow the round 
 And top of sovereignty ? 
 
 All. Listen, but speak not to 't. 
 
 Third Apparition. Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no 
 care 
 Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are : 91 
 
 Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until 
 Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill 
 Shall come against him. [I)escends. 
 
 Macbeth. That will never be : 
 
 Who can impress the forest, bid the tree 95 
 
 Unfix his earth-bound root ? Sweet bodements ! good ! 
 Rebellious dead, rise never, till the wood 
 
 the proper explanation of "make assurance double sure"? — 85. pale- 
 hearted. II, ii, 65; V, iii, 16.— 88. round. I, v, 26. — 89. top =the 
 ornament that rises above the crown [Johnson] 1 the summit of ambi- 
 tious hopes [White] ? — the round and top of sovereignty, a 
 stately periphrasis, suggested by, rather than descriptive of, a closed 
 crovim, and including in its poetic vagueness much more than the mere 
 symbol of royalty [Clark and Wright] 1 For top, see similar express- 
 ions in Tempest, III, i, 38; 2 Henry VI, I, ii, 49; Measure for Mea&., II, 
 ii^6. — ^92. Grimm's Popular Tales, i, 148; ii, 91. Line 80, above. — 
 "Whoever wishes to give himself the appearance of having a thousand 
 men or horse round him, let him have a year-old willow-bough cut off 
 at a single stroke, with certain conjurations, repetition of barbarous 
 words, and rude characters." John Weyer, De Praestigtis (1586). — 93. 
 Birnam village is a suburb of Dunkeld, about 15 miles N . N. W. of 
 Perth. The wood covered Birnam hill, 1580 feet above the sea-level. 
 Twelve miles E. S. E. lay Dunsinane (now Dunsinnan) Hill, seven 
 miles N. E. of Perth. On the top of the latter hill are ruins of an old 
 fortress with ramparts and fosse, popularly called Macbeth's Castle. — 
 Accent of Dunsinane? V, ii, IS; iii, 60, 61, etc. — 95. inipress=enlist? 
 force into military service? leave an imprint upon? make an impress- 
 ion upon? — Hamlet, I, i, 75; RieharA II, III, ii, 58; 1 Henry IV, I, i, 21. — 
 96. bodements. A. S. bod, a message; bodlan, to announce; Eng. 
 bode, to foreshow, announce ; -menf , Lat. -men, or -mentum, act, means, 
 or result? — 97. Rebellious dead. So the folios. Most editors follow 
 Theobald in substituting BebeUwn's head, and with Clark and Wright 
 they claim that the phrase "is suggested to Macbeth by the apparition 
 of the armed head, which he misinterprets." But what evidence have 
 ttiaythat Macbeth misinterprets? Theheadv? '9 friendly, not "rebel 
 
152 MACBETH. (act it. 
 
 Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth 
 
 Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath 
 
 To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart Id 
 
 Throbs to know one thing : tell me, — if your art 
 
 Can tell so much, — shall Banquo's issue ever 
 
 Beign in this kingdom ? 
 
 All. Seek to know no more. 
 
 Macbeth. I will be satisfied : deny me this, 
 And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know — 106 
 Why sinks that cauldron ? and what noise is this ? 
 
 [IlautboyB. 
 
 llous" but the opposite, and he thanks it for its "good caution" ! As 
 Halliwell remarks, "Macbeth was firmly impressed with the belief 
 that none of woman born couJd prevent his living 'the lease of nature.' 
 Confiding in the literal truth of this prophecy, his fears were concen- 
 trated on the probable reappearance of the dead, alluding more espec- 
 ially to the ghost of Banquo; and these fears were then conquered by 
 the apparent impossibility of the movement of Birnam wood to Dun- 
 sinane. The first prdphecy relieves him from the fear of mortals ; the 
 second, from the fear of the dead." Thus far Halliwell. To this we 
 may add that Macbeth thought he had good reason to fear the dead 
 Banquo. The "gory locks" shaken at the king were not forgotten. 
 BehelUoiti dead, rUe never, etc. Yes, the rebellious dead Banquo had 
 risen twice with twenty mortal murders on his crown. III, iv, 80, 81, 
 and Macbeth recognized the intent and probable power of the dead in 
 so rising to push us from our stools! This, too, was not a single utter- 
 ance of Macbeth, but again and again had he expressed his fear that 
 the rebellious dead Banquo would rise again; so that his wife repeat- 
 edly tried in vain to reassure him. " I tell you once again, Banquo 's 
 buried: he cannot come out on 's grave" 1 V, i, 59, 60. It is said that 
 the reading Rebellion's head, or BehelMous head, meaning a body of in- 
 surgents making head against Macbeth, "yields a simpler meaning." 
 Possibly it does, though it requires some explanation ; but does not the 
 reading of the folios give a more consistent and more truly dramatic 
 interpretation? There had been no rebellion yet, nor had any been 
 threatened, other than that implied by the horrible phantom shaking its 
 blood-boltered locks; but the dreadful shape that the very night before 
 had blanched his face and made his firm nerves tremble, must have 
 haunted him every instant. There is no need of changing dead to head; 
 but if we do so change it, let us believe that the tiead is that of the 
 murdered but still living Banquo. — 98. our hi^h-placed Macbeth. 
 For Macbeth to speak thus of himself in the third person is a little un- 
 usual, but not very remarkable. The usurping Claudius so speaks in 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 44, and Hamlet himself in Hamlet, V, il, 231-228. Similar 
 is the usage in Julius C(B8ar, TV, iii, 79, 94, and passim. — "So a Greek 
 master called himself iurbj, autos, himself, in addressing his slaves, 
 and the driver of Italian galleys was called the ' nostromo ' (literally 
 ' our man ') ." Moberly. Mr. Fleay believes lines 95 to 100, from " bid 
 the tree" to " mortal custom " inclusive, to be an interpolation, probably 
 by Middleton. Hudson concurs, and prints them in Italics. Do they 
 seem Shakespearian? — 99, lease of natnre=lease for term of life 
 tRushton] ? HI, ii, 38, 49; H. ii. 7. — 106. noise = discordant sound? 
 
SCENE i.| MACSETH. 163 
 
 First Witch. Show! 
 Second Witch. Show ! 
 Third Witch. Show ! 
 
 All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart ; lH 
 
 Come like shadows, so depart ! 
 
 A show of eight Kings and Banquo ; last with a glass in 
 his hand. 
 
 Macbeth. 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 ! 115 
 
 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 120 
 
 That twofold balls and treble scepters carry : 
 
 musici Milton uses the word of the music of the heavenly host at 
 Bethlehem, Hymn on tfeeiVotit)., 97; Tempest, III, ii, 130 ; Spenser, Faerie 
 Q., I, xii, 39, speaks of a "heavenly noise." Query, was themitsio of 
 our fathers so bad that it Anally gave the word its unfavorable sense? 
 or did that sense grow by sympathetic contagion out of the nasal nau- 
 seotts sound of the wordt — 110. Show his eyes, etc. Prom 1 Samuel, 
 
 ii, 33, "to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart; and 
 
 all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age." — 
 Hautboys. See I, vii, stage direction. — 111. We retain the stage di- 
 rection of the folios, merely changing the punctuation, to make the 
 statement better accord with line 119. Nearly every commentator in- 
 serts something different. — shOTV="dumb show" or pantomime [Del- 
 ius] ? — Robert II, grandson of Robert Bruce, was the first Stuart king 
 (1371) and descended from Banquo? Robert III and the six Jameses 
 make up the eight kings, Mary Stuart not being included. — 113. Ban- 
 quo. "Banquo first and last ; eight of them being between Banquo blood- 
 boltered and Banquo crowned." Weiss. — sear = wither? scorch? dry 
 up? V, ill, 23.— 113. hair. The hair of the "spirit of Banquo," III, iv, 
 51j especially attracted Macbeth's notice", (so in line 123); as well it 
 might (III, iv, 27, 81), Besides he is looking for the crown on each 
 head. Johnson changed the word to air. Judiciously? Winter's Tale, 
 V, i, 127. — 116. start, from your sockets [Clark and Wright]? start 
 from such a sight [Delius] I— Hamlet, I, v, 17. — 117: crack of <iooni= 
 thunder-peal announcing the Last Judgment [Clark and Wright] ? disso- 
 lution of nature [Steevens] ? Tempest, I, ii, 308 ; Macbeth, I, ii, 37. 1 Thes- 
 salon., iv, 16; Milton, Nativity, st. xvi. — 119. glass. So Measure for 
 Meas. , II, ii, 95. The magic mirror plays an important part in Green's 
 drama of Friar Bacon; also in Spenser's Faerie Q., HI, ii, st. xviii, et 
 seq., and the Squire's Tale in Chaucer. — 121. twofold balIs=those of 
 the English and Scottish regalias [Moberly] ? referring to the double 
 coronation of James, at Scone and Westminster [Clark and Wright] ? 
 
164 MAGBBTB. [acit rc 
 
 Horrible siglit ! — Now I see 't is true ; 
 For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me, 
 And points at them for his. — [Apparitions vanish. 
 
 What, is this so ? 
 
 Mrst Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so ; but why 125 
 
 Stands Macbeth thus amazedly ? 
 Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights, 
 And show the best of our delights : 
 I '11 charm the air to give a sound, 
 
 While you perfonn your antic round, 180 
 
 That this great king may kindly say. 
 Our duties did his welcome pay. 
 [Music. The Witches dance, and then vanish, with Hecate. 
 
 Jfocie^A. Where are they ? Gone? Let this pernicious 
 hour 
 Stand aye accursed in the calendar ! — 
 Come in, without there I 
 
 Enter Lennox, 
 
 JOennox. What 's your grace's will ? 135 
 
 Macbeth. Saw you the weird sisters ? 
 
 Lennox. No, my lord. 
 
 Macbeth. Came they not by you ? 
 
 Lennox. No indeed, my lord. 
 
 Macbeth. Infected be the air whereon they ride ; 
 
 probably symbolizing the two imderpendent crowns of England and Scot- 
 land [Hudson] i referring to the two islands (and three kingdoms) first 
 united under one "head [Warburton] ? — In the ceremony of coronation a 
 ball was placed in the left hand as one of the insignia of royalty. - - 
 treble sceptres, of England, Scotland, Ireland? — 123. blood-bol- 
 tered. BoUered is shown by Malone and others to mean, in Warwick- 
 shire, "with hair matted or clotted." See Bolfe, Fumest, or Clark and 
 Wright. — Hudson, and Clark and Wright, print in Italics, as spurious, 
 lines 125-132. Justly?— 127. sprights. This spelling is preferred when 
 the word does not mean apparitions. II, iii,60; III, v, 27. — 130. antic, 
 spelled also antique in the old editions = grotesque? old-fashioned i 
 quaint? fanciful? Lat. ante, before ; antitrous, old ; Fr. omtique. — Doublet 
 of antique, which is found in Twelfth Night, II, iv, 3 ; Hamlet, I, V, 172 ; 
 U, ii, 455. Accent in both is on 1st syl. — roand= roundelay ? circular 
 dance? Lat. rota, wheel ; roto, I whirl ; -undus, adj. ending, active ; rotun- 
 (Jus, round. — 132. duties. Seel, iv, 24. 184. aye=yea! always? A. S. 
 d, &wa, dwo, ever, always ; akin to Gr. miii', aion, an age, eternity, iti, ael, 
 always; Lat. cBvun, an age. — Aye, meaning yes, is fr. A. S. ere, also; ged, 
 yea; Aryan \/va, that one. Theorig. sense was 'in that way,' 'just so*; 
 Ger.io. Skeat. Difference of pronunciation when it means yes?— ac- 
 Qursed, etc. Alluding to an old custom of m'vrking down luc^ and un- 
 
SCENE 1.] MACBETH. 155 
 
 And damn'd all those that trust them ! — ^I did hear 
 
 The galloping of horse : who was 't came by ? 140 
 
 Lennox. 'T is two or three, my lord, that bring you word 
 Macduff is fled to England. 
 
 Macbeth. Fled to England ! 
 
 Iiennox. Ay, my good lord. 
 
 Macbeth. [Aside.^ Time, thou anticipat'st my dread ex- 
 ploits : 
 The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 145 
 
 Unless the deed go with it. Prom this moment 
 The very firstlings of my heart shall be 
 The firstlings of my hand. And even now, 
 To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done ; 
 The castle of Macduff I will surprise, 150 
 
 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 '11 do before this purpose cool. 
 But no more sights ! — Where are these gentlemen ? 155 
 Come, bring me where they are. [^JEaxunt. 
 
 lucky days in the almanacs . Hudson. — 144. anticipat'st = prevent- 
 est? forestaUest ? Lat. anti, old form of ante, before ; capire, to 
 take; antioipare, to take before the time, prevent. — 145. iiigbty 
 ■= volatile? capricious? fleeting? A. S. fleSgcm, to flee; flyht, flight. 
 From i/ FLU, to float (in air), to flow, answering to \/ plu, to swim. 
 
 — o'ertook. AbboU, 343. All's Well, V, iii, 40-43. — 147. firstlings. 
 The ending -Ung (fr. A. S. Ung) denotes state, condition, or off- 
 spring. It is also diminutive, as -I and Ang are both suffixes im- 
 plying diminution, as in dairUng, goaUng, ducHMng, seedling, etc. See 
 cliangelimg, Hamlet, V, ii, 53. Meaning here? — 150. castle of Mac- 
 duff. Probably Dunne-marle Castle, near Culross, on the north side 
 of the Forth, in Perthshire, about 19 m. W. N. W. of Edinburgh. — 
 153. trace hini=follow him? follow in his track [Clark and Wright] ? 
 Ital, tracciare, f r. supposed Lat. traetidre, to. trace ; tractus, drawn ; tra- 
 htSre, to draw lines. Braehet. Fr. trace, a trace, footing, foot-print. 
 Cotgrave. Fr. tracer, to trace, follow, pursue. — Scan the line by mak- 
 ing 5 accented syllables?— Henry VHI, III, ii, 44, 45 ; 1 Henry IV, III, i, 48. 
 
 — 155. sights. White changes this to sprites; Singer, to flights} Is 
 either an improvement?— "When the powers of evil have made sure of 
 Macbeth as their victim, they 'show his eyes and grieve his heart' with 
 a vision of kings of the race of Banquo, dance round him in mockery 
 and vanish." MorUy. 
 
156 MACBETH. [AOTIT. 
 
 ScKNB n. Mfe. A Boom in Macduf^s Castle. 
 Miter Lady Macduff, her Son, and Ross. 
 
 Jjady Macduff. What had he done, to make him fly the 
 land? 
 
 Hoss. You must have patience, madam. 
 
 JOady Macduff. He had none ; 
 
 His flight was madness : when our actions do not, 
 Our fears do make us traitors. 
 
 Hoss. You know not 
 
 Whether it was his wisdom or his fear. 5 
 
 Ijady Macduff. 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 : for the poor wren, 
 The most diminutive of birds, will fight, 10 
 
 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. 
 
 Hoss. My dearest coz, 
 
 I pray you, school yourself ; but for your husband, 15 
 
 He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows 
 
 Scene II. — Tradition locates these murders at Macduff's castle. 
 See line 150 preceding scene. — "The present Earl of Fife, James Daft, 
 1868, who is also Viscount Macduff, is lineally descended from theMao- 
 dufEof the play." French, quoted by Furness. — 4. traitors. The 
 treachery alluded to is Macduff's desertion of his family [Seymour, 
 Rolfe, etc.] ! The lady is apprehensive that her husband's flight will 
 be construed as proceeding from a guilty fear [Hudson] 1 Does she 
 mean to say that he is a traitor to his family, or that his fears make 
 him appear a traitor to his countryl or — 1 — 9. touch=sensibility or 
 affection? — Anton, and Cleop., I, ii, 172. — Metonymyl — wren, etc. 
 Harting objects as follows: 1, The wren is not the smallest; 2, It is 
 doubtful if it will fight against the owl in defense of its young: 3, The 
 owl will not take young birds from the nest. May we mentally sup- 
 ply "nay, even," before "the most diminutive," give Shakes, the bene- 
 fit of the doubt, and acquit the owl of intent to kidnap? — 12. All is 
 the fear=the fear is everything?— 15. for. Hamlet, I, ii, 112; v, 139; 
 Blchard U, V, iii, 137. The sense of as for, ag regards, arises from the 
 orig. sense, viz. "beyond," "before," or "in place of." Abbott, 148, 149; 
 Skeat. — A. S. for, same as fore, before that; akin to Lat. pro; Gr. 
 irpd, pro; Sanscr. pro, before, away. — 14. coz; "short for cousin, but 
 applied by Shakes, to uncle, nephew, brother-in-law; and, by princes, 
 toother princes and noblemen." See Hamlet, I, ii, 64. — ^French cousin, 
 fr. Low Lat. coalmus, fr. Lat. congobrimis, the child of a mother's sister; 
 
BCBNB II.J MACBETH. 157 
 
 The fits o' the season. I dare not speak much further ; 
 
 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, 20 
 
 But float upon a wild and violent sea 
 
 Each way and move. I take my leave of you ; 
 
 Shall not be long but I '11 be here again. 
 
 Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward 
 
 To what they were before. My pretty cousin, 25 
 
 Blessing upon you ! 
 
 Lady Macduff. Father'd he is, and yet he 's fatherless. 
 
 Moss. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, 
 It would be my disgrace and your discomfort : 
 
 con, together ; sobrinvx, a oousiu-german by the mother's side ; snbrl- 
 nu», from aoa-ttrtnus, for aot-trimus, fr. stem sos-tor, sister ; sosor, old 
 form of aoror. Base i/swestar. Brachet, Skeat, Max MiilUr. — 17. fits 
 of= what befits [Heath] ? temper of [Singer] ? violent disorders, con- 
 vulsions of [Steevens] ? critical conjunctures of [Clark and Wright] ? 
 exigencies or dangers of [Hudson] ? caprices or uncertainties of 
 [Rolfe] ? — Coriolanus, lU, ii, 33, "The violent fit o' the time craves it 
 as a physio For the whole state." — Icel. fitja, to knit together ; Norse 
 dial, fttja, to draw a lace together in a noose ; Swed. fittia, to bind to- 
 gether. Skeat. Shakes, in Tempest, III, ill, 88 to 91, neatly illustrates 
 this orig. meaning, " My high charms work, And these mine enemies 
 are all knit up In their distractions; they now are in my power; And 
 in these yit« I leave them." — Fit, meaning a sudden attack of illness, 
 though allied to the precedingj is "originally 'a step'; then 'a part of 
 a poem' ; then 'a bout of fightmg, a struggle' ; lastly, 'a sudden attack 
 of pain.' A. S. fit, a song, a struggle. Akin to Icel. fet, a pace, step, 
 foot in poetry, part of a poem." Skeat. — 19. do not know, etc.=are 
 not conscious of the fact? — hoId=interpret [Heath] ? accept or circu- 
 late [Dalgleish] S believe [Steevens]? originate?— hold rumor, etc., 
 our fears, though vague, engender rumors [our Masterpieces, p . 158] ? 
 — King John, IV, ii, 144^147. — 33. each way and move. For way, 
 Staunton would substitute sMJav; Jackson, waiJ. For move, Theobald 
 would read wave; Clark and Wright, none; Jackson, rrwan; for and 
 move, Daniel would have tt moves. So Hudson prints it. Johnson puts 
 a dash after move, to indicate incompleteness. Steevens would read 
 and each way move; Capell, ami moiie each way; Ingleby, which way_ we 
 Tnove. Rolfe suggests, each way we move. As ftoai is properly express- 
 ive of horizontal motion, it by no means Includes the tossing of "a wild 
 and violent sea. " May not move, then , be simply movement, enlargi ng the 
 sense of ]U)at to make it include the violent pitching and reeling, mount- 
 ing and plunging : that is, each way and »noD6=each horizontal and every 
 other motion? Or'we may with Schmidt interpret move to mean toss 
 about; as perhaps in CymbeUne, III, i, 38, q. v. Float is fr. i/ri,n,|/FLUT, to 
 flow; Icel. Jtjdta, to float; A. S. flota, a ship; fiedtan, Mid. Eng. flatten, 
 to swim.— 33. shall. "When there can be no doubt what is the noun, ' 
 it is sometimes omitted." AfiBott, 399. — 34. What is the picture in the 
 mind's eye? — 28. fool. The immortal Launcelot says as he departs 
 from Jessica, " These foolish drops do somewhat drown my manly 
 
168 MACBETH. [act rv; 
 
 I take my leave at once. [Exit. 
 
 Lady Macduff. Sirrah, your father 's dead : 30 
 
 And what will you do now ? How will you live ? 
 Son. As birds do, mother. 
 
 Itady Macduff. What, with worms and flies "i. 
 
 Son. With what I get, I mean ; and so do they. 
 JLady Macduff. Poor hird ! thou 'dst never fear the net 
 nor lime. 
 The pitfall nor the gin. 86 
 
 Son. Why should I, mother ? Poor birds they are not 
 set for. 
 My father is not dead, for all your saying. 
 
 Lady Macduff. Yes, he is dead : how wilt thou do for 
 
 a father ? 
 Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband ? 
 Lady Macduff. Why, I can buy me twenty at any 
 miarket. 40 
 
 Son. Then you '11 buy 'em to sell again. 
 Lady Macduff. Thou speak'st with all thy wit, and yet, 
 i' faith, 
 With wit enough for thee. 
 
 Son. Was my father a traitor, mother ? 
 
 Lady Macduff. Ay, that he was. 45 
 
 Son. What is a traitor ? 
 
 spirit." Mer. of Vm., II, iii, 11, 12. Bom. amA Jul., m, ii, 108. So 
 Henry F, IV, vi, 30-32, 
 
 "But I had not so much of man in me. 
 
 And all m; mother came into mine eyes 
 
 And gave me ap to tears." 
 
 30. sirrab. m, i, 44; Much Ado, IV, il, 12, 13.— dead. Rough joking' 
 — 32. with worms. So, "I live with bread." Bichord II, III, ii, 175 ; 
 1 Henry IT, III, i, 160; Macbeth, V, V, 13. WUh often expresses "the 
 juxtaposition of cause and efflect." Abbott, 193.— 34. lime. Tempest, 
 IV, i, 241; Ifamlet, III, iii, 68. A S. Um, bitumen, cement; loel. lim, 
 glue ; Mid. High Ger. Um, birdlime ; akin to Lat. limus, mud, f r. U-nire, 
 to smear. The orig. sense is "viscous substance." Sfceot. — 35. gin. 
 Twelfth Night, II, V, 79. In Pialms, cxl, 5, we read, "They have set gins for 
 me." — "The wordis really Scandinavian, from loel. ginna, to dupe; but 
 the Mid. Eng. gin was also used in a far wider sense, and was (in many 
 cases) certainly a contraction of Pr. engin = Lat. ingenium. a contri- 
 vance or piece of ingenuity." Skeat. — 36. they=the poor birds [Delius] I 
 the traps 1— In what sense is poor used? — "The bright dear boy's 
 thought appears to be that traps are not set for the poor, but for the 
 rich ; not for children, Uke himself, but for important full-grown men." 
 Hudson. Does the boy "consider it so deeply?"— 37. for. "A man's 
 a man for a' that." As to uses of for, see Abbott, 153, 154, 155.— 15. be 
 
8CBNBII.] MACBETH. 169 
 
 Lady Macduff. Why, one that swears and lies. 
 
 Son. And be all traitors that do so ? 
 
 Lady Macduff. Every one that does so is a traitor, and 
 must be hanged. 50 
 
 Son. And must they all be hanged that swear and lie ? 
 
 Lady Macduff. Every one. 
 
 Son. Who must hang them ? 
 
 Lady Macduff- Why, the honest men. 54 
 
 Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools, for there are 
 liars and swearers enow to beat the honest men and hang 
 up them. 
 
 Lady Macduff. Now, God help thee, poor monkey ! 
 But how wilt thou do for a father ? 59 
 
 Son. If he were dead, you 'd weep for him : if you 
 would not, it were a good sign that I should quickly have 
 a new father. 
 
 Lady Macduff. Poor prattler, how thou talk'st ! 
 
 Enter a Messenger, 
 
 Messenger. Bless you, fair dame ! I am not to you known, 
 Though in your state of honor I am. perfect. 6& 
 
 I doubt some danger does approach you nearly : 
 If you will take a homely man's advice. 
 Be not- found here ; hence, with your little ones. 
 To fright you thus, methinks I am too savage ; 
 To do worse to you were fell cruelty, 70 
 
 ■was, a traitor to Macbeth 1 to his own family? or — ? — 47. swears and 
 lies = is guilty of profanity and falsehood? takes an oath and then 
 breaks it?— Allusion to the oath of allegiance or loyalty? — 56. enow. 
 II, iii, 5. — 65. in your state, etc. = perfectly acquainted with your 
 honorable rank and character? — Winter's Tale, III, iii, 1 ; CymbeUne, III, 
 i, 71 ; J Benry IV, in, i, 203.-66. d.oubt=susp8ct? fear? King John, IV, 
 i, 19.— 67. homely=plain, uncultured?— See Milton's Comus, 748, 749. 
 — Home is fr. ys.i, to lie down. Gr. icelfiai, I lie down, . A. S. hdm, 
 home, a dwelling; Gr. Kul;xr|, kome, village. The original sense is 
 'resting-place.' Sheat. — 69. to fright. See note on II, ii, 73. — 70. 
 to do worse = to let her and her children be destroyed without 
 warning [Johnson] ? to fright you more by relating all the circum- 
 stances of danger, which would detain you so long that you could not 
 avoid it [Edwards] ? — The messenger was one of the murderers, who, 
 actuated by pity and remorse, had outstripped his companions to give 
 warning. Heath. Warburton would substitute ■ujorsftip for worse ; Han- 
 mer and Capell, less. — fell. Twelfth Night, I, i, 33. — A. S. fel, fierce, dire. 
 Possibly connected with felon. SIceat. — 73. Abbott, 496, insists on re- 
 ducing this line to five feet; but Ellis says, "I should be sorry to buy 
 immunity from Alexandrines at the drefidful prige of such Procrustean 
 
160 MACBETH. [act it. 
 
 Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you ! 
 I dare abide no longer. [JExit. 
 
 Lady Macduff. Whither should I fly ? 
 
 I have done no harm. But I remember now 
 I am in this earthly world, where to do harm 
 Is often laudable ; to do good, sometime 75 
 
 Accounted dangerous folly : why then, alas. 
 Do I put up that womanly defense. 
 To say I have done no harm ? — 
 
 Enter Murderers. 
 
 What are these faces ? 
 First Murderer. Where is your husband ? 
 Lady Macduff. I hope, in no place so unsanctified 80 
 Where such as thou mayst find him. 
 First Murderer. He 's a traitor. 
 
 Son. Thou liest, thou shag-ear'd villain ! 
 First Murderer. What, you egg ! 
 
 [Stabbing him. 
 
 •scansion'." SoinV, iii, 5; iv, 6. — 75. sometime. I, vi, 11. — 78. 
 f!a.ce8. The impressive simplicity of the expression contains horrible 
 significance. Clarlit. — 81. ivhere. The language was very plastic. 
 What should we now use in place of wlieret — Abbott, 279. — S2. shag- 
 ear'd. with hanging ears [Moherly] ? shaggy about the ears rCollier] ? 
 aux oreilleg velties, with ears hairy or shaggy [Darmesteter] ? — Shag-ear'd. 
 So, or with slightly different spelling, all the folios ; but, as the phrase 
 shag-halr'd is common in the old plays, while sTiag-ear'd is not, most ed- 
 itors adopt Steevens's suggestion of ahag-lw/ir'd. Hair was sometimes 
 spelled heare, and shag-Jiea/rd is found in Lodge's Incarnate Devils (1596) ; 
 and in 2 Henry VI, III, i, 367, we find thag-hair'd. Richard II, II, 1, 156, 
 "rug-headed kerns." Dyce says, "King Midas, after his decision in 
 favor of Pan, is the only human being on record to whom the epithet 
 (ehag-ear'd) could be applied." — Nothing would attract a child's notice 
 sooner than ears rough with coarse, long hair. To us, the epithet shag- 
 ear'd is strikingly picturesque of the human brute, and, as it makes 
 excellent sense, we decline to alter it. — Holland, Translation of 
 Pliny, viii, 33, speak? of the goat-hart with "long shag about 
 the shoulders." In Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, st. 50, we read 
 
 XJLX, ±, ou. egg. j.uAua uuu »o a avjx iitjxiu a ogg .... Jiiiu ItlXl llllU lU 
 
 the shell," JuMvs Caesar, 11, i, 82, 34. So "Thou pigeon egg of discre- 
 tion," Love's Labor's Lost, V, i, 66; TroUvs and Oressida, V, i, 34. — 83. 
 fi-y. Suggested by "egg"1 Icel.,/rcB, frj6; Dan. fro; Pr. frai, spawn, 
 fry. — "This scene, dreadful as it is, is still a relief, because a variety, 
 because domestic, and therefore soothing, as associated with the only 
 real pleasures of life. The conversation between Lady MaeduiT and 
 her child heightens the pathos, and is preparatory for the deep tragedy 
 of their assassination." Coleridge. — Its verisimilitudes Characterof 
 
SCENE II.] MACBETH. 161 
 
 Young fry of treachery ! 
 
 Son. He has kill'd me, mother : 
 
 Run away, I pray you ! [Dies. 
 
 \Mcit Lady Macduff, crying " Murder ! " 
 Exeunt Murderers, following her. 
 
 Scene III. England. JBefore the EJing''s Palace. 
 Eater Malcolm and Macdttpf. 
 
 Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there 
 Weep our sad bosoms empty. 
 
 Macduff. Let us rather 
 
 Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men 
 Bestride our downfall birthdom. Each new morn 
 New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows 5 
 
 Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds 
 As if it felt with Scotland and yell'd out 
 Like syllable of dolor. 
 
 Malcolm. What I believe, I '11 wail ; 
 
 What know, believe ; and what I can redress, 
 As I shall find the time to friend, I will. 10 
 
 Lady Macduff? — "To omit this scene, as is usually the case upon the 
 stage, is to present Macbeth' s character in a far more favorable light 
 than Shakespeare intended, and to weaken the force of Macduff's cry 
 of ag;ony, and Lady Macbeth's heart-piercing question in the sleep- 
 walking scene." Bodenstedt. 
 
 Scene III. — Was this scene inside or outside the palace! Line 
 140.— 3. mortal. I, v, 39. — good= brave?— Gr. iyoL96t, a-^a»6f aga- 
 thos, noble, good, brave; A. S. g6d; Ger. ffut; from Teut. base / oad, 
 to suit, fit. The criterion or test of goodness will be different in differ- 
 ent communities? — 4. bestride. Picture? Comedy of Er.jV, i, 192; 
 2 Henry IV, I, i, 207 ; JuUus CcBsar, I, ii, 131.— downfall. So the folios. 
 But nearly all recent editors change it to down-faU'n which makes the 
 metre tumble clumsily. ' 'As still with us, any noun could be prefixed to 
 another with the force of an adjective; as 'region kites,' 'region cloud,' 
 'venom mud,' etc." Abbott, 33.— birthdom=land of our birth [Clark 
 and Wright] — DomisGer. -thum; Lat. -ttum; Sanscr. tvan; and de- 
 notes guaUty, as vrisdom; act, as martyrdom; state, as thraldom, freedom; 
 appurtenances or possessions, as dukedom; by metonymy theDolleetivecon- 
 erete, as Christendom, peerdom. Our Masterpieces, p. 160. — 6. strike 
 heaven. Note the intensity of the language. Tempest , I, ii, 4 ; Mer. 
 of Venice, II, vii, 45. Richard III, IV, iv, 339.— that. I, ii, 58.-8. like 
 =as? similar?— syllable = utterance, inarticulate cry? — Gr. .mAAap^, 
 suUabe, lit. "that which holds together," hence a syllable, so much of 
 a word as forms a single sound; (hiv, sun, together; Xa|3, lab, base of 
 Aafi^aveix, lambancin, to take, seize. Skeat. — 10. to &iend=as, or for, 
 » trie»d1 (rienOlyl tg l?efriw4? See to to MaWmv, iii, 9; iMHe, ?», 30, 
 
162 MAGBBTH. [act iv. 
 
 What you have spoke, it may be so perchance. 
 
 This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, 
 
 Was once thought honest : you have lov'd him well ; 
 
 He hath not touch 'd you yet. I am young ; but something 
 
 You may discern of him through me, and wisdom 15 
 
 To offer up a weak poor innocent lamb 
 
 To appease an angry god. 
 
 Macduff. I am not treacherous. 
 
 Malcolm. But Macbeth is. 
 
 A good and virtuous nature may recoil 
 In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon ; 30 
 That which you are my thoughts cannot transpose ; 
 Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell ; 
 Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, 
 
 33; Abliott, 189; Jvlius Ccbscw, III, i, 144.— U. what=as to what!— Is If 
 redundant? Abbott, 243, 252.— 12. soIe=mere3 single? only? — name 
 blistersl "A glass of waterto rinse my mouth alter pronouncing that 
 name!" Wendell PMlUpa.— Bom. and Jul., Ill, ii, 90; Love's L. L,, V, ii, 
 337; Winter's T., II, ii, 33.— 14. toucb'd. Ill, ii, 26. — 15. discern. 
 So the 3d and 4th folios. The 1st and 2d have discerne. Nearly 
 every editor follows Theobald's suggestion and prints deserve, which 
 makes good sense. But dUcern also makes gpod sense ; and therefore, 
 agreeably to our principles of interpretatioH; we adhere to it. Mal- 
 colm does not fully believe Macduff honest, and says, "You have loved 
 Macbeth well. He has done you no harm yet. I am young, but (young 
 as I am, I could tell you of many diabolical plots of Macbeth to get 
 me into his power, so that) you could discern something of Macbeth's 
 character through my disclosures and his treatment of me. (Macbeth 
 knows that I know some of those designs, and therefore hates me the 
 more. You may be one of his tools, and; you may find it a piece of 
 worldly wisdom to entrap me and gratify him." So read between the 
 lines. Macduff may not have known the facts stated in lines 117t120. 
 Upton prefers to retain 'discern,' and explains it, "You may see 
 something to your advantage by betraying me." Clarke (1863) plaus- 
 ibly interprets thus : I am young, but something you may perceive of 
 Macbeth in me [Malcolm has stated that Macbeth ' was once thought 
 honest', and afterwards taxes himself with vices]. See lines 58, 
 82, 83, 91, etc. — and ivisdom = and it is wisdom? it were wis- 
 dom ? or is wisdom the object of the preceding verb dtacem f 
 It (8, there is, and ie are often omitted in Shakes. Abbott, 403. — 
 19. recoil = recede from goodness [Johnson] I yield, give way, 
 swerve, etc. [Clark and Wright] ? degenerate fSchinidt] 1 — Cyrnbel- 
 ine, I, vi, 128. — French reeuler, to recoil, retire; lit. "to go back- 
 ward"; re (=Lat. re), back, and cul (Lat. cuius), the hinder part; 
 Gael, cul; Skeat. — 20. cbarge=the charge of an army [Elwin] ? com- 
 mission [Johnson]? "Perhaps Shakes, had in mind the recoil of a 
 gun." Clark and Wright. In one imperial charge=when acting by a 
 king's command [Moberly" 1 I, iii, 129.— 21. tran8po8e=lnvert, trans- 
 form, change? Mid. Night's Dream, 1, i, 233. — 22. the briehtest fell. 
 So Milton thought. Par. Lost, v, 659, 660, 708; i, 86, 87, 592, 599, 600.— 
 33. woiild=wished to? should? were to? Abbott, 331. Line 194; I, v, 
 
6CENE m.J MACBETH. 163 
 
 Yet grace must still look so. 
 
 Macduff. I have lost my hopes. 
 
 Malcolm. Perchance even there where I did find my 
 doubts. 25 
 
 Why in that rawness left you wife and child, 
 Those precious motives, those strong knots of love, 
 Without leave-taking ? I pray you, 
 Let not my jealousies be your dishonors, 
 But mine own safeties ; you may be rightly ju&t, 30 
 
 Whatever I shall think. 
 
 Macduff. Bleed, bleed, poor country ! 
 
 Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure. 
 For goodiiess dare not check thee ! wear thou thy wrongs ; 
 The title is afeard ! — Fare thee well, lord : 
 
 30; vii, 34. — 84. so=likegraoe? Jtfeos. /or Keas., II, 1, 368.— have lost, 
 etc. Why so? On what did his hopes depend? — 25. even there 
 ■where, etc. = perhaps the cause which has destroyed your hopes is 
 the very same that leads me to distrust you [Hudson] ? Does the pan- 
 gent question in the next two and a half lines reveal sufficiently the 
 cause of the distrust, which distrust was the cause of the loss of hope? 
 — 26. rawness = want of due preparation and provision. [Schmidt] ? 
 immaturity of counsel [Johnson] ? — Henry F, IV, i, 134, 'children rawly 
 left.' — A. S. hredw, hraw, Dan. raa; allied to Lat. cnuius, raw; Sanscr. 
 Hrdra, sore, cruel, hard; \/ kru, of which the fundamental notion is 
 'to be hard.' Sneat. The sufBx -ness is found in about 1300 words. 
 A. S. nes, nU. nys. It forms abstract nouns from adjectives, and de- 
 notes quality, as goodness ; by a metonymy of the abstract for the con- 
 crete, something possessing the quality, as a fastness, a likeness. OHibs. 
 — 27. motives. Frequently applied to persons in Shakes. Dejius. Like 
 ftnofs, is it connected with the phrase, 'of love' 2 — Timon of Athens, V, 
 Iv, 27. — 29. jealousies . . . dishonors, . . . safeties. "The plu- 
 ral [jealousies] mdicates the repeated occasions for his suspicion .... 
 and this plural occasioned the two others." Deltus. Satisfactory ex- 
 planation ?— .30. An extra s.yl. is frequently added before a pause, es- 
 pecially at the end of a line ; but also at the end of the second foot ; and 
 less frequently at the end of the third foot ; and rarely at the end of 
 the fourth foot. Ahliott, i^i. At the end of the first foot, too, occar 
 sionally; as in Tempest, U, i, 316, "That's verily. 'Tis best we stand 
 upon our guard." — 33. thou. Who? Tyranny [Knight] ? Malcolm [Sing- 
 er] ? Country [Toilet] ?— wrongs thou dost inflict ? wrongs thou dost suf- 
 ferunder?— 34. afeard. Sothe4thfolio; the3dhaso/eor'd," the Island 
 2d o#eor'd. Seel, iii, 96; vii, 39.— WTiose title is 'afeard' or 'affeer'd'? 
 Macbeth's? the country's? t.yranny's? Malcolm's? Nearly all the editors 
 change this to affeer'd, meaning confirmed; but they do not bring any 
 other instance of such use of the verb affeer. Low Lat. afforare^=to fix 
 the price of a thing ; Old Fr. afeurer=Xo fix the price of things ofHcially. 
 To 'affeer' was to assess a fine or fix a penalty, reducing it to a sum 
 certain. Shakespeare's father is said to have been an 'affeeror,' i. e., 
 an attacM of the Stratford borough court. How then could a title be 
 'afCeered'? Again, to say "the title is affeer'd," meaning ennfirmed, is 
 prose ; but the trope of the title for the rightful J»ir (as Darmeateter in- 
 
164 MAOBETH. (act iv. 
 
 I would not be the villain that thou think'st 86 
 
 For the whole space that 's in the tyrant's grasp, 
 And the rich East to boot. 
 
 Malcolm. Be not offended ; 
 
 I speak not as in absolute fear of you. 
 I think our country sinks beneath the yoke ; 
 It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash 40 
 
 Is added to her wounds : I think withal 
 There would be hands uplifted in my right ; 
 And here from gracious England have I offer 
 Of goodly thousands ; but for all this. 
 When I shall tread upon the tyrant's head, 45 
 
 Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country 
 Shall have more vices than it had before. 
 More suffer, and more sundry ways than ever. 
 By him that shall succeed. 
 
 Macdhiff. What should he be ? 
 
 « Malcolm. It is myself I mean ; in whom I know 60 
 
 All the particulars of vice so grafted 
 That, when they shall be open'd, black Macbeth 
 Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state 
 Esteem him as a lamb, being compar'd 
 With my confineless harms. 
 
 Macduff. Not in the legions 55 
 
 terprets), or the personification of the title, and the imputation of fear, 
 are poetry, and Shakespearian. Besides, to say the title is afraid is a 
 polite form of reproof of Malcolm for timidity ; and so Malcolm, in 
 line 38, evidently thinks himself chided, or at least blamed, for being 
 in fear. Still further, note that in line 1(M, instead of recognizing 
 Macbeth's title as confirmed, Macduff denies that he has any title at 
 all. — 37. rich East. Milton's ' gorgeous East with richest hand,' 
 Par. Lost, ii, 3. — to boot. A. S. 6dt, compensation, amends, advan- 
 tage, profit; Gothic Ixtta, profit; allied to A. S. Set, good. 'To boot' is 
 literally 'for an advantage.' It is not a verb. Skmt. — 2 Henry IT. 
 ni, i, 29.— Milton's Lyeldas, 64. — ^39. tbink=bearin mind the fact that 
 [Rolfe]? believe? Ill, i, 131.— 43. gracions. HI, i, 65; Hamlet, I, i, 
 164.— England=the English nation? the king of England? I, li, 50; 
 King John, III, iv, 8, 'And bloody England into England gone.' See 
 our ed. of Hamlet, note on I, i, 61. — 47. shall. See III, iv, 57. — 48. 
 sundry. A. S. gundrian, to put asunder; Ger. eondem, to separate; 
 Mid. Eng. sundry, separate ; hence several, divers. — In adverbial ex- 
 pressions of time, space, manner, etc., we very often still omit the 
 preposition. Abbott, 202. — 49. What = who? what kind of being? 
 .Abbott, 254. — should he = ought he to? might he? can he? Abbott, 
 324, 325. —52. open'd = unfolded, like buds or leaves? Metaphor in 
 grafted and opened? The Collier MS. has ripen'd, which Collier insists 
 on.— 55 oonlineles8=limitless, boundless? incapable of restraint or 
 
SCENE III.] MAGBBTH. 165 
 
 Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd 
 In evils to top Macbeth. 
 
 Malcolm. I grant him bloody, 
 
 Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, 
 Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin 
 That has a name ; but there 's no bottom, none, 60 
 
 In my voluptuousness ; your wives, your daughters, 
 Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up 
 The cistern of my lust ; and my desire 
 All continent impediments would o'erbear 
 That did oppose my will. Better Macbeth 65 
 
 Than such an one to reign. 
 
 Macduff. Boundless intemperance 
 
 In nature is a tyranny ; it hath been 
 The untimely emptying of the happy throne, 
 And fall of many kings. But fear not yet 
 To take upon you what is yours ; you may 70 
 
 Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, 
 
 coniineinentj — French eonflner, to abut, or bound upon; Lat. conflnis, 
 bordering upon; conflnium, a boundary; con, together; Jlnia, boundary, 
 limit. — -less is f r. A. S. UM, loose, free from ; -less is the commonest 
 sufaxinEng. Skeat. — 57. top=overtop, surpass?— "Edmund the base 
 shall top the legitimate"; Lear, I, ii, 16; CorioZonus, II, i, 19. — 58. 
 luxurious. In Shakes, always in the patristic Lat. sense of lascivi- 
 ous, licentious. See luxury in Hamlet, I, v, 83. 'Lat. luxuria, an ex- 
 tended form of luxus, pomp, excess, luxury' ; remotely allied to lieere, 
 to be lawful, whence licence.— 59. sudden=violent, passionate, hasty 
 [Johnson] ? — Lat. sub, under, stealthily ; ire, to go ; subire, to go under 
 or stealthily; subttus, sudden, lit. 'that which has come stealthily.' 
 Low Lat. subitamis; Prov. Fr. sobtan; Old Fr. sodain, iiudai7i,; Fr. 
 goudain. Skeat, Bracliet. — 64. contineiit=restraining? Lat. con, to- 
 gether, completely ; tenere, to hold, keep. Used in Latin sense, as here, 
 in Mid. Night'it Dream, II, i, 92. Lear, I, ii, 145; III, ii, 53. Effect of 
 Latinized diction? See note on II, ii, 63. — 66. an or a, as in line 101. 
 How did Shakes, pronounce onei White says it is like the first syl. 
 of orUy or the one of alone. White's Shakespeare, vol. xii, pp. 426, 487. 
 See III, iv, 130; V, viii, 74. — 67. in nature belongs to tyranny, i. e., in- 
 temperance is of the nature of a tyranny [Delius] ? to intemperance, 
 meaning in its nature [Rolfe] ? to intemperance, meaning want of 
 control over the natural appetites [Clark and Wright, who prefer, 
 however, the explanation of Delius] ? — tyranny=usurpation [Clark 
 and Wright] ? despotic oppression? See III, vi, 35. — 69. yet= still? 
 notwithstanding? A. S. get is probably a contraction of ge, and, also, 
 and t6, in the direction of; ge t6 meaning 'and to', *. c, moreover. 
 Skeat. — 71. convey=condubt, direct [Clark and Wright] f gather in, 
 in a spacioue plenty, i. e., in an abundant harvest [writer in Blaek- 
 wood'a Maga., Oct., 1853] ? indulge secretl.y [Schmidt] ? manage secretly 
 and artfully [Djrce] ? In Merry Wives of W., I, iii, 26, we have Ancient 
 Pistol's euphemism for steol, like the term conji&caie in the foraging 
 expeditions during our civil war, "Convey, the wise it call. Steal ! foh ! 
 
166 MACBETH. {has rr 
 
 And yet seem cold, the time yon may so hoodwink. 
 We have willing dames enough ; there cannot be 
 That vulture in you to devour so many 
 As will to greatness dedicate themselves, 76 
 
 Finding it so inclin'd. 
 
 Malcolm. With this there grows 
 
 In my most ill-compos'd affection such 
 A stanchlesB avarice that, were I king, 
 I should cut off the nobles for their lands. 
 Desire his jewels and this other's house ; 80 
 
 And my more-having would be as a sauce 
 To make me hunger more, that I should forge 
 Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, 
 Destroying them for wealth. 
 
 Macduff. This avarice 
 
 Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root 86 
 
 Than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been 
 The sword of our slain kings : yet do not fear ; 
 Scotland hath f oisons to fill up your will. 
 Of your mere own. All these are portable, 
 
 a fioo (i. «., fig) for the phrase I"— Lew. I, ii, 92; RUhara II, IV, i, 816. 
 — The Collier MS. has 'enjoy,' by which Singer thinks the sense is 
 improved. Correctly? more poetic? — 72. time. I, v, 61; vii, 81. — 
 hoodwinlc. A. S. hid, a hood; allied to Ger. hut, a hat; hoodwink, to 
 make one wfn/c or close his eyes by covering him with a hood. Skeat. 
 Dalgleish makes the word "a translation of Holinshed's, 'that no man 
 shall be aware thereof." — 74. that is still used provinoially for such 
 and so. Abbott, 277. Hamlet, I, ii, 171 ; v. 48. — 77. ill-composed = 
 compounded of evil quaUties? ill-assorted? In 2VoiZ. and Crea., IV, iv, 
 
 77, we have 'well-composed.' — affection = disposition ? character? — 
 
 78. stancbless = insatiable? Lat. stagndre, to cease to flow, form a 
 still pool, be still ; Late Lat. gtanea, a dam ; Low Lat. stcmcwre, to stop the 
 flow of blood ; Old Fr. 'esta/ncher, to stanch, stop issue of blood, slake or 
 quench hunger, thirst,' etc. Skeat, Wm-eenter.— SO. biB. Note emphasis 
 and antithesis. Abbott, 217.— 82. that. I, ii, 58; Abbott, 283. — forge. 
 Lat. fabrleare, to frame, construct; fatn-lca, workshop. Successively 
 shortened in Fr. to fabrica, fauna, faurga, forga, forge. Brachet. Mid. 
 Eng. forgen, to forge. Used in Shakes, in both a good and a bad sense. — 
 86. siimmer-seeining=appearing to belong to the hey-day of summer 
 and to pass with it [Moberly 1 ? burning awhile like summer, and like sum 
 mer passing away [Hudson] ? befitting or looking like summer [Clark 
 and Wright] ? Donne in Love's Alchemy speaks of 'a winter-seeming sum- 
 mer'snight.' — 88. foi80iis=plenty, abundance.— Lat. /undgre, to pour, 
 ftaus, poured; futio, a pouring forth with plenty; Fr. foUon, plenty, 
 abundance, profusion. Tempest, II, i, 160; IV, i, 110; Sonnets, liii, 9.-89. 
 mere. From t/ mae, to gleam, as in marble; Lat. memx, pure, un- 
 mixed. Theorig. sense is "bright." Sfceot.— Line 153. ilfer. o/ Ten., Ill, 
 ii, 257: Tempest, I, i,51.— .<lb2)ott,15.— portable=endurable? J ML iioHar^ 
 
SCENE m.] MAQBBTB, 167 
 
 With other graces weigh'd. 90 
 
 Malcolm. But I have none : the king-becoming graces, 
 
 As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, 
 
 Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowlinesa, 
 
 Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, 
 
 I have no relish of them, but abound W 
 
 In the division of each several crime. 
 
 Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should 
 
 Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell. 
 
 Uproar the universal peace, confound 
 
 All unity on earth. 
 
 Macduff. O Scotland, Scotland ! 100 
 
 Malcolm. If such a one be fit to govern, speak : 
 
 I am as I have spoken. 
 
 Macduff. Fit to govern ! 
 
 No, not to live. — O nation miserable ! 
 
 With an untitled tyrant, bloody-scepter'd, 
 
 When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, 105 
 
 Since that the truest issue of thy throne 
 
 By his own interdiction stands accurs'd. 
 
 And does blaspheme his breed ? — Thy royal father 
 
 Was a most sainted king : the queen that bore thee, 
 
 to carry : portoMlis, bearable. — Lecer, in, vi, 106. — 90. ■weigh'd=ooun- 
 terpoised? -r Weighed «a"tft=oounterbalancea by [Rolfe] ? compensated 
 by [Clark and Wright] ? — 91. Mng-becomiug. What grace or 
 graces has he omitted? — 92. vepity=veracity? sincerity? honesty?— 
 temperance = moderation? sell-resta-aint? Lat. tempus, fit season, 
 time ; tempori, seasonably ; tem,perdre, to apportion, moderate, regulate. 
 — ^Hamiet, III, iij 7.- -93. perseverance. Accent! Peraeser is always 
 aco. on 2d syl. in Shakes. — 95. relisli of =relish /or? smack or ilavor 
 of [Rolfe, Clark and Wright, etc.] ?— Line 59 ; Hamlet, in, iii, 92 ; 2 Hemry 
 IV, I, li, 91. Old Fr. relecher, "to lick over again." Ootgrave. Lat. 
 re, again; Gr. Aeix''") leiohein; Lat. lingire; A. S. Hectoi, to lick. — 98. 
 milk, etc. I, v, 15. To make hell concordant? to destroy or pervert 
 the milk? — 99. uproar = disturb by uproar [Clark and Wright]? 
 TJprear, uproot, uptear, have been proposed as substitutes. Well? — 
 The kindred and equivalent German aiifruhr forms a verb, aufriihren, 
 to stir up. — 104. untitled. Does this word tend to show that title in 
 line34meansari0M/uItitle?— 105. wholesome. Hamlet, 111,11,398; iv, 
 65. Teutonic type y'HAiLA, hale, whole: Gr. /taXds, kalos, excellent, hale , 
 A. S. h&l, whole. The u is an intruder in the word. -Some is A. S. 
 -sum, same; allied to Gr. ojidt, same; Lat. simiUs, like. It means (1) 
 Uke, as In darkeome, dark-like; frolicsome, frolic-like; (2) inclined to, 
 as gamesome, inclined to game or sport ; (3) apt to, as meddlesome, apt 
 to meddle; wholesome, apt to heal. GHbbs. — 106. That. Since that is 
 parallel to Fr. puisgue. Abbott, 287, relates the origin of this use. — 
 108. blaspheme = slander, the orlg. sense of the word [Clark and 
 Wright]? — Gr. phtur^iixiv, blasphemeim; fr. pM<liK, blapsis, damage; 
 
168 MACBETB. [act nr, 
 
 Oftener upon her kuees than on her feet, J 10 
 
 Died every day she liv'd. — rFare thee well 1 
 
 These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself 
 
 Have banish'd me from Scotland. — O my breast. 
 
 Thy hope ends here ! 
 
 Malcolm. Macduff, this noble passion, 
 
 Child of integrity, hath from my soul 115 
 
 Wip'd the black scruples, reconcil'd my thoughts 
 To thy good truth and honor. Devilish Macbeth 
 By many of these trains hath sought to win me 
 Into his power, and modest wisdom plucks me 
 Prom over-credulous haste : but God above 180 
 
 Deal between thee and me ! for even now 
 I put myself to thy direction, and 
 Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure 
 The taints and blames I laid upon myself, 
 For strangers to my nature. I am yet 125 
 
 Unknown to woman, never was forsworn, 
 Scarcely have coveted what was mine own, 
 
 ifrijui, phemi, X say. A doublet of hlame. Skeat. — breed = breeding! 
 race? birthi parentage [Rolfe]? — Welsh brwd, warm? A. S. bri- 
 dam, to nourish, keep warm ; {brdd) , brtd, a young one, especially a bird ; 
 Dutch broed, a brood; Ger. brut, levy of young, brood. Bichard II, II, 
 i, 45, 51, .52, 'This happy breed (race) of men,' 'royal kings, Fear'd 
 by (because of) their breed' (birth) . — 111. died every day=lived a 
 life of daily mortification (of the flesh by castigation) [Delius] ? every 
 day was a preparation for death [Clark and Wright] ? died to sin and 
 lived to righteousness, 1 Peter, II, 241 Doubtless Shakes., who was 
 much better acquainted with the Bible than most of his commentators, 
 had in mind Paul's declaration, 1 Corinaiians, xv, 31, "I die daily." 
 So " die from sin and rise again unto righteousness " m the baptismal 
 office of the P. B. —liv'd. So the folios; but some editors, anxious to 
 make ten syllables in the line, print lived = liv-ed. Pope inserts Oh 
 before /are; Walker, Dyce, Rolfe and others make/ar6adissyl.,/a-'W. 
 Abbott, 480. White thinks Uv'd is a dissyl. But what more natural 
 than that a long pause should fill out the line! I, 11, 5. See our note 
 on Hamlet, I, i, 129, 132, 135. — 118. trains = lures, enticements: arti- 
 fices? — ^Lat. trahSre, to draw; Low. Lat. trahinare, to drag; Mid. Eug. 
 trainen, to entice; train, trayn 'with the sense of plot'; Old Fr. 
 'traine, a plot, practice, conspiracy.' Cotgrave. — Comua, 151, has, "Now 
 to my charms and to my wUy trains." — A technical term both in hawk- 
 ing and hunting ; in hawking, for the lure; in hunting, for the bait. 
 Edinburgh Beolew, October, 1872. — Comedy of Er., HI, ii, 45. — 123. un- 
 speak. So 'unsay,' Biehard II, IV, i, 9; 'unkiss,' Biehard II, V, i, 
 74; 'uncurse,' Bichard II, HI, ii, 137.— 125. for = as being; AMxitt, 148. 
 Compare /or in "What do you take me for? " — 126. forsworn. The 
 prefix/or-, allied to A. S. faran, to go on, go forth, implies, (1) removal, 
 as forbid, bid away; forbear, bear forth, hold from; (2) removal and 
 disappearing; as forgive, give away or out of sight; (8) removal with 
 
SCENE in.] MACBETH. 169 
 
 At no time broke my faith, would not betray 
 
 The devil to his f ello-w, and delight 
 
 No less in truth than life : my first false speaking ISO 
 
 Was this upon myself. What I am truly, 
 
 Is thine and my poor country's to command ; 
 
 Whither indeed, before thy here-approaoh, 
 
 Old Siward, with ten thousand ■warlike men, 
 
 Already at a point, was setting forth. 135 
 
 Now we '11 together, and the chance of goodness 
 
 Be like our warranted quarrel ! Why are you silent ? 
 
 Macchiff. Such welcome and unwelcome things at once 
 'T is hard to reconcile. 
 
 Enter a Doctor. 
 Malcolm. Well, more anon. — Comes the king forth, I 
 pray you ? 140 
 
 Doctor. Ay, sir ; there are a crew of wretched souls 
 
 going wrong; as /orsweor, to swear falsely ; (4) removal with entlre- 
 ness; as forUym, utterly lost; (5) simple jor, as forsooth; (6) simple 
 lore, as forward. — 133. here-approacb. So ftere-rematn, l48. Of 
 Shakespeare's skill in coining compounds, Abbott, 430, gives many ex- 
 amples. — ^134. Siward, Earl of Northumberland, son of Beorn, and 
 very serviceable to King Edward in suppressing the rebellion of God- 
 win in 1053. Holinshed makes Duncan to have married his daughter ; 
 but Menteith, in V, ii, 8, calls him Malcolm's uncle. -^ 135. already = 
 all ready [Warburton, Heath, etc.] even now? — Rowe and some others 
 ohange_it to An ready. "Either makes good sense." ClarH and Wright. 
 — at a' pomt=thoroughly prepared? ready! resolved? at a stay or 
 stop, settled [ArrowsmithJ ? at a point of space [Knight] 1 — Hamlet, 1, 11, 
 200; Lear, I, iv, 316; III, 1, 33; Fairie Q., I, U, 13. Italian "esaere in 
 punto is to be in readiness, to be at a point." Morio. Lat. pung^e, to 
 prick; punctum, point; Fr. point; Old Pr. a point devis, according to a 
 point that is devised ; Eng. at point device, with great nicety or exacti- 
 tude. Sheat. — 136. chance of eoodness=chance of success [Clark 
 and Wright] 1 successful issue pDelius] ? the lot Providence has de- 
 creed [Warburton] ? the success of that goodness (which is about to 
 exert itself In my behalf) [Heath] ? fortune of goodness [Staunton] ? 
 (may the) event be, of the goodness of heaven (pro Juatitia dlvina) 
 [Johnson]? Hanmer suggested owr chance in goodness; Jackson, the 
 chain of goodness! — 137. Trarranted quarrel = righteous cause 
 [X)elius] ? justified, assured quarrel [Clark and Wright] ? — Old High 
 Ger. It became in Old Pr. first w, then out, and finally 9. E. g. guaranty and 
 warranty. Old Pr. garant and Eng. warrant, are the same word. Allied 
 to Gr. otpos, houros, a watchman ; opau, horao, I perceive, look out f or ; 
 A. S. wcer, cautious, wary; t/war, to heed; Low Lat. warantwm. Old 
 Fr. wa/rant, a voucher, warrant, supporter. The snfflx -ant is due to 
 the Lat. -cmtLjised as the suffix of a pros . participle ; so that the orig. 
 sense of Old Pr. warant was 'defending' or 'protecting.' Skeat. Fries. 
 warend. Ger. gewahren, to be surety for. — Quarrel is Old Fr. guerele, 
 Lat. querela, a complaint; fr. gtteri, to complain. — Metonymy here? — 140 
 to 159. Many editors regard these lines as having been interpolated to 
 
llO MAGBBTB. [act it 
 
 That stay his cure : their malady convinces 
 The great assay of art ; but at his touch, 
 Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, 
 They presently amend. 
 
 Malcolm. I thank you, doctor. 146 
 
 [Exit Doctor. 
 
 Macduff. What *s the disease he means ? 
 
 Malcolm. 'T is called the evil : 
 
 A most miraculous work in this good king ; 
 Which often, since my here-remain in England, 
 I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven. 
 Himself best knows ; but strangely-visited people, 160 
 
 All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, 
 The mere despair of surgery, he cures. 
 Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, 
 Put on with holy prayers ; and 't is spoken, 
 To the succeeding royalty he leaves 165 
 
 The healing benediction. With this strange virtue, 
 He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, 
 
 please King James, who 'touched' for the evil. Likely? — 148. stay= 
 awaitt So in Bic/iord II, I, iii, 4; Mer. of V&n. II, viii, 4D.— convinces. 
 Seel, vii, 64. — 143. assay = effort? Same as essa/y. Gr. ix, ek, out, 
 iytip, agein, to lead ; {(iynv, exagein, to lead out, export ; {(aytoi', exagion, 
 Lat. exagivm, weighing, trial of exact weight; Fr. essat, a trial. Skeat, ' 
 Brachet. — 145. presently = immediately? The word was more ex- 
 pressive of imjnediateness than it is now. Lat. prw, before, in front; 
 sens, being. Tempest, IV, i, 42; Mer. of Venice, I, i, 183; Matthew, xxvi, 
 53.— 146. the evil = 'The King's evil,' scrofula? Pope Alexander III 
 (pope from 1159 to 1181) canonized Edward and recognized his miracu- 
 lous gift of healing. The English sovereigns down to the death of 
 Queen Anne in 1714, were supposed to possess this divine power. 
 Charles 1 'touched' 70 in one day at York; Charles X of EYance 
 ' touched ' lailn one week, making the sign of the cross upon the fore- 
 head and saying, "The King touches thee, may God cure thee." It is 
 said that the practice did not quite die out in France till the year 1825. 
 In 1745 Prince Charles 'touched' a child for the 'evil' at Holyrood Pal- 
 ace. It was tried ineffectually on the child Sam. Johnson, then at the 
 age of two years, in 1712. Up to 1719 the Prayer Book contained a 
 service to be used as a part of the ceremony. It was at first printed 
 on a separate sheet, but was introduced in the P. B. as early as 1684. 
 — Holinshed is Shakespeare's authority here. — 149. solicits^; prevails 
 by prayer [Clark and Wright] ? moves by his prayers [Rolf e] ? — Lat. 
 8oHlc<tore, to agitate, arouse; Old Lat. soUim, whole ; cltus, shaken, ex- 
 cited, fr. ciere, to arouse. Skeat. Like Hfore in church Latin, it some- 
 times meant to prevail by petition.— 152. mere. Line 89.- -153. stamp. 
 The coin, worth about 10 shillings, was called cm a/ngel, having on one 
 side, in the time of Elizabeth, a figure of Michael piercing the dragon. 
 That which Queen Anne hung on Johnson's neck is in the British Muse- 
 nm. — Mer. 0/ Fen., II, vii, 56. — 154. spoken. Ill, iv, 8. — coin='8tamp' 
 
BCBNEm.] MACBETH. Ill 
 
 And sundry blessings hang about his throne 
 That speak him full of grace. 
 
 Enter Ross. 
 
 Macduff. See, who comes here ? 
 
 . Malcolm. My countryman ; but yet I know him not. 160 
 
 Macchiff. My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither. 
 
 Malcolm. I know him now. Good God, betimes remove 
 The means that makes us strangers ! 
 
 Moss. Sir, amen. 
 
 Macduff. Stands Scotland where it did ? 
 
 Moss. Alas, poor country ! 
 
 Almost afraid to know itself. It cannot 165 
 
 Be call'd our mother, but our grave ; where nothing, 
 But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile ; 
 Where sighs and groans and shrieks that rent the air 
 Are made, not mark'd ; where violent sorrow seems 
 A modern ecstasy ; the dead man's knell 170 
 
 Is there scarce ask'd for who ; and good men's lives 
 Expire before the flowers in their caps. 
 Dying or ere they sicken. 
 
 MacdMff. O, relation 
 
 Too nice, and yet too true ! 
 
 In CymbeUne, V, iv, 24 ; Merry Wiioes, JH, iv, 16. — 160. my countryman. 
 How recognized as a Scotchman 1-~163. means . Used both as singular 
 and as plural in Shakes. — A. S. mid; Lat. medius; medicmus; Old Pr. 
 meien, middle, intermediate, mean ; Mid. Eng. menes. — makes. Possi- 
 bly old plu. in g. .4.6I)ott, 333.— II, 1, 61.— 167. once=ever? V,v, 15; Ham- 
 let, I, v, 131.— 168. rent. So the folios; old form of rend. As to the sound 
 of t and d and th, see White's Shakespeare, Vol. xii, pp. 43.5, 436. — 110. 
 modem=common, trite, ordinary? the opposite of old, in II, iii, 3, which 
 nearly=uncommon, extraordinary. So, ' full of wise saws and mod- 
 ern [i. e. trite] instances ;' As 7ou Like It, II, vii, 156 ; Bom. and Jul. Ill, 
 ii, 130. Lat. modus, measure, fashion ; m^dn, just now ; modernits, of 
 the present mode or fashion ; Fr. modeme. — ecstasy, III, ii, 33. — A 
 modern ecstasy = a slight nervousness fWhiteJ ? — 171. for who. 
 ni, i, 132; Abbott, 274, 414. We still sometimes hear one say, oollo- 
 quially, ',' Who fori' '— 173. flowers in their caps. Scotch custom 
 to stick sprigs of heath in their bonnets. H. Bowe. — Do flowers expire? 
 — or ere = before? Or and ere are both from A. S. cer, ere, before. 
 Probably or ere arose as a reduplicated expression in which ere repeats 
 and explains or; later this was confused with or e'er; whence or ever. 
 SHeat. — Pleonasm? — Tempest, I, ii, 11 ; Bamlet, I, ii, 147 ; Maetzner, iii, 
 446; Abbott, 131. — 174. nice = excellent? precise [Schmidt]? minute 
 [Rolfejl affected, elaborate [Delius]? particular [Dyce]? fancifully 
 minute [Clark and Wright]? Lat. ne, not; scire, to know; nescius. 
 Ignorant; OldFr. nice, lazy, idle, slack, dull; Mid. Eng. nice, foolish, 
 
172 MACBETH. [actit. 
 
 Malcolm. What 's the newest grief ? 
 
 Ross. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker ; 175 
 Each minute teems a new one. 
 
 Macduff. How does my wife ? 
 
 Ross. Why, well. 
 
 Macdniff. And all my children ? 
 
 Ross. Well too. 
 
 Macduff. The tyrant has not batter'd at their peace ? 
 
 Ross. No ; they were well at peace when I did leave 'em. 
 
 Macduff. Be not a niggard of your speech : how goes 't ? 
 
 Ross. When I came hither to transport the tidings, 181 
 Which I have heavily borne, there ran a rumor 
 Of many worthy fellows that were out ; 
 Which was to my belief witness'd the rather. 
 For that I saw the tyrant's power a-foot. 185 
 
 Now is the time of help ; your eye in Scotland 
 Would create soldiers, make our women fight, 
 To doff their dire distresses. 
 
 Malcolm. • Be 't their comfort 
 
 We are coming thither ; gracious England hath 
 Lent us good Siward and ten thousand men ; 19(1 
 
 An older and a better soldier none 
 That Christendom gives out. 
 
 Ross. Would I could answer 
 
 simple ; later it took the sense of fastidious, and lastly, that of delic- 
 ious. The remarkable changes in the sense may have been due to con- 
 fusion with Eng. nesh, which sometimes meant ' delicate ' as well as 
 'soft.' Sfteat.— 175. hiss, etc. "If a man tells a crime that is an hour 
 old, they say 'buzz' to him for stale news." Moberly, who cites Hamlet, 
 II, ii, 383.— 176. teems=brings forth? isbrought forth?— Hemry V, V, 
 ii, 51; Timwn of A., TV, iii, 178. — A. S. tffmcm, to teem; fr. te&m, a pro- 
 geny; Mid, Eng. temen, to produce. — 177. well. "We use to say the 
 dead are well" ; Antony and Cteop., II, vi, 33; see 2 Kings, iv, 26.— chil- 
 dren. Here again editors are so anxious to fill out the metre that they 
 make children a trisyllable. Abbott, 477. But how needful and how 
 impressive, a pause after the word children ! — 179. peace. A like 
 double meaning in Richard II, III, ii, 127. — 180 . niggard = miser? — 
 Icel. hnoggr, stingy ; allied to A. S. hniaa, sparing. The form of the 
 root is KNUj preserved in Gr. mnieiv, kuuein, to scratch; so that the 
 orig. sense is 'one who scrapes.' Skeat. For -ard see our Masterpieces, 
 page 244. -ard is pejorative. Worcester.— Hamlet, III, i, 13.— 183. out= 
 up in arms [Meudejohn] ? — "He was 'out' in the ■45"="he was engaged 
 in the Scotch Rebellion of 1745." Clarke. — 184. witness'd = made 
 credible [Rolfell evidenced to my belief [Staunton]? borne wit- 
 ness to, testified? — for that. Line 106; Abbott, 287, 288. —185. 
 power often in Shakes. = military force, army. Line 236. — 188. 
 aoir=do off, put oft; don = do on;ilup = do up. — 191. none. 
 
BCBNE III.] MACBETH. 173 
 
 This comfort with the like ! But I have words 
 
 That would be howl'd out in the desert air, 
 
 Where hearing should not latch them. 395 
 
 Macduff. What concern they ? 
 
 The general cause ? or is it a fee-grief 
 Due to some single breast ? 
 
 JRoss. ' No mind that 's honest 
 
 But in it shares some woe, though the main part 
 Pertains to you alone. 
 
 Macdniff. If it be mine, 
 
 Keep it not from mc, quickly let me have it. 200 
 
 Moss. Let not your ears despise my tongue for ever, 
 Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound 
 That ever yet they heard. 
 
 Macduff. Hum ! I guess at it. 
 
 Moss. Tour castle is surpris'd ; your wife and babes 
 Savagely slaughter'd ; to relate the manner 205 
 
 Were, on the quarry of these murder'd deer, 
 To add the death of you. 
 
 Malcolm. Merciful heaven ! — 
 
 What, man ! ne'er pull your hat upon your brows ; 
 Give sorrow words : the grief that does not speak 
 
 Ellipsis? See IV. iii, 16. — 194. would.— See line 23; I, v, 20; I, vii, 
 34; V, viii, 65; Abbott, 329. — 195. latch=oatGh? Fosifbly Lat. laqueun, 
 a snare, noose ; A. S. keccan, to seize ; Mid. Eng. lacchen, to catch liold 
 of. — SoiMiet cxiii, 6. — 196. fee-grief=private grief [Moberly]? grief 
 that hath a single owner [Johnson]? — A. S. /eoh,/ee,. cattle; proper- 
 ty; akin to Lat, pecus, cattle; whence pecuniary; from yPAK, to 
 bind (from the tying up of cattle). Skeat. "Fee simple is the 
 tenure conferring the highest rights of ownership." Clark and 
 Wright. "The attorney has been guilty of a flat trespass on the 
 poet." Steevens. For Grimm's law of consonant changes, by 
 which Latin or Greek p, k or e, t, become in English respect- 
 ively %>h or/, eft, fft, see our Masterpieceg, pp. 23, 240. So pater becomes 
 father; cant-are, to sing, becomes chant. — 202. possess . . ■with=fiU 
 . . with [RolfeJ? put . . in possession of 1 — 203. hum! — The inter- 
 jection is imitative? Made with closed lips, the soiind is in a marked de- 
 gree internal and subjective . See our Masterpieces, p. 48, foot-note. — 206. 
 guarry, I, ii, 14. — 208. "He pulled his hat down over his brows. And 
 in his heart he was full woe." Old ballad of Northumberland betrayed 
 by Douglas. — 209. See the beautiful verses In Tennyson's Princess, 
 "Home they brought her warrior dead, "[etc. "Curae leves loquuntur, 
 ingentes stupent," light cares talk, great ones are struck dumb. Sen- 
 eca's JJippoIyfMs. Had Shakes, read Seneca? "He might have read the 
 words in Florio's Montaigne's Essays, of which he is supposed tp b»V9 
 
174 MACBETH. Iactiv, 
 
 Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break. 210 
 
 Macduff. My children too ? 
 
 Boss. Wife, children, servants, all 
 
 That could be found. 
 
 Macduff. And I must be from thence ! — 
 
 My wife kill'd too ? 
 
 Moss. I have said. " 
 
 Malcolm. Be comforted : 
 
 Let 's make us medicines of our great revenge, 
 To cure this deadly grief. 315 
 
 Macduff. He has no children. — All my pretty ones ? 
 Did you say all ?— O hell-kite !— All ? 
 What, all my pretty chickens and their dam 
 At one fell swoop ? 
 
 Malcolm. Dispute it like a man. 
 
 Macduff. I shall do so ; «ao 
 
 But I must also feel it as a man : 
 I cannot but remember such things were. 
 That were most precious to me. — Did heaven look on, 
 And would not take their part ? Sinful Macduff, 
 They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am. 
 
 Aad a copy." Collier.— 210. wbispers. Transitive nowJ Abbott, 200. 
 .-o'erftaught. Swed. frdkta, to fraught, to freight; frakt, a cargo; 
 Ger. fracten, to freight ; Old Eng. fraught, to lade a ship. FraitgM is now a 
 participle only. Skeat. Mdtzner, i,S44. — 313. AndlTnu8tbe=andIwas 
 destined to be [Abbott, Rolf e J ? to think that I was compelled to be [Clark 
 and Wright] ?— 216. He has no children. Wtwf Clark and Wright 
 say Macbeth, and that Macduff means, " I cannot be fully revenged, 
 because I cannot kill any children of his." Moberly also says Mac- 
 beth. He cites 3 Henry VI, V, v, 6.3, and interprets, "Had Macbeth had 
 children, he could not have done It." Malone says Malcolm, and quotes, 
 "He talks to me that never had a son." KinaJohn,IU,iv,91. Darmes- 
 teter well says, "The context proves that Macduff is still absorbed in 
 his anguish. He is thinking of his childreuj not of their murderer; of 
 the loss that he has met with, not of the crmie that has caused it. It 
 is only by degrees that he arrives at the calmness of the resolution of 
 vengeance." Is not the almost unparalleled pathos of "Hehas no chil- 
 dren," implying that he therefore does not know what it is to lose 
 them, better than the infernal savagery of the interpretation first 
 4uoted abovel — "Macbeth had a son then alive named Lulah." Malone. 
 Shakespeare thought otherwise?— 22. Dispute it=contend with your 
 present sorrow [Steevens] ? reason upon it [Schmidt]? BomeoandJiil., 
 Ill, iii, 63.— 221. Note the depth and power of the simple Saxon speech I 
 — 223, 224. Did heaven look on, etc. A question that every earnest 
 man asks, sooner or later 1 In Leaa; II, iv, 184r-187, the old king appeals 
 to the heavens, "Send down and take my part." 
 
BCENB m.] MACBETE. 175 
 
 Not for their own demerits, but for mine, 
 
 Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now ! 
 
 Malcolm. Be this the whetstone of your sword : let grief 
 Convert to anger ; blunt not the heart, enrage it. 
 
 Macduff. O, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 230 
 And braggart with my tongue ! — But, gentle heavens. 
 Cut short all intermission ; front to front 
 Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself ; 
 Within my sword's length set him ; if he scape 
 .Heaven forgive him too ! 
 
 Malcolm. This time goes manly. 235 
 
 Come, go we to the king : our power is ready ; 
 Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth 
 
 ** Alas, long-BniEering and most patient God, 
 Thou need'st be surelier God to bear witb ns 
 Than even to have made ns!" 
 
 Mrs. Biowning's Aurora Leigh. 
 
 — 225. naught. A much stronger word than now, implying moral 
 worthlessness, a meaning which has left but a trace of itself in our 
 naughty. Hamlet, III, ii, 130; Bom. and Jul., Ill, ii, 87; Mer. of Vem., 
 Ill, ii, 18. —225,226, 227. See the Second Command.ment. —229. con- 
 vert. Lat. con, completely; uertgre, to turn. — Transitive? — Much Ado, 
 I, i, 123; Richard U, V, iii, 64. "Stonesto water do convert." Lucrecc, 
 592. — 231. "Here, and not at line 216, the possibility of revenge first oc- 
 curs to Macduff." Delius.— 233. interinis8ioii=delay3 interruption? 
 intervening period of time? — Lat. inter, between; mitth-i, to send; in- 
 termlttire, to send apart, interrupt ; interrwissio, a breaking off, cessa- 
 tion, interruption, delay. — Mer. of Yen., Ill, ii, 199. — 234:. scape, m, 
 iv, 20. — 235. too=besides forgiving me [Hudson] ? as I also will in that 
 case forgive him [Hudson] ? — Hudson gives us the choice, and says by 
 way of paraphrase, "If I don't kill him, then I ain worse than he, and 
 I not only forgive him myself, but pray God to forgive him also ; or 
 perhaps it is, then I am as bad as he, and may God forgive us both. I 
 cannot point to an instance, anywhere, of language more intensely 
 charged with meaning." Is Hudson right? Which? — time. Changed 
 by Rowe, and nearly all editors since, to tune. Moberly, who re- 
 tains tirm, interprets it as meaning tune, and Webster (Unabridged 
 Diet.) defines it as meaning in music, 'measure of sounds, measure, 
 time; as common or triple time,'' illustrating by 'Some few lines set 
 unto a solemn tim/e,' from Beaumont and Fletcher. This may be the 
 true interpretation. But it is quite Shakespearian to personify time, 
 and to speak of Time's gait, ' Time goes upright,' Tempest, V, i, 3; 
 'travels in divers paces,' 'trots,' 'ambles,' 'gallops,' 'stands still,' 
 with 'lazy foot,' with 'swift foot,' As You Like It, IH, ii, 287-312; 
 'comes stealing on,' Comedy of Errors, IV, ii, 60; 'goes on crutches,' 
 Much Ado, n, i, 319; 'steals on' with 'noiseless foot,' All's Well, V, 
 iii, 41; is 'brisk and giddy-paced,' Twelfth Night, II, iv, 6, etc., etc. 
 — manly. Adv. or ar^eot.? Abbott, 447. See angerly, lit, v, 1. — 237. 
 lack, etc. " We need only the king's leave to set out " ? " We neefl 
 
176 MACBETH. [activ. 
 
 Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above 
 
 Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may ; 
 
 The night is long that never finds the day. [Exeunt. 240 
 
 only to take our leave of the king"? — 239. put on = set to work 
 rSchmidt] ? stir up, instigate, urge on rHudsonl ?— Hamlet, IVi vii, 130 ; 
 V, ii, 386 ; MaebeOi, I, iii^ 134 ; lU, i, 80.- -This line is said by the editors to 
 be an Alexandrine. Rightly ? — What progress in the plot in this scene i 
 Is it needed! Its prominent features? How much is original with 
 Shakespeare? with Holinshed? Character of Macduff? Investigate 
 the question of Macbeth' s having had a son. (See French's Shake- 
 speareana Oenealoaita, 1869.) 
 
8CBHSJ.] MAOBETE. 17 7 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 ScEiTB I. Sumsinane. A JRoom in the Castle. 
 Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting Gentlewoman. 
 
 Doctor. I have two nights watched with you, but can 
 perceive no truth in your report. When was it she last 
 walked ? 
 
 Gentlewoman. Since his majesty went into the field, I 
 have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon 
 her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon 
 't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed ; 
 yet all this while in a most fast sleep. 
 
 Doctor. A great perturbation in nature, to receive at 
 once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching ! 
 In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other 
 actual performances, what at any time have you heard her 
 say ? 
 
 Gentlewoman. That, sir, which I will not report after 
 her. 
 
 Doctor. Tou may to me, and 't is most meet you should. 
 
 Gentlewoman. Neither to you nor any one, having no 
 witness to confirm my speech. 15 
 
 Enter Lady Macbeth, with a taper. 
 
 Lo you, here she comes ! This is her very guise ; and, 
 upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her ; stand close. 
 
 ACT V. Scene I. — Maginn says this scene runs easily into blank 
 verse. Try it! — 3. into the field. Steevens thinks Shakes, has 
 made a mistake here, forgetting that Macbeth was shut up in Dunsi- 
 nane. V, Iv, 8, 9. Sound criticism?— IV, iii, 185; V, ii, 18. — 1. ntght- 
 go\m, II, ii, 70. — 8. perturbation. "The flend is at mine elbow," 
 and suggests that the country doctor loves 'to air his rhetoric' 3 Is it 
 sol — 9. effects. Peculiar sense of effects? Hamlet, III, iv, 137; Lear, 
 I, i, 178 ; II, iv, 174. — watching. II, ii, 71.— 10. slumbery. Abbott, 
 450, gives other adjectives similarly formed. — actual distinguished 
 from what? - - 16. Lo. A. S. Id, lo !— A. S. l&, lo, and l&ian, to look, have 
 nothing in common but the initial letter. Ld is a natural interiectiou 
 
178 MACBETH. [aot t. 
 
 Doctor. How came she by that light ? 
 
 Oenilevjoman. Why, it stood by her : she has light by 
 her continually ; 't is her command. 20 
 
 Doctor. You see, her eyes are open. 
 
 Gentlewoman. Ay, but their sense are shut. 
 
 Doctor. What is it she does now ? Look, how she rubs 
 her hands. 24 
 
 Gentlewoman. It is an accustomed action with her, to 
 seem ^hus washing her hands : I have known her con- 
 tinue in this a quarter of an hour. 
 
 Ijady Macbeth. Yet here 's a spot. 
 
 Doctor. Hark ! she speaks : I will set down what comes 
 from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. 80 
 
 Xady Macbeth. Out, danmed spot ! out, I say ! — One : 
 two : why, then, 't is time to do 't — Hell is murky ! — 
 Fie, my lord, fie ! a soldier, and afeard? What need we 
 fear who knows it, when none can call our power to ac- 
 count ? — Yet who would have thought the old man to have 
 had so much blood in him ? 86 
 
 Doctor. Do you mark that ? 
 
 Xiady Macbeth. The thane of Fife had a wife : where is 
 she now ? — What, will these hands ne'er be clean ? — No 
 more o' that, my lord, no more o' that : you mar all with 
 this starting. 41 
 
 Doctor. Go to, go to ; you have known what you should 
 not. 
 
 to call attention. Skeat. — 17. close. Ill, y, 7; Julius Ccegar, I, iii, ISO. 
 
 — 20. her command. Why? " Was this to avert the presence of 
 those 'sightless substances'!" BuekniU. — l,v,i7. — ^32. are sbut. So 
 the folios. 'Sense' in Sonnet cxii, 10, where it is used of the sense of 
 'hearings,' is nnmistakably plural. It may be here. Most critics 
 change the ore to is. Rightly 1 .ilbbott, 471, names quite a number of 
 plurals in which the s is not sounded, or even not printed. 11, iv, 14. — 
 
 37. a quarter of an bonr, etc. " What a comment on her former 
 boast 1 " BueknOl; II, ii, 67.-32. Hell is mnrky. She repeats Mac- 
 beth' s words [Steevensl ! We do not agree with Steevens. Clark a/nd 
 Wright. ' Grand revealment of the murderess's soul-dread.' Clarke, 
 
 — Since Macbeth signified his willingness to ' jump the life to come,' 
 has he expressed any fear of helH Does she, less scepticalj believe in 
 the reality of 'the dunnest smoke of hell'? I, v, 49.— 84. call ... to 
 account. "The king can do no wrong." Bushton. — 85,36. "In her 
 former literal fashion, she wondered that an old man should have had 
 so much blood in him, thinking only of the physical fact." WMte. — 
 
 38, 39. ■where js she now? How much remorse is concentrated in 
 this ! — 39. ne'er be clean? See II, ii, 67. — 40. you mar all, etc. 
 Seein, iv, 63. — 42. Go to, an old phrase of varying import, sometimes 
 
■CBNK I.] MAGBETH. 179 
 
 GerUleuBoman. She has spoke what she should not, I am 
 sure of that ; heaven knows what she has known. 45 
 
 Iiody Macbeth. Here 's the smell of the blood still : all 
 the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this, little hand. 
 Oh, oh, oh ! 
 
 jDoctor. What a sigh is there ! The heart is sorely 
 charged. 60 
 
 GerMewoman. I would not have such a heart in my 
 bosom for the dignity of the whole body. 
 
 Doctor. Well, well, well, — 
 
 GentleuDoman. Pray God it be, sir. 54 
 
 Doctor. This disease is beyond my practice : yet I have 
 known those which have walked in their sleep who have 
 died holily in their beds. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Wash your hands, put on your night- 
 gown ; look not so pale. — I tell you yet again, Banquo 's 
 buried ; he cannot come out on 's grave. 60 
 
 Doctor. Even so ? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. To bed, to bed ! there 's knocking at 
 the gate : come, come, come, come, give me your hand. 
 
 meaning Twxb, up, sometimes come on, sometimes go ahead. To whom 
 does the doctor say this! to the gentlewoman? or, without intending 
 that she shall hear it, to Lady Macheth? — Oeneais, xi, 3, 4, 7 ; 2 Kings, 
 V, 5. — 16. the smell of the blood. Nothing is more sickening than 
 the odor of blood; partly so, because the imagination conspires to the 
 same result? — "It was, I believe, Madame De Stael who said, some- 
 what extravagantly, that the smell is the most poetical of the senses. 
 It is true that the more agreeable associations of this sense are fertile 
 in pleasing suggestions of placid, rural beauty, and gentle pleasures. 
 .... But the smell has never been successfully used as a means 
 of impressing the imagination with terror, pity, or any of the deeper 
 emotions, except in this dreadful sleep-walking scene of the guilty 
 queen, and in one parallel scene of the Greek drama, as wildly terrible 
 as this. It is that passage of the Acromemnon of ^schylus, where the 
 captive prophetess Cassandra, wrapt in visionary inspiration, scents 
 first the smell' of blood, and then the vapors of the tomb breathing from 
 the palace of Atrides, as ominous of his approaching murder." Verplanck 
 — Had Shakes, read .lEschylus? What resemblance between Clytem- 
 nestra and Lady Macbeth? — 48. Oh. "Wehear the long, low groan of 
 the soul in agony ." Morley. — 49. sorely. A. S. s&-, painful ; Icel. «4rr, 
 sorOj aching; Ger. sehr, sorely, extremely, very. Skeat. — charged. 
 
 well, etc. "Does she misunderstand the doctor's 'well, well, well,' or 
 does she mean this as a farther hint how dreadful the thing is?" Hu* 
 ion. — 56. which. Who indicates an individual, whUih 'a kind of per- 
 son' ; who is like Lat, qv4; which, i^t. quaiU. — w^bo have 4iecl=and 
 
180 UAQBETH. [act« 
 
 What 'a done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed. 
 
 \E3sit. 
 
 Doctor. Will she go now to bed ? 65 
 
 Gentlewoman. Directly. 
 
 Doctor. Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds 
 Do breed unnatural troubles : infected minds 
 To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. 
 More needs she the divine than the physician. — 70 
 
 God, God forgive us all ! — Look after her ; 
 Remove from her the means of all annoyance. 
 And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night ; 
 My mind she has mated, and amaz'd my sight. 
 I think, but dare not speak. '5 
 
 Gentlewoman. Good night, good doctor. 
 
 [Exeunt, 
 
 SoENB II. TTie Country near Dunsinane. 
 
 Drum and colors. Enter Menteith, Caithness, Angus, 
 Lennox, and Soldiers. 
 
 Menteith. The English power is near, led on by Malcolm, 
 His uncle Siward, and the good Macduff. 
 
 yet they have died. AVbott, 266.-69. on 's. On was often used for of, 
 particularly in rapid speech. Ahholt, 182. — 72. remove, etc. For fear 
 of suicide [Deliusj 1 to prevent her from harming others 1 to prevent 
 any further strain upon her nerves? — V, viii, 70, 71. — annoyance 
 was used in a stronger sense than it is now f Clark and Wright] ? Rich- 
 ard IILf V, liij 157. Lat. in od/lo, in hatred ; In odio habul, I hsid in ha- 
 tred, r was sick and tired of; Old Fr.anoler, enuier, to annoy, trouble; 
 Fr. ennuyer, to tire, weary, annoy. Skeat, Brachet. — 74. niated=ter- 
 rified [MoberlyJ ? confounded? matched? — ^Arabic mita, he died: Turk, 
 and Pera. mdt, astonished, amazed, conquered, check-mated ; Old Fr. 
 mot, "deaded, mated, amated, quelled, subdued," Cotgrave; Mid. Eng. 
 mote, confounded. French feftec, a check ;&hec8, chess. Properly cftech- 
 mate, French ichec et mat, Persian 8c?Mie/i-m<if ^the king is dead. Brachet. 
 — Observe in this scene the correspondences and parallelisms between 
 Lady Macbeth' s utterances on the one hand, and on the other, the say- 
 ings and doings in II, ii, and III, iv.— Why is this scene prose? In an- 
 swer it may be said (1) that there is a kind of rhythm running through 
 it ; (3) that the irregular and fitful utterances of a somnambulist would 
 hardly seem natural if expressed in perfect metre; (3) that whispered 
 questions and answers are not easily capable of rhythm which requires 
 distinct vowel sounds. Our Maxterpleceg in Eng. Lit., p. 169. — "I sus- 
 pect that the matter of this scene is too sublime, too austerely grand, 
 to admit of anything so artificial as the measured language of verse." 
 Hiuison. "The pain and horror have become too intense and too literal 
 and matter of fact to be raised into thelevel of poetry." MeikUjohn.— 
 Scene IL — 1. power, IV, iii, 338.-2. ancle. IV, iii, 134.— 3, pe» 
 
SCENE II.] MACBETH. 181 
 
 Revenges bum in them ; for their dear causes 
 Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm 
 Excite the mortified man. 
 
 Angus. Near Birnam wood 5 
 
 Shall we well meet them ; that way are they coming. 
 
 Caithness. Who knows if Donalbain be with his brother ? 
 
 Lennox. For certain, sir, he is not. I have a file 
 Of all the gentry : there is Siward's son. 
 And many unrough youths, that even now 10 
 
 Protest their first of manhood. 
 
 Menteith. What does the tyrant ? 
 
 Caithness. Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies. 
 Some say he 's mad ; others, that lesser hate him, 
 Do call it valiant fury : but, for certain, 
 He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause 15 
 
 Within the belt of rule. 
 
 Angus. Now does he feel 
 
 His secret murders sticking on his hands ; 
 Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach : 
 Those he commands move only in command, 
 
 Tenges . For the plural see loves, III, i, 121 ; V, viii, 61. — dear causes. 
 Tor dear see Hamlet (our edition) I, ii, 183. "Throughout Shakes, and 
 all the poets of his and a much later day, we find dearest applied to that 
 person or thing which, for us or against us, excites the liveliest inter- 
 est." CaMecott. A. S. deore, ctyre, dear, expensive ; allied to Icel. (Jj/rr, 
 dear, precious. — Bicnard III, II, ii, 77 ; Tempest, II, i, 133 ; Lear, I, iv, 
 263; IV. ill, 51.— 4. t>leeding=bloody deeds? See note on mortified. — 
 alarm. II, i, 53. — 5. niortifled=dead [Meiklejohnj ? perhaps dead 
 to the world, i. e., religious [Clark and Wright] 1 with body macerated 
 or harassed into compliance with the mind [Johnson] ? deprived of vital 
 faculty, made apathetic and insensible [Schmidt] 3 indifferent to the 
 concerns of the world [Knight] 1 — Romans, viii, 13; Coloss., iii, 5. Lat, 
 mortiftcare, to cause death ; mortf-, crude form of mors, death ; and /io, 
 tor fac-ire, to make, cause. Skeat. — "May it not mean 'the deadman'? 
 'mortified' In the literal sense?" [The idea of] " bleeding " may have 
 been "suggested (line4) by the well-known superstition that the corpse 
 of a murdered man bled afresh in presence of the murderer.", Clark 
 and Wright. If this last is correct, then alarm may be taken ei!ther in 
 its llterjil sense, or in its usual meaning. Preference? — 8. file. Ill, i, 
 94. — 10. uiirough=smooth-faced, beardless? Tempest, II, i, 245. — 11. 
 protest. Lat. pro, publicly ; testdri, to bear witness. — 13 . lesser. I, 
 Ui, 65. — 14. fary=inspirationj heroic rapture [Hudson] ? Lat. fur&-e, 
 to be mad, frenzied ; to be inspired. — 15. distemper'd ca,use=disor- 
 ganized party, the disordered body over which he rules [Clark and 
 Wright] ? Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon speak of eSfmi/oi ivSpts, 
 eiizsnoi andres, well-belted men, i. e., active, unincumbered, vigorous 
 m6a.'Z Henry IV,III, 1,38-41. TroiL and Ores., n,ii, 30.— 18. miiiiitely=: 
 happeningevery minute, continual [Schmidt] ? The word is adverbial? 
 SeeMilton'sI!P6nseroso,130.— 19. in, like the in, IV, iii, 20.— 20. noth- 
 
182 MACBETH. [act t. 
 
 Nothing in love ; now does he feel his title *0 
 
 Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe 
 Upon a dwarfish thief. 
 
 Menteith. Who then shall blame 
 
 His pester'd senses to recoil and start, 
 When all that is within him does condemn 
 Itself for being there ? 
 
 Caithness. Well, march we on, W 
 
 To give obedience where 't is truly owed : 
 Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal, 
 And with him pour we in our country's purge 
 Each drop of us. 
 
 Ziennox. Or so much as it needs, 
 
 To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. 80 
 
 Make we our march towards Birnam. [Exeunt, marching. 
 
 Scene HI. Dunsinane. A Room in the Castle. 
 
 Enter Macbeth, Doctor, and Attendants. 
 
 Macbeth. Bring me no more reports ; let them fly all : 
 Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, 
 I cannot taint with fear. What 's the boy Malcolm ? 
 Was he not bom of woman ? The spirits that know 
 
 ingr, "like 'noway,' 'ndught,' 'not' (A. S. nfiftt, i. e. 'no whit'), is often 
 used adverbially." AbbottjS5.—2\. haneloose. Another of Sbake&- 
 peare's images of dress I I,iii, 145; vii, 34, etc. — 23. pester'd. The 
 old sense is to 'encumber' or 'clog.' Old B^. empestrer, to intangle, 
 trouble, incumber; Fr. em/pUrer; Lat. paetorlum, a clog for horses at 
 pasture; pasoKre, to feed; particip. partus, fed, pastured. Wholly un- 
 connected with pest. Sfceot. — But has not the word peat influenced the 
 signification, made it more intense? — to recoll=what? — To originally 
 denoted a purpose. Gradually it was used in other and more indeflnite 
 senses, 'for,' 'about,' 'as regards,' 'in,' etc. Abbott, 856; lY, 11, 
 69.— On recoil, see IV, iii, 19. — 37. inedlcine=physician [Warburton, 
 Schmidt, etc.]? remedy? — Gr. base ^ii#, math, in luiv&aviiv, mantha- • 
 nein, to learn; |/ma., man, to think; Lat. mecJeK, to heal; mediaia, a 
 physician; medicina, medicine; French mAlecln, physician. All's Well, 
 II, i, 72; Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 576. Moberly prints medecin. Well? — 
 weal, in, iv, 76.-28. him. Whom? — parge=cure [Schmidt] ? puri 
 flcation from guilt? Lat. purus, free from stain; agire, to make, drive; 
 
 Comus, 639. — Is this scene of any value? Reason for youropmion? 
 
 Scene ni. — l. them. Whom? See lines 7, 49.-3. taint. In 
 Twelfth Night, m, iv, 135, 126, we read, " lest the device take air and 
 taint." — Gr. riyyav, tengein, to wet, moisten, stain; Lat. tirmire, to dye, 
 to color. French telndre, to stain ; taint, a tincture, stain. Perhaps con- 
 
scENBin.] MAO BETH, 183 
 
 All mortal consequenceB have pronounc'd me thus : 5 
 
 'Fear not, Macbeth ; no man that 's born of woman 
 
 Shall e'er have power upon thee.' Then fly, false thanes, 
 
 And mingle with the English epicures : 
 
 The mind I sway by and the heart I bear 
 
 Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear. 10 
 
 Enter a Servant. 
 
 The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac'd loon ! 
 Where got'st thou that goose look ? 
 
 Servant. There is ten thousand — 
 
 Macbeth. Geese, villain ? 
 
 Servant. Soldiers, sir. 
 
 Macbeth. Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear. 
 Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch ? 15 
 
 fused with attaint. Sfteot.— 5. How to scan this line 1 Does it sufBce 
 that we make out five accented syllables? Abbott, 471, 496, shortens 
 the word ooiiaeguenaes to two or three syllables. But see note on IV, 
 ii, 72; Y, iv, 6.— me thus=to me thus? me to be thus circumstanced? 
 Clark and Wright think either explanation is satisfactory. Prefer- 
 ence?— 8. English epicures. Shakes, took the thought (of English 
 epicureanism) from Holinshed. Steevena. Gluttony was a common 
 charge brought by the Scotch against their wealthier neighbors. 
 CUwli and Wright. Epicurus (B. C. 342-270) , born in Samos, resident 
 after the age of 36 at Athens, established the so-caUed Epicurean school 
 of philosophy, which taught that the highest good is happiness. He 
 was a better man than many of his followers, who gave themselves 
 over to sensuality. See the Class. Diet. — 8. sway=rule? am ruled? 
 Clark and Wright slightly jjrefer the latter. — Teut. base y'swAO, to 
 sway, swing; also to sag, give way; Norweg. suoflct, to sway, swing, 
 reel ; Icel . sveigja, to bow, bend ; Eng. sway, to swing, incline to one side, 
 influence, rule over. Skeat.- -Twelfth NI^M, II, iv, SI. — ^10. sag. Swedish 
 aacka, to settle, sink down, allied to Ger. saehen, to sink. It seems to 
 be an unnasalised form of sink. There may have been some confusion 
 with A. S. sigan, to sink. Sk-eat. Sag is a very common wprd in Amer- 
 ica, but rare in England. — 11. loon = rogue, worthless fellow [Cham- 
 bers] ? — Old Dutch loen, a lown, a base fellow. Prob. akin to Zoroe. 
 Skeat. — The commentators all concur in this meaning; but knowing 
 that the water-bird loon is very cowardly, and, like other swimming 
 birds, on land very awkward, and remembering the derogatory 
 use of names of birds, as booby, gull, goose, etc., we incline 
 to think that the image in Shakespeare's mind was that of the 'great 
 northern diver.' This is strengthened by the change to poose in the 
 next line. See the pictorial illustration in Webster's Unahridged 
 Diet. , and imagine how this servant looked to Macbeth !— 13. is. See 
 n, iii, 123. Abbott, 335.— 14. over-red.— Color symbolic of what? Any 
 substantial foundation for the belief? — Merchant of Venice, II, i, 
 7. — 15. lily-liver'd. See note onll, ii, 65; Lear, II, ii, 15; 2 Henry 
 IT, IV, iii, 96. — patch = clown? a domestic fool, supposed to be so 
 called from his parti-colored dress I Schmidt]? .Tl\e supposition that 
 
J84 MACBETH. [act v. 
 
 Death of thy soul ! those linen cheeks of thine 
 Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face ? 
 
 Servant. The English force, so please you. 
 
 Macbeth. Take thy face hence. — [Exit Servant. 
 
 Seyton ! — I am sick at heart. 
 When I behold — Seyton, I say ! — This push 30 
 
 Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now. 
 I have liv'd long enough : my way of life 
 Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf, 
 And that which should accompany old age, 
 As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, 25 
 
 I must not look to have ; but, in their stead, 
 Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath, 
 Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. — 
 Seyton ! 
 
 Enter Setton. 
 
 Seyton. What 's your gracious pleasure ? 
 
 'patch' is a nickname from the dress is most probably right. SHeat. 
 — Mer, of Ven., II, Vj 45. — 16. linen cheeks. "Their cheeks are pa- 
 per." Henry V, II, li, 74. — 17. to fear. Is fear personified? or is it a 
 verb here? — 19. Seyton. Not pronounced Satan 1—20. push. Mean- 
 ing? Ill, iv, 83. — "And sudden pu»h gives them the overthrow," JuUus 
 CcBgar, V, ii, 5. — disseat = dethrone? The Ist folio has dia-eate; the 
 others, disease. We supply th^ missings, and drop the finale. As Clark 
 and Wright suggest, disease 'seems to be too feeble a word.' To which 
 we may add that he is sick enough already ! troubled enough, too, if that 
 is what disease means. Most editors, however, change cheer to chair {i. e. 
 enthrone, or keep on the throne) . Says White, "Cftalr is pronounced 
 c/ieer even now by some old-fashioned folk," and he regards cheer as 
 'a mere phonographic iiTegularity of spelling.' But Mr. Ellis will 
 not allow ' cheer ' to be a phonetic spelling of ' chair.' — The question 
 of the right reading is a difBcult one; but we adhere to our rule of 
 avoiding unnecessary changes in the first folio text. Those who like 
 may pronounce eheeir chair, or, like our great-grandfathers, say cheer 
 and mean chalrl Note the double antithesis. For arguments and 
 conjectural readings, see Fumeas. — 22. way=path? Johnson changed 
 this to may. The emendation is very plausible, and has given 
 rise to much discussion. Does it make better sense, or more 
 consistent metaphor? SeeFVrne«<>, — 33. 8eap=deoay [Moberly] ? with- 
 ered? — A, S. 8e^r, sere ; sedrian, to dry up, to wither. IV, i, 113.— yel- 
 low^ leaf. Sonnet, Ixxiii, 3. — 34. should accompany. What desir- 
 able accompaniments are unmentioned here? — old ase. Note the pro- 
 found melancholy and ennui of the passage. — 'One of those touches of 
 long time, systematically thrown in at intervals, to conve.v the effect 
 of a sufloiently elapsed period for the reign of the usurper since the 
 murder of Duncan.' Clarke. Select other allusions that indicate a long 
 lapse of time since the opening scene ; as. III, i, 29 ; IV, i, 143, etc. — 27. 
 breath. See II, i, 61. The commentators do not notice that this pas 
 
SCENE III.] MACBETH. 185 
 
 Macbeth. Wliat news more ? 30 
 
 Seyton. All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported. 
 
 Macbeth. I '11 fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd. 
 Give me my armor. 
 
 Seyton. 'T is not needed yet. 
 
 Macbeth. I'll put it on. 
 Send out moe horses, skirr the country round ; 35 
 
 Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armor. — 
 How does your patient, doctor ? 
 
 Doctor. Not so sick, my lord, 
 
 As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, 
 That keep her from her rest. 
 
 Macbeth. Cure her of that. 
 
 Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd, 40 
 
 Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow. 
 Raze out the written troubles of the brain, 
 'And with some sweet oblivious antidote 
 Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
 
 sage is a recollection of Isaiah, xxix, 13, repeated in Matthew, xv, 8, and 
 Mark, vii, 6, " This people draw near me with their mouth, and with 
 their lips do honor me; but have removedtheir heart," etc.— 35. moe. — 
 Two folios have moe. This obsolete word, which has given place to 
 more, relates to number; whereas more relates to size. See V, v, 12. — 
 In Mueh Ado, II, iii, 6.5, it rhymes to so. Mid. Eng. mo, more in num- 
 ber. Frequent in Chaucer and other old writers. See note V, v, 13. — 
 slclrr=scour^pass quickly over? — There seems to be a natural fitness 
 in the sound sk (or so) to express swift motion, as in {skirl, provincial 
 Eng.) seud, skip, ^skedaddle,' skirr. Our Masterpieees, page 56. — Scour 
 isfr. Lat. ex (intensive prefix), out and out, very; eurdre, to take care; 
 OldPr. escurer; Pr. ieurer. — What are we to infer as to Macbelh's men- 
 tal state from these rapid changes of the subject of conversation? — 39. 
 cure her. The 1st folio omits her, and some editors think the text 
 better without it. Is it? — 40. thou. Like du now among the Germans, 
 thou in the time of Shakes, expressed, (1) affection towards friends, 
 (3) good-humored superiority to servants, (3) contempt or anger to 
 strangers, (4) solemnity in the higher poetic style and in solemn 
 prayer, since it was somewhat fallen into disuse and was archaic. 
 Abbott, 331. — 43. HamUt, I, v, 98 to 103. — 43. oblivious = forgetful? 
 causing forgetfulness? Lat. obliviosus, forgetful; causing forgetful- 
 ness. Horace applies the term to Massic (Campanian) wine ! — 44. 
 stufTd bosom. . . . stuff. "This can hardly be right. One or 
 other of these words must be due to a mistake of transcriber or printer. 
 Pope read 'full' for 'stuff'd.' " Clark and Wright. But why not let Mac- 
 beth, in his wild excitement, have his grim, inelegant, verbal play? 
 "Similar repetitions are not uncommon in Shakes." Rolfe. — Compare 
 V, ii. 19; Bom. and Jut, III, ii, 93; and "V, iii, 60, 73; also Antony and 
 Cleop., 1,1, 44; All's Well, II, ii, 160, etc. Compare Milton's 'tempted our 
 attempt'; Par. Lost, i, 648; 'brought into this world a worJd of woe,' 
 Par. Lost, ix, 11, etc. These are imitations of Scripture; thus 'staj 
 
186 MACBETH. [actt. 
 
 Whioh weighs npon the heart? 
 
 Doctor. Therein the patient 46 
 
 Must minister to hiinself . 
 
 Macbeth. Throw physic to the dogs, I '11 none of it.— 
 
 Come, put my armor on ; ;a;ive me my staff 
 
 Seyton, send out. — Doctor, the thanes fly from me. — 
 
 Come, sir, dispatch. — ^If thou couldst, doctor, cast 50 
 
 The water of my land, find her disease, 
 
 And purge it to a sound and pristine health, 
 
 I would applaud thee to the very echo. 
 
 That should applaud again. — Pwll 't off, I say. — 
 
 What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, 55 
 
 Would scour these English hence ? Hear'st thou of them ? 
 
 Doctor. Ay, my good lord ; your royal preparation 
 Makes us hear something. 
 
 Macbeth. Bring it after me. — 
 
 I will not be afraid of death and bane 69 
 
 Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. [JSkdt. 
 
 Doctor. Were I from Dunsinane away and clear. 
 Profit again should hardly draw me here. [Exit. 
 
 and staff, ^ Uaidh, iii, 1, where the original Hebrew is happily repro- 
 duced. — Maginn sees in this passage a trace ot Homer's Odyatey, IV, 
 220-226, where "Helen's medicament was ixoXov, achslon, that could 
 minister to a mind diseased; vjiirtveis, nepenthes, that could pluck from 
 the memory a rooted sorrow; kokuv iirCKiieov iirivruv, kakon epilethon 
 hapanton, that, being oblivious, could raze out the written troubles. " It 
 is said that there were at this time French and Latin translations of the 
 Odyseey [Chapman's appeared in 1614], but not English. Was it so! — 
 47. I'll none. Proverbt, i, 25, 'and (ye) would none of my reproof.' 
 —48. Btttff=lance [Schmidt] ? baton [Clark and Wright, Darmesteter, 
 etc.] ? — From y sta, to stand; A. S. etcef, staff; Gael, atob, to fix in the 
 ground as a stake ; Irish stobaim, I stab ; Mid. Eng. gtaf, a long piece 
 of wood, stick, prop, pole, or cudgel; allied to stub and stab. 8keat. — 
 In King John, II, i, 318, and elsewhere in Shakes. , staff appears to mean 
 ' spear,' and sometimes ' a walking cane,' as in Mer, of Ten., II, ii, 57. 
 In V, vii, 18, staves is said to mean ' spear shafts.' — 50. sir. To whom 
 is this addressed? — cast=medicaUy examinel — purge. Ill, iv, 76. — 
 54. Pull 't off. What? — 55. senna. So folio 4. Folio 1 has cyme 
 (which may be a misprint for cynne) ; folios 2 and 3 cwny. Senna was 
 pronounced seeny by many in our childhood , as some of us well remem- 
 ber from having drunk the dreadful cathartic 'lalts and seeny'! 
 Ital. sena; Arab. sanA; Old Pr. genni; Fr. sini; spelt sena in Phillip's 
 (ed. 1706) ; the older name is seny or sr/nl4; the dried leaflets of some 
 kinds of cassia. Skeat, Brac/iet.— 58. Bring it after me. The same 
 that was pulled offi Line 54. — 59. bane. A. S. bona, a murderer; 
 akin to Icel. bani, death, a slayer; Gr. ^r-ot, phonos, murder; Mid. 
 Eng. bane, harm, destruction. SkaU. See rotebane, henbane. — 59, 60, 
 61,62. Fleayrejects these four lines as spurious, because feeble. Hud- 
 son concurs. Reason sufflnuail.? 
 
WENB iv.J MACBETH. 187 
 
 ScENB IV. Cownbry near Bimam Wood. 
 
 Drum and colors. Enter Maxcolm, old Siwaed and his 
 Son, Macditff, Mbittbith, Gaithnsss, Akgus, Lenii'oz, 
 Boss, and Soldiers, marching. 
 
 Malcolm. Consins, I hope the days are near at hand 
 That chambers will be safe. 
 
 Menteith. We doubt it nothing. 
 
 Siward. What wood is this before us ? 
 
 Menteith. The wood of Bimam. 
 
 Malcolm. Let every soldier hew him down a bough. 
 And bear 't before him ; thereby shall we shadow 6 
 
 The numbers of our host, and make discovery 
 Err in report of us. 
 
 Soldiers. It shall be done. 
 
 Siward. We learn no other but the confident tyrant 
 Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure 
 Our setting down before 't. 
 
 Malcolm. 'T is his main hope ; 10 
 
 For where there is advantage to be given. 
 Both more and less have given him the revolt. 
 And none serve with him but constrained things 
 
 Scene IV.— 2. That=m which? wheul III, ii, 33. — chambers, etc 
 Referring to Duncan's murder [Bitson] ? to Lady Macduff's? to both? to 
 the spies, m, iv, 131, 133 [Hudson! ? to chambers in general ; as we say 
 'every man'shouse will be his castle' [Clark and Wright] ?^5. sbadow. 
 Meaning? — 6. discovery =reconnoitering, the report of scouts [Clark 
 and Wright]? This refers to Macbeth' s spies [Delius] ? Astothesan- 
 sionsee noteonlV, ii,73; IV, i, 153.— ^. other. Note the peculiar use. 
 Abbott, 12. — ^10. setting=:sitting? taking a military position? not quite 
 equivalent to 'sitting'? beginning a siege? pitching a camp? Corioio- 
 nd«, I, ii, 28; III, 96. — 11. giTen, etc. A much-disputed passage, which 
 nearly all editors think corrupt. Many substitute tdhen for ta'en, or 
 gotten for 'given.' If, however, we regard the antithesis as being be- 
 tween advantage and revolt, perhaps the old folio text will afford a suf^- 
 cient meaning. Thus : wherever there is an advantageous position, or 
 other favor, that might be given to Macbeth by loyal subjects, there his 
 subjects have abandoned the post to the enemy, have withheld all ben- 
 efit from Macbeth, and have given him not advantage, but revolt! — Test 
 this explanation. — 12. more and less=larger numbers and fewer? high 
 andlow? higher and humbler? great and small? Abbott, 17, thinks iegg 
 here refers to rank. Twelfth N., L ii, S3. — See V, iii, 35. A. S. m&, more, 
 akin to 6er. melur, Gothic mate, Lat. mayis, more; A. S. mora, greater, 
 larger ; Icel. nwlrt, Goth, maiza, greater ; Mid. Eng. more, larger in size, 
 bigger; "more and le88"=greater and smaller (Chaucer). Skeat. — Lcessa 
 (leBs)i8the comparativefrom abase Uw, feeble ; Mid. Eng.,!e88^,Ze«. Skeat, 
 
188 MACBETH. [Acrrv. 
 
 WTiose hearts are absent too. 
 
 Macduf. Let our just censures 
 
 Attend the true event, and put we on 16 
 
 Industrious soldiership. 
 
 Siward. The time approaches 
 
 That will with due decision make us know 
 What we shall say we have and what we owe. 
 Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, 
 But certain issue strokes must arbitrate ; 
 Towards which advance the war. \_Exeunt, ma/rching. 
 
 ScHNB V. Dunsinane. Within the Castle. 
 
 Enter Macbkth, Setton, and Soldiers, viith drum and 
 
 colors. 
 
 Macbeth. Hang out our banners on the outward walls ; 
 The cry is still ' They come ! ' Our castle's strength 
 Will laugh a siege to scorn ; here let them lie 
 Till famine and the ague eat them up. 
 Were they not forc'd with those that should be ours, 6 
 We might have met them dareful, beard to beard. 
 And beat them backward home. \A cry of women within. 
 
 What is that noise ? 
 
 Seyton. It is the cry of women, my good lord. \JEkeit. 
 
 Macbeth. I have almost forgot the taste of fears : 
 The time has been, my senses would have cool'd 10 
 
 — 14. censures, etc. "Proleptical f orm of speech. . . . Let ourjudg- 
 ments wait for the actual results, the issue of the contest, to orSier that 
 they ma!/ 66 just" [Hudson]* — Lat. eerwere, to count, estimate, judge; 
 censura, opinion, judgment. — "Censure (<. e. judge) me in your wis- 
 dom," Julius CcEsar, III, ii, 15. — 16. have and owe, etc. ^ property 
 and allegiance [Warburtonj I — owe = possess? are under obligation 
 or indebted fori— Shakes, uses it in both senses. I, iv, 22; V, ii, 26; 
 I, iii, 76; iv, 10; III, iv, 113. — 19. Scanj making 5 accented syllables. — 
 relate, etc. = "There's no use in talking about it, and eating the air 
 of expectation; nothing but plain, old-fashioned fighting will decide 
 the matter" [Hudson] i — Value of this scene? 
 
 Scene v.— 1. Keightley would put an exclamation point after 'ban- 
 ners,' and no pause after 'walls.' Properly? — So Edwin Forrest 
 used to deliver the lines. What is the proper place in which to hang 
 out the banners? — 5. forc'd = reinforced [Singer, Schmidt, etc.]? 
 stuffed, filled out? — Force is given in Skeat as a corruption of farce, to 
 stuff (Lat. farcere, to stuff), and the Collier MS. substitutes /aj-c'd. — 
 TroUusand Cree., V, i, 55.-7. beat. The Elizabethans dropped the -en 
 very often, when there was no danger of the curtailed form being con- 
 fused with the infinitive. Abhott, Si3. — has been, etc. H, ii, 58. — 10. 
 cool'd. 'Coil'd' for 'recoiled' has. been suggested as better thai^ 
 
SCENE V.J MAG BETH. 189 
 
 To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair 
 Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir 
 As life were in 't. I have supp'd full with horrors ; 
 Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, 
 Cannot once start me. — 
 
 He-enter Sbtton. 
 
 Wherefore was that cry ? 15 
 
 Seyton. The queen, my lord, is dead. 
 
 Macbeth. She should have died hereafter ; 
 There would have been a time for such a word. 
 To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
 Creeps in this petty pace from day to day 20 
 
 To the last syllable of recorded time. 
 And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
 The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle ! 
 Life 's but a walking shadow, a poor player 
 
 enoVd; also "quail'd." Any need of change? May senses be personi- 
 fied here? Does fear chilli If so, how? If not, whence the belief? — 
 ,11. fen=scalp [DyceJ » cfop [NicholsJ ?— A. S./el, fell, skin. Allied to 
 Gr. TriKKa, pella; Lat. peJMs; loel. ftll; Eng. pelt, skin. — 13. treatise= 
 story? — Lat. troMre, to draw; tracta/re, to handle j Fr. trailer, to treat; 
 Eng. treat, to handle in a particular manner ; discourse of. In Much 
 Ado, I, i, 281, it means talk. Bolje. — 13. as. I, iv, 11. — with. IV, ii, 
 33. — 14 direness. Gr. ieiJeij/, deidein, to fear; Seivoi, frightful ; Lat. 
 (Jiru«, dreadful. On-ness, see note on "rawness," IV, iii, 36. — 15. once. 
 IV, iii, 167. — start. Startle Is said to be properly a frequentative form 
 of start. — 16. the queen ... is dead. Why no utterance of grief 
 or even of surprise? — 17. should = would! ought to? Is he finding 
 fault, as if she 'had no business' to be dying at a time like this? — 10. 
 ■word, etc. Johnson suggested that the true reading might be ' — time 
 for— such a world!' Reasonable! — In BicTuw-iJ IJ, I, iii, 152, we read, 
 "the hopeless word of 'never to return'." — 19. Halliwell, quoted by 
 Furness, thinks Shakes, here recollected a passage which certainl.y has 
 points of resemblance in Barclay's Ship of Fools (1570), ^'Cras, cras,eras, 
 to^morrowwe shall amend, "etc.- 21. lastsyllable. 'to the utmost syl- 
 lable of your worthiness.' AlVs Well, III, vi, 62. — reoorded=recor(Jinflr 
 or recordable [SteevensJ ? not only that has been but shall be recorded 
 [M. MasonJ ? prophetically recorded as yet to come, meanmg the day of 
 judgment, Rev. x, 5, 6 f ElwinJ ? of which a record shall be kept, as op- 
 posed to eternity [Dalgleish] ? prolepsis, of the record (of time) fHud- 
 sonj ? — 22. yesterdays. "Each day, that has successively become 
 yesterday, has. been a to-morrow, and (as such) has been an ignis 
 fatuus, lighting fools the way to death." AUen. — 23. dusty. 
 So the 1st folio. The 2d, 3d and 4th have study, and several editors 
 prefer it. What say you? — 'Inviting it to dusty death's defeature.' 
 Fig for Fortune, Copley (1596); 'the dust of death'. Psalm xxii, 15 
 'dust to dust,' Burial Serute. — 24, 35. player .... stage, etc. 
 
190 MACBETH. [act t. 
 
 That struts and frets Ms hour upon the stage 95 
 
 And then is heard no more ; it is a tale 
 Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
 Signifying nothing — 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Thou com'st to use thy tongue ; thy story quiolcly. 
 
 Messenger. Gracious my lord, 80 
 
 I should report that which I say I saw, 
 But know not how to do it. 
 
 Macbeth. Well, say, sir. 
 
 Messenger. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, 
 I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought, 
 The wood began to move. 
 
 Macbeth. Liar and slave ! 85 
 
 Messenger. Let me endure your wrath, if 't be not bo : 
 Within this three mile may you see it coming ; 
 I say, a moving grove. 
 
 Macbeth. If thou speak'st false, 
 
 Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive 
 Till famine cling thee ; if thy speech be sooth, 40 
 
 I care not if thou dost for me as much. — 
 I pull in resolution, and begin 
 To doubt the equivocation of the fiend 
 That lies like truth : " Fear not, till Birnam wood 
 Do come to Dunsinane ; " and now a wood 46 
 
 I, iii, 128; 11. iv, 5. 'Like a strutting player,' TroU. and Cret., I, iii, 
 153. — Does Shakes, put his atheistic utterances into the mouths oi his 
 worst characters 1 — 30. Gracious mjr lord. Ill, ii, 27. — 31. sbould 
 =oughtto [Abbott, 823]? I, u, 46.-37. This. Why the singular I 'This 
 two days. Lear, I, iv, 69. — Three mile. 'Mile,' 'pound,' 'year,' 
 ' shilling,' etc., are of ten used for the plural in Shakes. — Compare our 
 'two-penny stamp.' Darmeeteter. — 38. a moving* grove. Similar 
 stories are found in the folk-lore of different peoples. Perhaps the 
 earliest is in the 47th chapter jf Meadows of Oold and Mimes of Oevu, 
 composed A. D. 943, by a long-forgotten Arabian traveller, who died 
 at Cairo A. D. 956. — 40. cline. A. S. Mngan, to shrivel up by con- 
 traction, to dry up. ^Cluna, hungry, or empty, emaciated.' Craven 
 Oloesary. 'CJung, dinged or shrunk up.' Kennett. — 42. pmll in reso- 
 Intion. He had permitted his courage (like a fiery horse) to carry 
 him to the brink of a precipice ; but, seeing his danger, resolves to checft 
 that confidence to which he had given the rein before [Steevens] ) John- 
 son wduld read paU; Clark and Wright, pole; and so they would pluck 
 the metaphor from Shakespeare's wing, and ' make him fly an ordin- 
 ary pitch' ! — "Despair blends with fury, and begins to take the place of 
 tbe false confidence that 'signsand lying wonders' had sustained." Mor- 
 
BCBKB Yi.] MACBETH. 191 
 
 Comes toward Dunsinane. — Arm, arm, and out ! — 
 
 If this which he avouches does appear, 
 
 There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. 
 
 I gin to be aweary of the sun, 
 
 And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. — 80 
 
 Ring the alarum-bell ! — Blow, wind ! come, wrack ! 
 
 At least we '11 die with harness on our back. \Exewnt. 
 
 ScEKTB VI. Dvmsirume. Before the Castle. 
 
 Drum and colors. Enter Maicolm, old Siwabd, Macdutt, 
 and their Army, with boughs. 
 
 Malcolm. Now near enough ; your leavy screens throw 
 down. 
 And show like those you are. — Tou, worthy uncle 
 Shall with my cousin, your right-noble son. 
 Lead our first battle ; worthy MacdufE and we 
 Shall take upon 's what else remains to do, 6 
 
 According to our order. 
 
 Siward. Fare you well. 
 
 ley. — 19. gin. I, ii, 25. — alveary, .ilbbott, 34, explains this a in aweorv 
 as a corruption of the A. S. intention of. He says " o-iceon/ means of- 
 wery, i. e. ' tired out.' " Perhaps a better etymology would make the 
 a- the A. S. prefix o- or ge-, equivalent to Gothic go- ; Old Saxon gir; 
 Friesic ie-; Old Ger. fco-, fci-; Ger. ge-, originally equivalent to Lat. co- 
 ot eorir, and signifying 'with,' 'together with.' Weary is A. S. wMg, 
 tired. Skeat thinks A. S. wirig = A. S. toos -Iff, 'bedaubed with mire' 
 (woe) , 'draggled with wet,' and that weary is in fact a doublet of oozv! 
 — Clark and Wright, Fleay and Hudson opine that the four lines 47-50 
 are spurious, because singularly weak ; Craik and Rolf e regard line 49 
 as one of Shakespeare's most pathetic lines, and parallel to Juiiiu 
 CcBsor, IV, iii, 94. Judge ! — 50. estate = settled order [Clark and 
 Wright] 1 1, ill, 114. — "At bay, baited, and driven by despair, Mac- 
 beth leaves shelter of the castle to make one wild rush on those who 
 hunt him down." Morley. — 51. alarum. II, i, 53. — wrack. Tempest, 
 I, ii, 25. See I, iii, 140. — 52. harness. 'Tlirough proof of harness,' 
 Antony ami Cleop., TV, viii, 15; TrMus and Ores., V, iiij 31, has, "doff 
 thy harness" ; 1 Kings, xxii, 34. — Progress of the drama m this scene? 
 Light thrown on the character or mental state of Macbeth! 
 
 Scene VI. — leavy. Rhymes with heavy in Much Ado, II, iii, 68. 
 For the sound of ea in the Elizabethan age, see White, Vol. xii, pp. 417, 
 418. — 2. show. I, iii, 54. — 4. battle =battalion1 army? division of 
 an army? attack? conflict? — Lat. batalia = pugna, a fight; Old Fr. 
 bataille, a fight, a battalion ; from Lat. batire, a popular form of batuire, 
 to beat. — Often in Shakes, it means a part or the whole of an army. 
 Jul. Cobs., V, i, 4, 16. — 5. to do = for us to do? to be done? Often the 
 latter in Shakes., as shown in Abbott, 359, 405. V, vii, 28; viii, 64. — 
 
192 MACBETH. [ACT T. 
 
 Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night, 
 Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight. 
 Macduff. Make all our trumpets speak ; give them all 
 breath, 
 Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death. 10 
 
 [Exeuni. 
 
 ScBNB VII. Another Part of the Meld. 
 
 Alarums. Enter Macbbth. 
 
 Macbeth. They have tied me to a stake ; I cannot fiy. 
 But, bear-like, I must fight the course. What 's he 
 That was not born of woman ? Such a one 
 Am I to fear, or none. 
 
 Enter young SrwAED. 
 
 Young Siward. What is thy name ? 
 Macbeth. Thou 'It be afraid to hear it. 5 
 
 Young Siward. No ; though thou call'st thyself a hotter 
 name 
 Than any is in hell. 
 
 Macbeth. My name 's Macbeth. 
 
 Young Siward. The devil himself could not pronounce 
 a title 
 More hateful to mine ear. 
 
 Macbeth. No, nor more fearful. 
 
 Young Siward. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant ; with my 
 sword 10 
 
 I '11 prove the lie thou speak'st. 
 
 [ They fight, and young Siward is slain. 
 
 7. Do we bnt find. Optative? Imperative? Subjunctive? — Such 
 usage was more common than now. Abbott, 364. — 10. harbingers. 
 I, iv, 45. — Was it to make their numbers appear lees that they bore the 
 'leavy screens' ? or greater? or utterly uncertain? — Use of this scene? 
 Scene VU. — 2. bear-like. Bear-baiting was as much enjoyed 
 by our rough English ancestors as bull-flghting by the Spaniards. 
 They tied the bear to a stake, and let loose upon him successive 
 packs of savage dogs. The fight with each set was called a course. — 
 3. What 's = who is? what sort of person is? When the distinction 
 between ranks was much more marked than it is now, what would be 
 used in such questions oftener than is now the case. Abbott, 254. — 4. 
 Toang Siward. " His name was reaUy Osbeom ; his cousin Siward 
 was, however, slain in the same battle." Moberly. — 7. any. Is the 
 
SCENE VII.] MAOBBTH. 193 
 
 Macbeth. Thou wast born of woman. — ■ 
 
 But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, 
 Brandish'd by man that 's of a woman born. [Exit. 
 
 Alarums. Enter Macdtipp, 
 
 Macduff. That way the noise is. — Tyrant, show thy face! 
 If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, 15 
 
 My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. 
 I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms 
 Are hir'd to bear their staves : either thou, Macbeth, 
 Or else my sword with an unbatter'd edge 
 I sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be ; 20 
 By this great clatter, one of greatest note 
 Seems bruited. Let me find him, fortune I 
 And more I beg not. [Exit. Alarums. 
 
 Enter Malcolm and old Siwaed. 
 
 Siward. This way, my lord. The castle 's gently ren- 
 der'd : 
 The tyrant's people on both sides do fight ; 25 
 
 The noble thanes do bravely in the war ; 
 The day almost itself professes yours, 
 And little is to do. 
 
 Malcolm. We have met with foes 
 
 That strike beside us. 
 
 Siward. Enter, sir, the castle. 
 
 [Exeunt. Alarum. 
 
 relative that or which understood after anyl Abbott, 244. — 1.5. be 'st. 
 "If thou beest he." Pair. Lost i, 84; Julius Cossar, IV, iii, 102; Abbott, 
 298. — 17. kerns. I, ii, 13. Gallowglasses, equitea trtarii qui eeeunbus 
 vtuntur aeutissimia. Kernes sunt pectttea qui jaculis utwatur, gallow- 
 glasses, troopers (or knights) heav,Y-armed, who use very sharp axes. 
 Kerns are foot-soldiers using javelins. Cohe, Inst., «», .358; quoted by 
 Rushton and Pumess. — 18. staves. V, iii, 48. — For the 'scansion,' 
 see I, iii. 111. — Abbott, 466. What is to be supplied after thou? — 20. 
 undeeded — Found elsewhere? Not in Shakes. — 22. bruited. 
 French bruire, to make a noise, to roar ; bruit, a great noise ; perhaps 
 akin to Gr. ppux""^"", bruchaomai, I roar. Skeat. — Bamlet, I, ii, 127. — 
 24. gently = readily [Rolfe]' quietly [Clark and Wright] 1 — Lat. 
 gentilis, of the same gens or clan ; Old Fr. gentil, of noble family, well- 
 bred, gentle, gracious. The idea is of one well-born and well-bred; and 
 as gentlemen are gentle men, we get the meaning of mild ! — 'And do 
 my spiriting gently,' Tempest, I, ii, 298; 3 Henry VI, II, i, 132. — rend- 
 er'd. Lat. re or red, back ; dare, to give ; redctHre, to restore, give back : 
 French ren&re, to yield. — 27. itself professes. Inversion? What 
 obiection to 'professes itseU'3 — 28. to do. V, vi, 5; viii, 64. —29. 
 
194 MACBETH. [act v. 
 
 ScENB VIII. Another Part of the Mdd. 
 
 Enter Macbeth. 
 
 Macbeth. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die 
 On mine own sword ? whiles I see lives, the gashes 
 Do better upon them. 
 
 Enter Macduff. 
 
 Macduff. Turn, hell-hound, turn ! 
 
 Macbeth. Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
 But get thee back ; my soul is too much charg'd 5 
 
 'With blood of thine already. 
 
 Macduff. I have no words ; 
 
 My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain 
 Than terms can give thee out ! [Theyjigkt. 
 
 Macbeth. Thou losest labor. 
 
 As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air 
 With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed : 10 
 
 Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests ; 
 I bear a charmed life, which must not yield 
 To one of woman born. 
 
 Macduff. Despair thy charm, 
 
 strilce beside = strike the air [Schmidt] ? deliberately misB [Clark 
 and WrlghtJ ? fight by our sides, having deserted Macbeth rpelius, J. 
 Hunter] ? V, iii, 7, 8; iv, 12; v, 5; line 85 of this scene. — Ought this 
 scene to end here? There is no scene viii in the folios. 
 
 Scene VTII. — Roman fool =the part of Cato, the suicide [Steev- 
 ens] % 'the high Roman fashion' of self-destruction, as in Brutus, Cas- 
 sius, Antony, etc. [Singer] ? Cultm CcEsa/r, V, i, 100, 101; iii, 41-4a; V, 
 51; Antony and Cleop., TV, xiv, JSZ, 103. — 2. whiles. I, v, 5. — 4. Of 
 all men else. " This (which is a thoroughly Greek idiom, though 
 independent in English) is illustrated by INulton's famous line, 'The 
 faireetof her daughters, Eve.' The line is a confusion of two construc- 
 tions." Abbott, 409. — 5. cbarg'd. V, i, 49; IV, iii, 211. — 7. blood- 
 ier villain. Here is said to be a transposition, and IIT, vi, 48, is re- 
 ferred to as a similar instance. Correctly? —9. easy. Many adverbs 
 were formed from adjectives by adding e^ which was afterwards 
 dropped; and, by analogy, many other adjeotivesTvere used as adverbs. 
 Abbott, 1, page 17. — intrenchant = not cutting? not to be divided? 
 See trenched, HI, iv, 37. As trenchant (Thnon of Athens, IV, iii, .114) 
 means cutting, 'intrenchant' should be active. Is it passive? Abbott, 
 3.— 10. impress. Meaning? IV, i, 95.— 12. charmed. Any allusion 
 to the supposed protection afforded by charms, talismans, or magic in- 
 fluences in the days of chivalry, when each champion made oath that he 
 used no charmed weapons? — 13. despair. Milton, Par. Lost, i, 660, 
 has "peace is despair'd, For who can think submission?" Thisomission 
 of 'of is perhaps a Latinjsm." .Abbott, 200. In the last line of Ben 
 
SCENE Tin.] MACBETH. 195 
 
 And let the angel whom thou still hast serv'd 
 
 Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb 15 
 
 Untimely ripp'd. 
 
 Macbeth. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, 
 For it hath cow'd my better part of man ! 
 And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, 
 That palter with us in a double sense ; 20 
 
 That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
 And break it to our hope. — I'll not fight with thee. 
 
 Macduff. Then yield thee, coward, 
 And live to be the show and gaze o' the time : 
 We '11 have thee, as our rarer monsters are. 25 
 
 Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 
 " Here may you see the tyrant." 
 
 Macbeth. I will not yield, 
 
 To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, 
 A.nd to be baited with the rabble's curse. 
 Though Birnam. wood be come to Dunsinane, 30 
 
 And thou oppos'd, being of no woman born. 
 Yet I will try the last. Before m.y body 
 I throw my warlike shield : lay on, Macduff, 
 Aud damn'd be him that first cries " Hold, enough ! " 
 
 [ Exeunt, fighting. Alarum. 
 
 Jonson's verses prefixed to the folio of 1623, we have 'despairs day.' — 
 14: angel = demon? guiding spirit? ruling passion? See III, i, 55. — 
 still. Ill, i, 21. — 18. my better part. Specifically wj/iat? Milton 
 evidently had this passage in mind in "Adam .... wept, Though 
 not of woman born; Compassion quelled His best of man"; Par. 
 Lost, xi, 495, 496, 497. — See 'my pith of business,' Meaa. forMeaa., I, iv, 
 70. —4s You lAhe It, III, ii, 137; Abhott, 433. — 20. palter = shufSe, 
 equivocate? — Most likely connected with paltry whicn is due to a 
 Soand. word palter, signifying 'rags, refuse.' More literally, it meant 
 'to deal in rags', .... 'haggling over worthless trash.' Skeat.— 
 Julius Ccesar, II, i, 126. — Nor paltered with the Eternal God for power.' 
 Tennyson . — Clark and Wright refer to 'Croesus, Bpaminondas, Pyr- 
 rhus, our Henry IV, etc., deceived by the double sense of oracles 
 and prophecies.' — 24. show and. gaze. So Ant. and Cleop., IV, xii, 
 33-37.— the time. I, v, 61; vii, 81; rv, iii, 72.-26. pole. Bamum 
 fashion? — Harry Rowe changed this to cloth; Daniel suggested scroU. 
 Judiciously? — nnderwrit. Another of these frequent omissions of 
 the inflection in en. "V, v, 7, 9. — 29. baited = barked at or worried 
 JHudsonJ ? — Icel. beita, to make to bite ; the causal of Icel. bita, to 
 bite. To bait a bear is to make the dogs bite him. Skeat. — 34. him. 
 Pope changed Mm to /le. "Perhaps let, or some such word, was im- 
 plied." Abbott,208. —As to the significance of the command, 'Hold !' 
 see note on I, v, 53. — Here the folios have Exeunt flgMing. Atarums, 
 
 tfstitU^H SntkfiBMing, 9n4 Mupbtth sMn; then fl«(r-«»t amdjUmrWi, Bn- 
 
/96 MACBETH. [act v. 
 
 Retreat. Flourish. Enter, with drum and colors, Mal- 
 colm, old SiwABD, Ross, the other Thanes, and Soldiers. 
 
 Malcolm. I would the friends we miss were safe arriv'd. 
 
 Siward. Some must go off ; and yet, by these I see 36 
 So great a day as this is cheaply bought. 
 
 Malcolm,. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. 
 
 Ross. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt 
 He only liv'd but till he was a man ; 40 
 
 The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd 
 In the unshrinking station where he fought. 
 But like a man he died. 
 
 Siward. • Then he is dead ? 
 
 Ross. Ay, and brought off the field : your cause of sorrow 
 Must not be measur'd by his worth; for then 45 
 
 It hath no end. 
 
 Siward. ' Had he his hurts before ? 
 
 Ross. Ay, on the front. 
 
 Siward. Why then, God's soldier be he '. 
 
 ter, vMh. drum and colors, Maleolm, Old Siward, Boss, the other thanes and 
 soldiers. Some 20 lines later, the stage direction occurs, Enter Macduff, 
 with Macbeth^ s head! How reconcile the stage directions? White 
 thinks the body of Macbeth was dragged off the stage in the 'Retreat,' 
 for decapitation. Clark and Wright think Shakespeare's part in the 
 play ended here, --36. go off. Euphemism? So 'taking off,' 'takes 
 off,' I, vii, 20; III, i, IM. —only . . . but. Pleonasm? But so 
 great a scholar as Ba>con says, 'need only but to prove or dispute.' 
 Advancement of Learning, U, xvii, 9; Abbott, 130. — 41. the which. HI, 
 i, 16. prowess. Abbott, 470, claims that 'words in which a light 
 vowel IS preceded by a heavy vowel or dipthong are frequently con- 
 tracted, and so prowess is a monosyl. If we could but adopt the prin- 
 ciple that dactyls, trochees, spondees, and anapests may be substituted 
 freely for the fundamental foot in Shakespeare ! Have we the right 
 to do it? — But prowess rhymes to cows in Hudibras ! See also note on 
 rv, ii, 72. — 42. station = attitude [Moberly, Schmidt, Rolf e, etc.]? 
 post, from which he did not flinch [Clark and Wright] ? Hamlet, HI, iv, 
 58. — Difference between 'attitude' and 'posture?' — 43. tout. Is but 
 now used for thanf It appears to be in RamUt, I, i, 108. — 44. cause 
 of sorrow 'is here a pleonasm for sorrow' [Clark and Wright] ? 
 Really? — 47. God's soldier. In allusion to the old Scandinavian 
 mythology? In Odin's mansion is the great VaUiaUa (hall of the slain) 
 encompassed by a roaring river, and resting on spears with a roof of 
 shields. Every morning, from its .540 gates, through each of which 800 
 men could walk abreast, max-ch the warriors who have been slain in 
 battle on earth. They spend the day in the pastime of furious fighting 
 with each other ; but towards sunset the wounds heal, the slain revive, 
 and all march back to Odin's hall, where they drink mead with the 
 *Jae 80^ ^"'^ 'sa^t o'"- t^6 roast flesh of the wild boar Sahrimner. 
 
SCENE viii.] MACBETH. 19T 
 
 Had I as many sons as I have hairs, 
 
 I would not wish them to a fairer death ; 
 
 And so his knell is knoll'd. 
 
 Malcolm. He 's worth more sorrow, 50 
 
 And that I'll spend for him. 
 
 Siward. He 's worth no more : 
 
 They say he parted well and paid his score ; 
 And so God be with him ! Here comes newer comfort. 
 
 Re-enter Macduff, vsith Macbeth's head. 
 
 Macckiff. Hail, king ! for so thou art. Behold, where 
 stands 
 The usurper's cursed head ; the time is free. . 65 
 
 I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's peail, 'Ixjzonx, 
 That speak my salutation in their minds ; / 
 
 Whose voices I desire aloud with mine : 
 Hail, King of Scotland ! 
 
 All. Hail, King of Scotland ! ^JB^ourish. 
 
 Malcolm. We shall not spend a large expense of time 60 
 
 These are 'Odin's soldiers.' — 48. bairs. The editors will have it that 
 here is a pun, and it is to be feared that they are right. See n, ii, 56. 
 
 — 49. -wish tbem to =' wish to them [Clark and Wright, Rolf e, etc.] ? 
 
 — 'And with thee to a shrewd ill-favor'd wife.' Tarn, of Shrew, I, li, 
 58,62; "I will wish (i. e. commend) him to her father," lUd. 1,1, 
 111. See the extract from Holinshed, p. 37. — 52. parted. Henry V, 
 II, iii, 11; Richard III, II, i, 5. — score. See line 39 above. "A. S. 
 scor-, pp. of sceran, to shear, cut ; Icel. gftor, a score, notch. It is sup- 
 posed that in counting numbers by notches on a stick, every 20th 
 number was denoted by a longer and deeper cut or score. A . S. scor, 
 20." Skeat. Accounts were crudely kept by making a notch or incis- 
 ion (i. e. a score) for each article sold ; hence a bill, or account charged, 
 was called a score? — 54. stands, i. e. 'upon a pole,' as Holinshed 
 says. — 56. pearl = wealth or rather ornament [Malone] 1 chief no- 
 bUity [Nases] ? "Pearl may be used generically as well as to express 
 a single specimen. So in Henry V, IV, i, 247, 'the intertissued robe of 
 gold and pearl.' — "Perhaps in the present passage 'pearl' is suggested 
 by the row of pearls which usually encircled a crown." Clark and 
 Wright. The compact group is a unit in heart and hand. In shining 
 armor it encircles Malcolm, as, at the conclusion of Scott's Lady of the 
 Lake, the bright throng of lords and ladies encompasses James Fitz- 
 James, who stands 
 
 " The centre of the glittering ring, — 
 And Snowdonn'B Knight is Scotland's KingI" 
 
 This is poetry; but the critics must improve on Shakespeare, and 
 some of them change 'pearl' to peers! — 60. expense. 'Extent,' 'ex- 
 panse,' 'excess,' instead of 'expense' have been proposed. Any need 
 
198 MAOBETH. [actt. 
 
 Before we reckon ■with your several loves, 
 
 And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen, 
 
 Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland 
 
 In such an honor nam'd. What 's more to do. 
 
 Which would be- planted newly with the time, — 65 
 
 As calling home our exil'd friends abroad 
 
 That fled the snares of watchful tyranny. 
 
 Producing forth the cruel ministers 
 
 Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen. 
 
 Who, as 't is thought, by self and violent hands 70 
 
 Took oflE her life, — this, and what needful else 
 
 That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace 
 
 We will perform in measure, time, and place : 
 
 So, thanks to all at once and to each one. 
 
 Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone. 
 
 [Mourish. Exeunt. 
 
 of change? V, iii, 44. — 61. loves. Ill, i, 131; V, li, 3; JuUus Cceaar, 
 III, ii, 235.— 63. be earls, the first, etc. So HoIinBhed. — 64. to do. 
 V, vi, o. — 65. would. I, vli, 84; IV, iii, 194. —66. as = namely!, for 
 iustancel Abbott, 113. — exil'd trlends abroad =: friends exiled 
 abroad [Clark and WrightJ ? Ill, vi, 48, 49 — 68. producing forth. 
 Latin sense of produce? Lat. pro, forward; ducire, to lead, bring. 
 Julius CcBsar, III, i, 829, 'Produce his body in the market place.' — 70. 
 self and violent. 'Self and vain conceit,' BlRhard II, III, ii, 166. 
 Macbeth, m, iv, 142. — A. S. self, own (in one's own,' 'his own,' etc.) ; 
 Mid. Eng. self, same, very, self. "The origin is unknown; but per- 
 haps Teut. base selba is tor sb-lib-a, where se is the same as the Latin 
 86, and Ub- is the same as in the base of Goth, latha, a remnant, M-laib- 
 jan, to be left. If this be right, the orig. sense is 'left to one's self.' " 
 Skeat; Abbott, 20. — 72. urace of Grace. " An expression Shakes, is 
 fond of." Theobald. ~ Special meaning of Grace? Ill, i, 65. —74. 
 one. Note that it rhymes to Scone. So it rhymes to cUone in Sonnet 
 xxxix. " In the dialect of the North of England and of Scotland the 
 to is still not sounded." IV, iii, 66. ASbott, 80.— 75. Scone. II, iv, 31. 
 — " The play closes with suggestive contrast of two soldiers' deaths." 
 Morley. — Is the conclusion worthy of what precedes! 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ELOCtTTIONAET ANALYSIS AND 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPRESSIVE READING* 
 
 ACT I, ScENB I. Vary the voice to suit the different characters. 
 
 Scene II. What bloody man f Surprise and excitement blended 
 are apt to be loud and quick. Read accordingly. 
 
 This is the sergeant. Surprise, joy, gratitude and admiration, are 
 mingled here. The utterance should be loud, quick, and high 
 in 'pitch' (or musical tone). Sergeant here a trisyl. 
 
 0, 'Baliant cousin. Excitement, surprise, joy, great admiration. 
 Loud, with full volume of voice, and rather high pitch, with 
 'median stress' (i. e., the middle part of the accented vowel 
 sound is enunciated forcibly). 
 
 As whence the sun. The sergeant is blunt, brave, warm-hea/rted, full 
 of admiration for Macbeth, with a dash of boastfulness. He 
 would speak loud even to his king. His voice fails him at 
 the last. Read accordingly. Captains, ten lines later, is a 
 trisyl. 
 
 from Fife, great Mng. Excitement, haste, joy, admiration. Loud 
 and quick. 
 
 Scene III. What a/re these, eto. TForader, with slight atfl«, 'aspir- 
 ated quality'; i. e., with prominence given to the consonants; 
 whispering; not loud, as not wishing to attract attention. 
 
 Live you, etc. Boldness, as of one having authority. Loud, with 
 'radical stress'; i. e., with force on the first part of each ac- 
 cented vowel sound. 
 
 Good sir, why do you start, etc. A little of wonder at Macbeth's 
 strange starting. For Macbeth had probably been thinking of 
 becoming king, and he is struck by the astonishing coinci- 
 dence of his thoughts with the witches' prediction! Spoken 
 politely with rounded lips. Take great pains to read expres- 
 sively. 
 
 r the name of truth, etc. This address is bold; without a particle 
 of fear, and in the last part with a tone of defiance. Loud 
 and deliberate. 
 
 Stay,youimperfectspeakers,etc. Earnest appeal. Spoken rapidly, 
 but with occasional brief hesitation, as of onepuzzled. Rather 
 —loud. 
 
 The King hath happily, etc. Bold, polite, joyful, declamatory, ad- 
 
 tTaken from oar edition of Masterpieces in English Literature, sages 110 to 
 US. 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 miring. Rather loud, and rather fast. He has his speech 
 all committed to memoiy. 
 
 Olamit, and Thane of Cawdor, etc. In the following soliloqtues, 
 of course, Macbeth speaks in an undertone. The interjected 
 thanks to Bosse and Angus are in an ordinary tone of voice. 
 The last part of the soliloquy is in a whisper. 
 
 Scene IV. My liege, they a/t» not yet come back, etc. This is 
 spoken in a business way, respectfully, of course, to the King; 
 and it is commented upon with some earnestness and in a tone 
 of surprise and disappointment. 
 
 worthiest couiin, etc. Great joy, admiration, affection. Loud, 
 rather quick at first, with 'median stress' {i. e., with a swell of 
 the voice on each long accented voweT). So in the following 
 speeches of Duncan in this scene. The pitch is somewhat 
 high. 
 
 The Prince of Cumberland, etc. Startled, angiy, malicious, yet 
 secret, so as not to be overheard or suspected. An undertone 
 or loud whisper. 
 
 Scene V. They met me in the day of success, etc. Very slow, with 
 pauses, to think out and take in the meaning of every word. 
 So, whe/rever tne thought is greatly condensed, or the words are 
 very pregnant with meaning. 
 
 Olamis thou a/rt, and Cawdor, etc. Decision; earnestness intense, 
 yet under coutrol; a hard, metallic voice; slow utterance. A 
 tone of exultation running through the last part of the 
 soliloquy. 
 
 What is your tidings, etc. Spoken sharply and quickly on the 
 abrupt entrance of the attendant. 
 
 The raven himself is hoarse, etc. A muttering, threatening tone. 
 'Radical stress,' the words being spitefully spit out through 
 the set teeth. Pierce determination. The last part rather 
 loud, violent, yet with small 'volume' (or size of voice), 
 it being a woman that speaks, and she not wishing to be over- 
 heard. 'Aspirated quality,' the consonant sounds being des- 
 perately blurted out. 
 
 Great Glamts, etc. Rapturous admiration. Very loud; quick; 
 very strong median stress; 'pure quality' {i. «., the vowel 
 sounds being clear and full, and the consonant sounds not 
 very prominent). 
 
 My deadest love, etc. Love for Lady Macbeth, blended with treach- 
 erous malice towards the king. Love is here soft in force, 
 gently median in stress. Malice towards Duncan preponder- 
 ates. It expresses itself by decision blended with secrecy. 
 Radical stress. 
 
 Your face, my Thane, is as a book, etc. Sly exultation; malice 
 mingled with affection. Suppressed force; quick uMerance; 
 small volume. 
 
 Scene VI. This castle hath a pleascmt seat, etc. The first two 
 speeches in this scene are full of calmness and tranquillity. 
 The tone is pure {i. e., free from nasal, guttural, hissing, and 
 prominent consonant sounds); the force is soft; the pitch is 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 medium (or average); the movement (or rate of utterance) is 
 rather slow; the slides (i. «., inflections, or changes of pitch 
 on a single long sound) are moderate. All the delivery is 
 gentle, yet glad. 
 
 See, see! our Ignored hostess, etc. Joy, benevolence, politeness. 
 Bather loud and rather fast; radical and median stress. 
 
 All our service. Polite, ceremonious, yet, with metallic hardness; 
 not out-gushing, but measured. She 'speaks a piece,' which 
 she has learned for the occasion; speaks it prettily, but with 
 the lips merely, not the heart. 
 
 Where's the Thane of Gawdor, etc. A blunt, straightforward in- 
 quiry, in a good-natured, business way and tone. 
 
 Your servants ever, etc. Another polished, ceremonious, heartless, 
 speech. A woman's voice, soft, but — hard! 
 
 If it vere done, etc. Secrecy; slowness, because he is thinking 
 out his plans, weighing consequences, and his language is 
 weighty; his twisting thought requires long winding slides, 
 i. e., extensive changes of musical pit(^ on the accented 
 vowels. 
 
 ScBNB VII. Willplead like angels, etc. Conscience begins to be 
 aroused; horror makes him shudder. By a kind of imitation, 
 trumpet-tongued,' etc., should be uttered louder. Voice en- 
 ergetic but tremulous; aspirated (rough) quality. 
 
 1 home no spur, etc. Impatience, abandonment of the plan. 
 
 How now? what newsf The circumstances require whispers or 
 undertone through this dialogue. Rapid utterance. 
 
 Was the hope drunk, etc. Expostulation, ridicule, anger, contempt. 
 Rapid, 'jerky' utterance; radical (i. «., initial) stress; as loud 
 as the necessity of secrecy will permit; strongly aspirated 
 quality, the words being blown out hissing. 
 
 I h^i/ee given suck, etc. Still more energy. Initial stress with ex- 
 pulsive force. 
 
 Dashed the brains, etc. Suppressed scream of wrathful energy, 
 hurtling through the teeth and nostrils. Loud, quick, rough, 
 convulsive voice, yet a constant effort to speak softly. 
 
 WJien Duncan is asleep, etc. Decision, precision, business-like, 
 yet energetic; the last part with exultation, as if gloating over 
 the successful accomplishment of the ingenious plan. Utter- 
 ance rapid; radical stress; aspirated quality. 
 ACT II, Scene I. Sow goes the night, etc. The tone of ordinary 
 conversation. Whenever there appears no special reason for 
 something unusual in the utterance, the stress (i. e., emphasis, 
 or accent, or force, on the first part, middle part, or last part 
 of an accented vowel), the time (». e., the rate or movement, 
 whether fast or slow), the force (whether soft or loud), the 
 pitch (i. e., musical tone, whether high or low), the quality 
 (i. «., musical quality, whether pure or impure), the slides 
 (i. e., ascent or descent, musically speaking, of the voice on 
 the long vowel sounds), and the volume (i. e., the bigness or 
 size of the voice, depending partly on the openness oi close- 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 ness of the aperture of the vocal organs) — all these should be 
 moderate. 
 
 Oet thee to bed, etc. Spoken carelessly In appearance. 
 
 Is this a dagger? etc. Alarm mingled with curiosity; a puzzled 
 state of mind; full of horror and foreboding, yet overruled by 
 desperate determination. Horror, when not passionate but 
 akin to awe, speaks in a low pitch; fitful utterance, yet very 
 slow, by reason of long pauses; guttural quality; slight force; 
 large volume (not loud, however); falling slides, and tremu- 
 lous, (sometimes called 'intermittent') stress. 
 
 ITiou sure and firm-set earth, hear not my steps, etc. Do not speak 
 very loud m this utterance, as some actors do. It is midnight; 
 Macbeth must not awake Duncan 1 
 
 ScBNB II. That which hath made, etc. Excitement, secrecy, bold- 
 ness, determination. Undertone; rapid, convulsive utteraiice, 
 yet with long pauses. 
 
 Who's there f — what, ho ! Not very loud, but very quick. 
 
 Alack! I am afraid, etc. Same tone, etc., as before Macbeth 
 speaks. 
 
 / have done the deed, etc. Horror, consternation, remorse, secreey, 
 all extreme. Lady Macbeth tries to speak calmly, in amatter- 
 of-fact way, and she maaaurably succeeds; but Macbeth is a 
 slave to terror and remorse. He speaks conmilsively, gaspingly, 
 with anguish. She gets out of patience with him, and finally 
 scolds him quite sharply. His agony continues till they re- 
 treat at the sound of the knocking. In this scene, from the 
 close of Macbeth's soliloquy to the entrance of the porter, 
 there is intense excitement, but also a felt need of silence. 
 Read rapidly in an undertone or whisper. 
 
 6cENE III. Faith, sir, etc. Spoken, like all of his gabble, in a 
 rollicking way, with frequent hiccoughs. 
 
 horror! horror! horror! etc. Here intense horror is followed 
 by a desire to 'rouse the neighborhood.' The horror for an in- 
 stant awes to silence, but it soon gives way to terror that 
 shrieks " iwake! awake!" etc. We may suppose the language 
 of MacdufE, as far as "Awake! awake!" to be pronounced 
 with shuddering awe, in a low pitch, median or final stress, 
 aspirated quality, with rapid utterance. 
 
 Had I but died, etc. Assumed ea/rnestness and pretended grief. 
 Loud; quick; median stress. 
 
 Who can be wise, amazed, etc. Assumed earnestness, loyalty, love, 
 and anger. Sham excitement; loud; quick; median and rad- 
 ical stress, moderate pitch. 
 
 And when we home our naked frailties hid, etc. Decision, anger, 
 solemnity. At first, moderate time, piteh, and force, with rad- 
 ical stress; next, low pitch, soft force, slow time, and median 
 stress; at last {i. «., beginning with "and thence against"), 
 moderate pitch, loud force, moderate time, and radical stress. 
 The instructor should insist, all through this play, that every 
 passage and every sentence shall be, in every particular, cor- 
 
APPENDIX. 303 
 
 rectly read aloud. This will wonderfully bring out the merit 
 of the play. 
 
 Threescore and ten, etc. Awe, Rather soft force, low pitch, slow 
 time, and somewhat impure quality (j. «., with slight promi- 
 nence to consonant and hoarse pectoral sounds). 
 A.CT III, Scene I. Thou hast it now, etc. This utterance I fancy 
 to have been extremely slow, energetic, with long pauses. 
 The ou, in foully, should be much prolonged, the dipthongal 
 sound being strucli: on a moderate pitch, but the voice sliding 
 down to a deep tremulous pectoral on the last part of the syl- 
 lable. 
 
 Fet it was said, etc. This is uttered in a matter of fact way, as far 
 as, "But, hush." 'Circumflex slides' (the voice passing 
 through what would be termed in music 'higher, lower, and 
 higher," or 'lower, higher, and lower,' making a wave in the 
 pitch) prevail. This wave of the voice is on the long sounds of 
 the accented syllables. 
 
 Sere's our chief guest, etc. The following dialogue requires only 
 moderate force, time, etc., as far as, "Bring them before us." 
 Very polite. 
 
 To be thus is nothing, etc. Undertone, so as not to be heard far. 
 Impatience and spite, and towards the last, remorse; ending 
 with angry defiance. 'Vanishing stress' on the most impatient 
 utterances. The forcible utterance of the last part of an ac- 
 cented vowel, the voice being jerked out at the end of the syl- 
 lable, is particularly appropriate in the expression of vexation, 
 impatience, etc. 
 
 Are you so gospelled f etc. Here we have the circumflex slides 
 again. This wave of the voice is especially adapted to irony, 
 mockery, railing, etc. It usually expresses, indefinitely or 
 conditionally, some idea contrasted with another to which the 
 straight slide belongs. 
 
 Now, if you have a station, etc. This is uttered with decision and 
 energy, so as to inspire confidence. It is bold; quite loud, 
 but not so as to be overheard; with radical stress; rather quick 
 time; rather aspirated quality; not much volume. This man- 
 ner prevails to the end of the colloquy. 
 
 80 is he mine, etc. Secrecy, but such as befits a king: an under- 
 tone therefore. Hate. Aspirated quality; low pitch; initial 
 
 ScBNE II. Nought's had, etc. Spoken with sighs and weariness; 
 high pitch. 
 
 How now, my lord? etc. Tenderness. Soft force, high pitch, 
 median stress. 
 
 We hMve scotched th^ snake, etc. Decision; desperate resolve. Not 
 loud, but forcible, with 'expulsive stress' (the accented sylla- 
 bles being expelled with much breath); an earnest conversa- 
 tional tone. 
 
 Duncan is in his grame, etc. Sorrow and remorse. Vanishing 
 stress; plaintive; half waUing distress; high pitch; aspirated. 
 
<J04 APPENDIX. 
 
 Come ore, gentle my lord, etc. Tender and soothing love. Soft; 
 median; pure quality; high pitch. 
 
 So Bhall I, love, etc. Effort at hope; but weak from remorse and 
 fear. Plaintive; high pitch; sighing, distressful; rising slides. 
 
 Oh, full of scorpions, etc. Distress. Vanishing stress; high; aspi- 
 rated. 
 
 TJiere's comfort yet, etc. He cheers himself. Decision. Initial 
 stress. 
 
 Mre the bat hath flown, etc. Desperation, horror. Low pitch; 
 slow; undertone. 
 
 Be innocent, etc. "Small volume," appropriate to endea/rment. 
 
 Oome, seeling night, etc. Awe and horror. Low; slow; large vol- 
 ume; undertone; initial stress. 
 
 Scene III. Oh, treachery ! etc. Surprise; shouting; scorn. 
 Loud; quick; strongly aspirated; explosive. 
 
 Scene IV. Tou know your own degrees, etc. Polished courtesy, 
 avoiding command. Soft ^median; quick. 
 
 There's blood, etc. Secrecy. Whispering; initial stress. 
 
 Then comes my fit, etc. Great impatience. Vanishing stress; as- 
 pirated quality; undertone; quick; small volume. 
 
 My ro^al lord, etc. Rather loud, but polite; median; circumflex; 
 slight volume; pure quality. 
 
 Thou canst not say I did it, etc. Terror. Very loud; tremulous; 
 quick; explosive; rising slides. 
 
 Sit, worthy friends, etc. Courteous, but authoritative; polite, 
 earnest appeal. High; quick; loud. 
 
 Are you a man f O proper stuff, etc. Reproach, impatience, scorn. 
 Radical; nasal; aspirated; "expulsive" stress; quick. 
 
 Prithee! etc. Secrecy. Loud whisper to his wife; spasmodic 
 utterance. 
 
 Why, what care I? etc. Loud defiance, which instantly melts into 
 terror. 'Intermittent strf ss' at the last. 
 
 Blood hath been shed, etc. Undertone to his wife; tremor; gasping. 
 
 My worthy lord, etc. Quite loud, cheerful, re-assuring. 
 
 / do forget, etc. Apologetic, courteous, confused; desperate at- 
 tempt at cheerfulness. Fits and starts in the voice, with 
 stammering; radical now; now median; rather high pitch. 
 
 Avaunt! etc. A scream of terror — defiance yielding instantly to 
 consternation. Very loud; very quick; very high; guttural 
 quality at last, with convulsive gasps. 
 
 TTiink of this, etc. Very decided and emphatic, but polite; as- 
 sumed indifference. 
 
 What man da/re, etc. Frantic terror, gradually giving way to 
 frantic spasmodic courage; convulsive tremor; very loud; 
 very quick; explosive radical stress on the last. 
 
 Can such things be, etc. Wonder. He slowly recovers from his 
 terror. 
 
 / pray you, speak not, etc. Anxious appeal; decision blended 
 with entreaty. High; quick; median. 
 
 It will have blood, etc. Suppressed remorse, fear and despair. 
 
 Jhewrit,eUi. Decision; reckless resolve. Quick; radical. 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 Scene V. Hme I not reason, etc. Scolding. Aspirated; loud; 
 radical; rather quick. 
 
 Scene VI. The gracious Duncan was pitied, etc. Irony. Cir- 
 cumflex. Whenever the thought is winding, crooked, sarcas- 
 tic, etc., the wave (or eircumjiex) is likely_ to be appropriate. 
 
 TTie son of Duncan, etc. Matter of fact, business style. 
 
 TouHl rue the time. 'Circumflex' on nte and time. 
 
 Some holy angel. Solemn, but fervent. Median; quick utterance, 
 because instant and rapid action is sought. 
 ACT IV, Scene I. How now, you .... hags, etc. Bold, slow, 
 scornful, deflant. Loud, large volume. 
 
 / conjure you, etc. Same. Radical stress, as is always the case in 
 commands. 
 
 Tell me, thou unknown power, etc. Awe. Low; slow. 
 
 Then live, Macduff, etc. Very determined, yet soliloquizing, and 
 so not very loud. Radical. 
 
 What is this? etc. Wonder, without fear. Somewhat aspirated. 
 Moderate force; slow. 
 
 That will never he, &to. Elated. Loud; quick; radical. 
 
 Tell me, if your an-t, etc. Earnest appeal. 
 
 / will be satisfied, etc. Fiery and fierce anger. Aspirated; gut- 
 tural; Initial stress: quick. 
 
 Thou a/rt too like, etc. Surprise, alarm, defiance, anger, fear, hor- 
 ror. Aspirated; loud; spasmodic; explosive; tremulous; deep 
 guttural; shuddering. 
 
 Infected be the air, etc. Anger; hate; desperation. Aspirated; 
 loud; quick; expulsive radical. 
 
 Time, thou antieipaCst, etc. Undertone; quick; rough; radical. 
 
 Scene II. He had none, etc. Impatience. High; quick; van- 
 ishing. 
 
 Wisdom, etc. Impatience; complaint. Vanishing stress; high. 
 
 I pray you, school yourself, etc. Matter of fact; kindness. Soft 
 force; rather quick. 
 
 M birds do, mother. This small talk, and all light conversation or 
 unimportant matter, should be spoken rapidly. A child's 
 voice. 
 
 Pless you,fair dame, etc. Hurry, and earnest kindness. Very 
 quick; loud; radical. 
 
 I have done no harm, etc. Earnest; alarmed . Quick; rather loud. 
 
 What (tre these facet f etc. Fright. Loud; very quick. 
 
 I hope in no place, etc. Bold, deflant, scornful. Loud; radical; 
 quick. 
 
 He has killed me, mother, etc. Do not read this tamely. 
 
 Scene III. Let us seek out, etc. Weak, despondent. Slow; 
 feeble; median. 
 
 Let us rcUher hold fast, etc. Bold; energetic. Loud; quick; radi- 
 cal. 
 
 Wh/it I believe, etc. Assumed weakness. Moderate; median; be- 
 coming cool and business-like. 
 
 But Macbeth is, et/o. Moderation; assumed despondency. 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 Perehanee, even there where I, etc. Circumflex; or it may be read 
 in a &tm?i««8 way. 
 
 Why in that rawness, etc. Pointed inquiry. Bather sharp, metal- 
 lic voice; quick; radical. 
 
 I pray you, let not my jealousies, etc. Circumflex, as the thoughl 
 winds. 
 
 Bleed, bleed, poor country, etc. Grief and despondency. Slow; 
 median; high. 
 
 I would not be the villain, etc. Indignation. Rather loud; expul- 
 sive; rather quick; aspirated. 
 
 Be not Offended, etc. Assumed coolness and hardness; putting on 
 the mocking unsympathizing tone of a villain. 
 
 It is myself I mean, etc. Coolness and sneering. 
 
 Not in the legions, etc. Anger. Loud; quick; radical; aspirated. 
 
 / grant him bloody, etc. Circumflex; mocking; cold and heart- 
 less; dismissing hia assumed diabolic thoughts as mere mat- 
 ter of course, not to be ashamed of, but rather as ground for 
 malicious satisfaction! A guttural, sensual tone. 
 
 Boundless intemperance, etc. Apologetic; persuasive; argumenta- 
 tive. 
 
 With this there grows, etc. Assumed malicious hardened avarice. 
 Avoid the median: rather low pitch; g'uttural and growling. 
 
 This a/oarice, etc. Serious, and somewhat emphatic. 
 
 T»t do not fear, etc. Persuasive; moderate argument. 
 
 But I have none. Pretended swaggering and boastfulness of a 
 villain proud of his villainjr. Coarse; guttural; loud; slow, 
 cool, scornful, aspirated; radical. 
 
 O Scotland! Scotland! etc. Great grief. Loud; quick; high; 
 vanishing. 
 
 Mt to govern! No, not to live! etc. Intense wrathful energy. 
 Very loud; explosive radical. 
 
 nation miserable, etc. Loud grief, ending in despair. 
 
 Macduff, this noble passion, etc. Malcolm's whole manner now 
 changes. He becomes cheerful, noble, emphatic in his purity 
 and truth; closing with exultation. Loud; radical and median; 
 pure quality; large volume. 
 
 A mxist miraculous work, etc. Slight admiration. Rather loud; 
 median and radical. 
 
 Alas, poor country ! etc. Distress. Loud; median and vanishing. 
 
 Why, — well .... No; they were, etc. Long pauses; slow; slight 
 ■ force. 
 
 All my pretty ones* etc. An agony of grief. High; convulsive. 
 
 0, hell-kite, etc. Intensest wrath hissing. 
 
 But I must also feel it as a man, etc. Under this crushing blow, 
 his voice falters, sobs and wails. 
 
 Sinful Macduff, etc. Self-reproach, with tears and sobs. 
 
 Be this the whetstone, etc. Loud, cheerful, decisive. 
 
 Front to front, etc. Frenzied anger and hate. Very much as- 
 pirated; explosive; very loud. 
 
 This time goes manly, etc. CbeerfoL Loud; quick. 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 ACT V, Scene I. / h<me two nights watched, etc. Undertone till 
 Lady M. enters, and then whispering. 
 
 Lo, you, here she comes, etc. "Whispering. 
 
 Yet here's a spot, etc. A cry of anguish. High; aspirated with 
 sighs. 
 
 Out, damned spot ! etc. Eadical; aspirated; high; slow. 
 
 One; two, etc. She counts the striking of the clocls. Slow,, and 
 then quick on the words, " Why, then 'tis time," etc. 
 
 Mell is murky! etc. Scornful, sneering? or Intensely horrified and 
 shuddering? Pause after it. Aspirated. 
 
 Tet who would have thought, etc. Horror. Low; slow; soft; 
 shuddering? aspirated. 
 
 T7ie Thane of Fife had a wife, etc. Wailing. High; slow, pure 
 tone. 
 
 What! will these hands, etc. Impatient distress. Vanishing. 
 
 2fo more o' that, etc. Command; decision. Quick, firm voice, yet 
 in undertone; radical. 
 
 Here's the smell of the blood, etc. A cry of anguish. Very high; 
 vanishing; slow. 
 
 Wash yow hands, etc. Undertone; quick; impetuous; angry, as- 
 pirated. 
 
 To bed, to bed, etc. Very quick; much aspirated. 
 
 Foul whisperings, etc. Very solemn. Low; slow; soft. 
 
 Look after her, etc. Serious; business tone. 
 
 Scene II. The English power is near, etc. Matter of fact. 
 Moderation, therefore, in pitch, time, etc. 
 
 Scene III. Bring me no more reports, etc. Excitement; anger; 
 scorn; exultation. Loud; high on emphatic syllables; explo- 
 sive radical; large volume; aspirated; quick. 
 
 The detil, efa. Great anger. Very loud; very rough; very quick; 
 explosive; large volume. 
 
 Qo prick thy face, etc. Anger. Contempt at littleness and at boy- 
 ish cowardice may make the volume moderate or even small. 
 
 1 am sick at hea/rt, etc. Distressful; disgusted; impatient. As- 
 pirated; expulsive, vanishing. 
 
 / ha/oe lived long enough, etc. Plaintive. 
 
 Curses, not loud but deep, etc. Aspirated; varying pitch, forcible; 
 radical, vanishing. 
 
 ril fight, etc. Savage energy. Very loud; quick; radical, im- 
 pure; large volume. 
 
 Cure her of that, etc. Calmer, but yet in a beseeching tone . 
 
 Throw physic, etc. Anger; contempt; haste. Loud; quick; radi- 
 cal; aspirated; small volume. 
 
 If thou, couldst. Doctor, cast, etc. Grim humor. Badical, business 
 tone, with energy. 
 
 Scene IV. Cousins, I hope, etc. Matter of fact through this 
 scen^. All the vocal elements moderate. 
 
 Scene V. Hang out our banners, etc. Command. Loud; bold; 
 scornful. 
 
 Till famine, etc. Defiant. Loud; quick; radical. 
 
 I have almost forgot, etc. Serious, Low; slow; small volumfit 
 
208 APPENDIX. 
 
 She ghould home died, etc. Sorrow? Low; slow; soft; small 
 
 volume? 
 To-morrow, and to-morrou, etc. Solemn; despairing. Low pitch, 
 
 monotone; slow; slight force. 
 Thou eomst to u*e, etc. Angry. Quick; loud. 
 Liar and slave! etc. Great anger. Very loud and quick. 
 To doubt the equivocation, etc. Puzzled; alarmed. Very rapid; 
 
 small volume; aspirated. 
 Arm,ann,and out! etc. Excited command. Very loud; quick; 
 
 large volume. 
 Blow, wind! etc. Shouting defiance. 
 Scene VII. Tyrant, show thy face! eta. Loud defiance. 
 This way, my lord, etc. Joyful. Quick; loud; median; pure; 
 
 large. 
 Why should I play the Eom,an fool, etc. Scorn. Radical; loud; 
 
 aspirated with sneers. 
 Turn, hell-hound, etc. The first half of this dialogue is loud, bold, 
 
 defiant 
 Aceursed be that tongue, etc. Imprecating; desponding; distrust- 
 ful; feeble. Aspirated; small volume. 
 Th,en yield thee, coward, etc. Scorn; ridicule. Loud; radical; cir- 
 cumflex; small volume. 
 ril not yield, etc. He rouses himself grandly, and dies with a 
 
 heroic bravery that partially wins back our respect. 
 / would, the friends we miss, etc. This dialogue is quite rapid. 
 Then he is dead? etc. The old Spartan must have spoken this 
 
 with deep sorrow; from which, however, he instantly recovers. 
 Sail, king, etc. Great joy. Very loud; quick; median. 
 We shall not spend, etc. Joy; gratitude; business. Rather loud; 
 
 rather quick; median; rather large volume. 
 What's more to do, etc. Business tone with something of joy. 
 
 Radical; rather loud; moderate in time, pitch and volume. 
 
 [From Middleton's The Witch. Date doiibtful,'] 
 
 Song above.* 
 
 Come away, come away, 
 Hecate, Hecate, come away I 
 Bee. I come, I come, I come, I come, 
 With all the speed I may, 
 • With all the speed I may. 
 Where 's Stadlin? 
 [Voice ahove.] Here. 
 Hec. Where 's Puckle? 
 [Foloe above.] Here; 
 
 And Hoppo too, and Hellwain too; 
 We lack but you, we lack but you ; 
 Come away, make up the count. 
 Hec. I will but 'nolnt, and then I mount. 
 
 [A Sptrit like a cat deseendg. 
 
 * Eeferred to in Ac? ID. Scene V, line 34. 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 ri'btee o6o»e.] There 's one comes down to fetch his dues, 
 A kiss, a coU, a sip of blood ; 
 And why thou stay'st so long 
 
 I muse, I muse, 
 Since the air 's so sweet and good. 
 
 Hee. O, art thou come? • 
 
 What news, what news? 
 
 Spirit. All goes still to our delight: 
 Either come, or else 
 Refuse, refuse. 
 
 See. Now I 'm f urnish'd for the flight. 
 
 Fire. Hark, hark, the cat sings a brave treble in her own languagel 
 
 Hec. [going ttp.] Now I go, now I fly, 
 Malkin my sweet spirit and I. 
 O what a dainty pleasure 't is 
 To ride in the air 
 When the moon shines fair, 
 And sing and dance, and toy and kiss I 
 Over woods, high rocks and mountains, 
 Over seas, our mistress' fountains, 
 Over steep 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 oboue.] No ring of bells, etc. 
 
 A little later in Hiddleton's Witch is the song mentioned in lY, i, 
 44, p. 148. It is as follows: 
 
 Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray, 
 Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may! 
 Titty, Tiffin, keep it sttce in ; 
 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 I 
 
 SPECIMEN EXAMINATION PAPERS. 
 [From tTie English Civil Service Commission Papers.*] 
 A (First Act chieflt). 
 1. To what group of Shakespearian plays does Macbeth belong? 
 Give the date. 
 3. What historical allusions are made in the play? 
 
 3. State the part performed by MacduS in the action. 
 
 4. Give the chief points of contrast between the characters of 
 Banquo and Macbeth. 
 
 5. State by whom and on what occasion the following lines were 
 uttered: — 
 
 (a) Like valor's minion carv'd out his passage. 
 (6) He shall live a man forbid. 
 
 'They "tithe mint, anise and eummin," for the most put, and neglect the 
 the weightier matters.— Bdjtok. 
 
210 APPENDIX. 
 
 (e) Are ye fantastical, or that indeed 
 
 Which outwardly ye show? 
 f(i) It is a peerless kinsman. 
 («) They met me in the day of success. 
 \f) The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, 
 (y) False face must hide what tlie false heart doth know. 
 
 6. Give instance of Shakespeare's use of the prefix dis, as in di»- 
 iurse, disbeneh, etc. 
 
 7. Give instance of phrases in which the words proof, tooth, ttlf 
 (in composition), home, golden,work, and time are used. 
 
 8. Give a few examples of Shakespeare's use of the adjective with 
 a condensed meaning or with a causal force. 
 
 9. Explain the phrase, trammel up the consequence. 
 
 10. Give some examples of Shakespeare's employment of the ad- 
 jective as an adverb; and explain the reason. 
 
 B (Second Act CHiErLT). 
 
 1. Give a short account of the events in the Second Act. 
 
 2. What is the meaning that Shakespeare intends to give to the 
 knocking in Scene ii ? 
 
 8. What is chiefly said and done in Scene iv ? 
 4. State by whom and on what occasion the following lines were 
 uttered: — 
 
 (a) And such an instrument I was to use. 
 
 f6i Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care, 
 
 (c) The multitudinous sea incarnadine. 
 
 (d) Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope 
 The Lord's anointed temple. 
 
 !«) And let us not be dainty of leave-taking. 
 f) And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp, 
 6. Annotate the above lines. 
 
 6. Give some instances of an adjective made out of a noun by the 
 addition of ed. 
 
 7. Explain the word m^thought, and give other instances of the 
 idiom. 
 
 8. Give some examples of Shakespeare's use of a = one. 
 
 9. Where are Scone and Colme-kill ? 
 
 10. Give some examples cf Shakespeare's third person plural In 
 b; and explain why he uses it. 
 
 C (Third Act chiefly). 
 
 1. Give an account of what happens at the banquet in Scene Iv. 
 
 2. What is Lennox's view of the situation? 
 
 3. State by whom, of whom, and on what occasion the following 
 lines were uttered: — 
 
 (a) Thou hast it now, king, Cawdor, Glamis, all. 
 n>) He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor. 
 
 (e) Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves are cleped 
 All by the name of dogs. 
 
 (d) After life's fitful fever he sleeps welL 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 («] As broad and general as the casing air. 
 (/) And you all know security 
 Is mortal's chiefest enemy. 
 
 4. Annotate the above lines. 
 
 5. Give the meaning and instances of Shakespeare's use of ttill, 
 for, a (== on), and cloudy. 
 
 6. Mention some examples of Shakespeare's use of with ■= hy. 
 
 7. Give the meaning of the phrases, his life, my near'st of life, tlie 
 common ear, impostors to. 
 
 8. Give a few examples of Shakespeare's employment of prolepsis. 
 
 9. Write down some examples of participles in ate. 
 
 10. What is the dativus ethieus ? Give some instances. 
 
 D (FouRTn AND Fifth Acts chiefly). 
 
 1. What persons are shown to Macbeth by the witches? 
 
 2. Give a short account of the dialogue between Malcolm anii 
 MacdufE. 
 
 3. Contrast, as fully as you can, the feelings of Lady Macbeth be- 
 fore the murder of Duucan, and afterwards in the sleep-walking 
 scene (Act V, i). Quote where you can. 
 
 4. What effect has his rrime froduced upon the mind of Macbeth, 
 especially in his social relations? 
 
 5. State by whom, of whom, and on what occasion the following 
 lines were uttered: — 
 
 (a) The flighty I'urposp nevpr is o'ertook, 
 
 Unlpss the deed go with it. 
 (6) He wants the natural touch, 
 (c) Angels are brigh'. still, though the brightest felL 
 \d) Violent sorrow seems 
 
 A modern ecstacy. 
 (e) This push 
 
 Will chair me ever, or dis-seat me now. 
 if) The tyrant's people on both sides do flght. 
 (jjr) Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt. 
 
 6. Annotate the above lines. 
 
 •7. Give some instances of hybrids, like bodements. 
 
 8. Explain and give examples of Shakespeare's use of mortal; 
 head; to friend; imperial; so; wear; and motives. 
 
 9. What allusions occur In this play to touching for the King's 
 Evil ? Explain them. 
 
 10. Explain the following words, and give examples of Shakes- 
 peare's use of them: Mated; sag; oblivious; speculation; dusty; 
 a/oouches; harness; kerns; and score. 
 
 [Pbizb Examination in Macbeth. Hollins Institute, Vir- 
 ginia, June, 1882. Under the charge of Prof. Wm. Taylor 
 Thorn.] 
 
 Textual. 
 
 1. When was Macbeth first published, and in what form. 
 
 2. At what period in Shakespeare's artist life would the general 
 style and characteristics of verse place the play? 
 
212 APPENDIX. 
 
 3. How are the upward and downward limits of the date of the 
 play fixed? 
 
 4. What incident may hare suggested the subject of Macbeth *a 
 Shakespeare ? 
 
 5. Duwden, following Malone, places the date of the play about 
 what year, and on what internal evidence? 
 
 6. "What is the opinion of the Clarendon Press editors on this 
 subject? 
 
 7. Whence did Shakespeare get the materials of the play? 
 
 8. And what incidents, not belonging to the original story of 
 Macbeth, has he incorporated in the play? 
 
 9. Is there anything historical in the play? 
 
 10. What is the theory of the Clarendon Press editors as to inter- 
 polation, and by whom? 
 
 11. Explain use of " of" in "«/' kerns and gallowglasses is sup- 
 plied." I, ii, 18. 
 
 12. Explain use of "on" in "eaten on. the insane root." I, iii, 84. 
 
 13. Explain constructions — " in viewing o'er the rest," &c. 1, iii, 
 94; — " like tJie learning it." I, iv, 8;—" old turning the key." II, iii, 
 
 a. 
 
 14. Explain force of " w?u> " — " who was the thane lives yet." I, 
 iii, 109. 
 
 15. Explain construction — " as 'twere a careless trifle." I, iv, 11 ; 
 — " as they had seen me." II, ii, 27; — " An't please heaven he shall 
 not." Ill, vi, 19. 
 
 16. Explain construction — " a ea/rekss trifle." I, iv, 11 ; — "sigJit- 
 less substances." I, v, 47. 
 
 17. Explain use of " to " — ^the late dit>^itles heaped up to them." 
 I, vi, 19; "And to that dauntless temper of his mind." Ill, i, 51. 
 
 18. What is peculiar in the adjective use in " Unto our gentle 
 senses." I, vi, 3; — " eaten on the ijwane root " ? I, iii, 84. 
 
 19. Explain the use of " but only " — " but only vaulting ambition. 
 I, vii, 26. 
 
 20. Explain " would " — " which wordd be worn now," &c. I, vii, 
 34;—" That would be howled out in the," &c. IV, iii, 194. 
 
 21. Construction of line, "Hear not my steps, which way they 
 walk." II,i, 57. 
 
 22. Explain form gives, " Words to the heat of deeds too cool 
 breath gives." II, i, 61. 
 
 23. Illustrate power of conversion of parts of speech by, " Hath 
 trifled former knowings." II, iv, 4. 
 
 ' 24. Explain, " Go not my horse the better." Ill, i, 25. 
 
 25. Explain, " while then, God be with you." Ill, i, 43, 
 
 26. " There is none but he." Ill, i, 53. 
 
 27. " Unsafe the while, <A(i« we must lave," &c. Ill, ii, 32. 
 
 28. Explain, " Impostors to true fear." Ill, iv, 64. 
 
 29. Explain " To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself." II, 
 ii, 73; — " To fright you thus methinks I am too savage." IV, ii, 70; 
 — " blame his pester'd senses to recoil and start." V, ii, 32. 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 30. What is the meaning of "Aroint thee ■witchi " ? I, iii, 6. 
 
 81. What beliefs are suggested in — 
 
 " But in a sieve I thither sail, 
 
 And like a rat without a tail " ? I, iii, 8-9. 
 
 33. What is the meaning of fantastieal in "are ye fantastieal?" 
 I, iii, 63; — " whose murder yet is but fantastical " ? I, iii, 139. 
 
 33. What was a harbinger? I, iv ,45; and a,pv/rveyor? I, vi, 23. 
 
 84. Explain — 
 
 " Herein I teach you 
 
 How yon shall hid God Hid us for your pains, 
 
 And thank us for your trouble." I, vi, 13- 14. 
 
 85. Explain " if the assassination could trammel up the conse- 
 quence, and catch with his surcease success." I, vi, 3-4. 
 
 36. Explain " That memory, the warder of the brain shall be a 
 fume, and the receipt of reason a limbec only." I, vii, 65-67. 
 
 37. What is the meaning of " travelling lamp" f II, iv, 7. 
 
 38. Meaning of " Nature's copy's not eterne " ? Ill, ii, 38. 
 
 39. What is meant by " Our hostess keeps her state " f III, iv, 5. 
 
 40. "EiK^lain " witches' mmnmy." IV,i, 33. 
 
 41. What is meant by the blood-bolter' d Banquo" ? IV, i, 133. 
 43. What courtier-like reference does Shakespeare make in 
 
 bringing in " the evil " ? IV, iii, 146. 
 
 43. Explain the meaning of " rise from her bed, throw her night' 
 gown upon her." V, i, 4. 
 
 44. Explain — 
 
 " For their dea/r causes 
 Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm 
 Excite the m^rtiiied man." V, ii, 3-5. 
 
 45. Meaning of "pester'' A. senses " ? V, ii, 33. 
 
 46. Explain — 
 
 " They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, 
 But, bear-like, I must fight the course." V, vii, 1-2. 
 
 AESTHETIC. 
 
 47. What do you understand the " Weird Sisters " in Macbeth to 
 be? 
 
 48. Does Macbeth, or Lady Macbeth say (II, ii, 16) : " Did not 
 you speak? " And what do you think of Hunter's distribution of 
 speeches adopted by Furness ? — 
 
 " Macbeth: 1 have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise? 
 Lady Macbeth: I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 
 Macbeth: Did not you speak? 
 Lady Macbeth: When? Now? 
 Ma^eth: As I descended. 
 Lady Macbeth: Ay." 
 
 49. Give your impression of this whole Scene II, and of the 
 effect of the knocking. 1, 57. 
 
 60. What is Coleridge's opinion of the Porter-Scene (II, iii, 1-37); 
 
214 APPENDIX. 
 
 and your own opinion? Can you recall anything similar elsewhere 
 in Shakespeare ? 
 
 51. How do you reconcile Macbeth's prompt murder of the 
 grooms with Us horror at the mere thought of killing Duncan, and 
 his refusal to carry the bloody daggers back to the chamber ? 
 
 53. Is Lady Macbeth's swoon on hearing of the murder of the 
 grooms, real or feigned — and the grounds of your opinion ? 
 
 53. How do you explain the dtflerence in Lady Macbeth's man- 
 ner towards Macbeth after the Banquo ghost scene (III, ir^, as com- 
 pared with her bearing after the murder of Duncan (II, ii) ? 
 
 54. Do you 'regard Lady Macbeth as a suicide? And what do 
 you consider the causes of her death? 
 
 55. What effect does her death have upon Macbeth, and upon 
 our feeling towards him? 
 
 56. The character of Macbeth in brief ? 
 67. The lesson of the play? 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 215 
 
 SOME TOPICS FOE ESSAYS. 
 
 Witchcraft in Shakespeare. 
 The Weird Sisters. 
 Fair is foul and foul is fair. 
 Macbeth's Claims to the Throne. 
 Banquo'a real Character. 
 
 The Battles of Act I, Scene II. 
 
 Anachronisms in the Play. 
 
 St. Colme's Inch. 
 
 Colme-Kill. 
 
 Macbeth's Bravery. 
 
 Duncan's Character. 
 
 Macbeth's Residences. 
 
 The Story of King Dufl. 
 
 The Treason of Cawdor. 
 
 Polite Speeches in Macbeth. 
 
 The Character of Malcolm. 
 
 Macbeth's Letter to his Wife. 
 
 Macbeth's Piety. 
 
 Macbeth's Religious Belief. 
 
 Macbeth's Conscience. 
 
 You murdering Ministers. 
 
 Imagery drawn from the Theatre. 
 
 Word-painting in Macbeth. 
 
 The Love that follows us some- 
 times is our Trouble. 
 
 Even-handed Justice. 
 
 Vaulting Ambition. 
 
 Wine and Wassail. 
 
 Banquo's Cursed Thoughts. 
 
 Shakespeare's mode of indicating 
 indirectly the time and circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The Air-drawn Dagger. 
 
 Scottish Second-sight. 
 
 The owl, the raven, and other 
 ominous things in Macbeth. 
 
 Had he not resembled my Father. 
 
 I could not say Amen. 
 
 Sleep no more. 
 
 Verbal Plays in MaAeth. 
 
 Color as indicative of Courage. 
 
 The Drunken Porter. 
 
 The Labor we Delight in Physics 
 Pain. 
 
 The Murder of the Chamberlain. 
 
 Lady Macbeth's Swooning. 
 
 Flight of Malcolm and Donal- 
 bain. 
 
 Prodigies at the Death of Princes. 
 
 Scone and the Coronation Seat. 
 
 Thou hast it now. 
 
 Macbeth and the two Murderers. 
 
 The third Murderer. 
 
 Better be with the Dead. 
 
 A Solemn Supper. 
 
 Lady Macbeth at the Banquet. 
 
 The Ghost at the Banquet. 
 
 The Moon and Incantations. 
 
 The Witches' Cauldron. 
 
 Harpier, Grraymalkin, and Pad- 
 dock. 
 
 The Three Apparitions in Act IV. 
 
 The Show of Eight Kings and 
 Banquo. 
 
 Macdu£E's Abandonment of his 
 Family. 
 
 Malcolm's Testing of MacduS. 
 
 James's Touching for the Evil. 
 
 Ross's Tidings to Macdufl. 
 
 Significance of the Sleep-walking 
 Scene. 
 
 Macbeth's Ennui. 
 
 The Queen's Death. 
 
 The Legend of the MovingGrove. 
 
 The Final Struggle. 
 
 The Lessons of the Play. 
 
 A Single Scene in MaSeth. 
 
 A Character in the Play. 
 
 Holinshed's Narrative. 
 
 Scott's Account of Macbetli. 
 
 Thinking in Metaphors, 
 
INDEX OF WORDS. PHRASES. AND TOPICS. 
 
 a one, 139. 
 
 abuse, strange and self, 
 139. 
 
 abuse the curtain'd 
 sleep, 94. 
 
 access, 76. 
 
 accursed, hour, 154. 
 
 Acheron, 140. 
 
 act, troubled with 
 man's. 111. 
 
 act, swelling, 67. 
 
 actual performances, 
 177. 
 
 adage, 87. 
 
 addition, 66, 121. 
 
 address' d, 98. 
 
 adhere = cohere? 87. 
 
 adjectives, used adver- 
 bially? 104. 
 
 admir'd disorder, 187. 
 
 adverbs from adjec- 
 tives, 194. 
 
 advise you where, 133. 
 
 ./Bolus, 59. 
 
 .aisohylus, 179. 
 
 afeard, 65. 86. 
 
 afeard, or afeer^dl 163. 
 
 affection, 166. 
 
 Agamemnon of .ffischy- 
 lus, 17P. 
 
 agents, 137. 
 
 alack, 97. 
 
 alarm, 181. 
 
 alamm'd, 94. 
 
 Aleppo, 59. 
 
 Alexandrine line? 55, 
 159, 176. 
 
 all, for any? 124. 
 
 all is the fear, 156. 
 
 aU to all, 135. 
 
 aU-haUed, 74. 
 216 
 
 all-hail hereafter, 78. 
 all things, or allrtMngI 
 
 115. 
 alliteration, 135, 146. 
 always thought, 133. 
 ambition, vaultmg, 85. 
 amen, I could not say, 
 
 98. 
 amphibious section, 91, 
 
 107. 
 anachronism, 55, 58. 
 analysis, elocutionary, 
 
 199 etc. 
 and, or an = if? 143. 
 angel = devil, 195. 
 angels, brightest fell, 
 
 163. 
 angerly, you look, 140. 
 annoyance, 180. 
 anointed temple, 105. 
 anon, 52. 
 
 anon we'll drink, 130. 
 antic round, 154. 
 anticipat'st, exploits, 
 
 155. 
 apparitions, 149, 150, 
 
 151. 
 apply to Banquo, 126. 
 approve by his lov'd, 
 
 80. 
 arbitrate, strokes must, 
 
 188. 
 are come, 70. 
 argument, 109. 
 armed head, 149, 150. 
 arm'd rhinoceros, 136. 
 aroint thee, witch, 59. 
 artj there's no, 71. 
 artificial sprites, 141. 
 as, omitted? 104. 
 as = as if ? 98. 
 as 't were, 70. 
 as who should say, 144, 
 
 assassins, negotiations, 
 
 133. 
 assay of art, 170. 
 astrological terms, 112. 
 at a point, 169. 
 at first and last, 139. 
 at odds with morning, 
 
 138. 
 atheistic utterances, 
 
 189, 190. 
 at quiet, never, 103. 
 attempt and not the 
 
 deed, 97. 
 attend our pleasure, 
 
 117. 
 audit, make their, 83. 
 auger-hole, 109. 
 augures, 138. 
 authoriz'd by, 134. 
 avaunt, and quit, 135. 
 avoiding from his horse, 
 
 26. 
 avouch it, 133. 
 aweary of the sun, 191. 
 ay, or It 101. 
 aye accursed, 154. 
 
 babe, new-bom, 84. 
 babe, of Lady Macbeth, 
 
 87. 
 baboon's blood, 147. 
 baby of a girl, 136. 
 Bacon and Shakes., 118. 
 
 148. 
 badg'd with blood, 108 
 baited with curse, 195. 
 bane, 186. 
 bank and school 
 
 (shoal?) 83. 
 banquet and Banquo, 7$- 
 Banquo, 13, 18, 90, 115, 
 
 151 etc. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 21T 
 
 battle, our first, 191. 
 battlements, ominous, 
 
 76. 
 beards, of witches, 63. 
 bear-like, 193. 
 beat them backward, 
 
 188. 
 Beelzebub, 102. 
 beguile the time, 78. 
 beldams, 140. 
 bell, signal for murder? 
 
 92,93,96. 
 bellman, 96. 
 Bellona's bridegroom, 
 
 57. 
 Ben Jonson's verses, 
 
 194, 195. 
 bend up, 89. 
 benison, 114. 
 besides this Duncan, 84. 
 be'st slain, 193. 
 bestow'd, 116. 
 bestows, 143. 
 bestride our birthdom, 
 
 161. 
 better part of man, 195. 
 bid God yield us, 81. 
 bidding, our great, 138. 
 bides, in a ditch, 131. 
 bill = catalogue? 131. 
 Birnam wood, 26, 151. 
 birthdom, downfall, 
 
 161. 
 bladed corn, 148. 
 blaneh'd with fear, 137. 
 blank verse, 177, 180. 
 blanket of the dark, 77. 
 blaspheme, 167. 
 blasted heath, 63. 
 bleeding, and alarm, 
 
 181. 
 blind- worm's sting, 146. 
 blood, smell of, 179. 
 blood-bolter'd, 154. 
 blow, ports they, 60. 
 bodements, sweet, 151. 
 Boece, Hector, 13. 
 Bodensted's comments, 
 
 39. 
 bolter'd, 1S4. 
 bond, 127, 150. 
 bonfire, 103. 
 boot, to, 164. 
 born of woman, 150, 
 
 182. 
 borne in hand, 120. 
 borne, strangely, 143. 
 bosom interest, 58. 
 
 both the worlds, 135. 
 bought golden opinions, 
 
 86. 
 bove wisdom, 141. 
 brainsickly* 99. 
 break this enterprise, 
 
 87. 
 breath, mouth-honor, 
 
 184. 
 breech' d with gore, 109. 
 breed, blaspheme his, 
 
 167. 
 brew'd, tears, 109. 
 brindedtat, 145. 
 broad words, 143. 
 broil, of the, 53. 
 bruited, 193. 
 bubbles, earth has, 34. 
 Bucknill's comments, 
 
 40. 
 buskling = bustling, 17. 
 but = than? 196. 
 but = unless? 118. 
 but he = ? 118. 
 buz, peculiar use of, 173. 
 by the way, 138. 
 
 cabin'd, cribb'd, etc., 
 •131. 
 
 Caesar, 118. 
 
 Csesarean operation, 
 195. 
 
 Calvary [Golgotha] , 55, 
 56. 
 
 cancel and tear, 137. 
 
 cannons, overcharg'd, 
 55. 
 
 caparisons, or compari- 
 son's? 57. 
 
 captains, trisyl? 55. 
 
 card, the shipman's, 60. 
 
 careless trifle, 70. 
 
 casing air, 131. 
 
 cast the water, 186. 
 
 castle of Macduff, 155. 
 
 catalogue, in the, 120. 
 
 cause, buckle, etc., 181. 
 
 cause of sorrow, 196. 
 
 cause of state, 117. 
 
 Cawdor, 57, 62, 67, 81. 
 
 censures, just, 188. 
 
 chair, or cheer? 184. 
 
 chalice, 22, 84. 
 
 chambers will be safe, 
 187. 
 
 champion me, 119. 
 
 chance, 68, KXT. 
 
 chance of goodness, 169 
 charge, imperial, 162. 
 charge, mock their, 96. 
 charged, heart is sorely, 
 
 179. 
 charg'd with blood, 194 
 charmed life, 194. 
 chastise, 75. 
 chandron, tigers, 147. 
 cheeks, ruby of, 137. 
 cheer, 131, 184. 
 cherubin, heavens, 85. 
 chiasmus, 105. 
 children, trisyl? 173. 
 choke, 53. 
 choppy, 61. 
 choughs and rooks, 
 
 138 
 chuck, 137. 
 churches, against the, 
 
 148. 
 clear, 84, 93. 
 clearness, require a,13a 
 cleave to my consent, 
 
 92. 
 clept, 120, 121. 
 cling thee, 190. 
 olpister'd flight, 136. 
 close contriver, 140: 
 close, stand, 177, 178. 
 closed, 121. 
 
 cloudy messenger, 144. 
 cock, the second, 104. 
 coigne of vantage, 80. 
 coil'd, or eooVM 188. 
 Colme's inch, 58. 
 Colme-kill, 113. 
 come upon him, 68, 69. 
 command upon me, 116 
 combustion, 105. 
 commend = commit, 
 
 117. 
 commends, 84. 
 comparisons, self, 57. 
 composition, 58. 
 compt, in, 82. 
 conference, 120. 
 confijieless harms, 164. 
 confounds, 97. 
 confronted him, 57. 
 confusion, 105, 141. 
 conjure you, 148. 
 consent, cleave to, 92. 
 consequences, syllab? 
 
 183. 
 constancy hath left, 101 
 contend against, 81. 
 content, without, 134. 
 
918 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 continent, Latin sense? 
 
 165. 
 convert, 175. 
 convey your pleasures, 
 
 165. 
 convince, overcome) 88. 
 convinces, 170. 
 cool'd, or coii'd, 188. 
 copy, nature's, 126. 
 corner of the moon, 141. 
 corporal, 64, 89. 
 corporal agent, 89. 
 countenance, horror, 
 
 106. 
 counterfeit, deaths, 106. 
 couriers of the air, 85. 
 cours'd him, 81. 
 course, fight the, 192. 
 cousin, 54, 67. 
 coz = cousin, 156. 
 crack of doom, 153. 
 cracks, 55. 
 Craumer's hand, 100. 
 cribb'd, confin'd, 131. 
 crickets cry, 97. 
 cries (that wliich, 74), 
 •94,99,145. 
 Cumberland, 73. 
 cursed thoughts, 91. 
 curtain'd sleep, 94. 
 
 •d, or -ed, omitted, 143. 
 dainty of. 111. 
 Darmesteter, 75. 
 Darnley's murder, 84. 
 dead for breath, 76. 
 dear causes, 181. 
 death, as in a, 88, 89. 
 death, or hirCM 99. 
 defect, personified! 91. 
 degrees, 129. 
 De Quinoey's com- 
 ments, 36, 100. 
 deliver = relate! 74. 
 demi-wolves, 120. 
 denies his person, 138. 
 desert, dare to the, 136. 
 despair thy charm, 194. 
 devU, 66, 103. 
 dew, the flower, 182. 
 died every day, 168. 
 digg'd in the dark, 147. 
 direness familiar, 189. 
 disbursed, 58. 
 discern, or deservet 162. 
 dis-ease, or disseat! 184. 
 discovery err, iSl. 
 
 displac'd the mirth, 137. 
 dispatch, my, 79. 
 dispute it like, etc., 174. 
 disseat, or dis-easel 184. 
 distance, bloody, 121, 
 
 122. 
 distemper'd cause, 181. 
 do, I'll, 59. 
 
 do more, or no moref 87. 
 do, remains to, 191. 
 do we but find, 192. 
 dofl, dire distresses, 
 
 172. 
 dollars, 58. 
 -dom, suffix, 161. 
 done, if it were, 82, 83. 
 doom, crack of, 153, 
 doom's image, 106. 
 double trust, 84. 
 doubt = suspect! 159. 
 doubts and fears, 131. 
 Dowden, 11, 42, 58. 
 downfall, or clovmfall'nt 
 
 161. 
 downy sleep, 106. 
 drain, dry as hay, 60. 
 dramatic skill, 71, 103. 
 dreams, 91, 125. 
 dress, 66. 
 
 dress, images from, 183. 
 dress'd yourself, 86. 
 drink, 92. 
 
 droop and drowse, 127. 
 drop profound, 141. 
 drown the wind, 85. 
 dudgeon, blade and, 93. 
 dues of rejoicing, 74. 
 Dufle, king, 15, 16, 60, 
 
 Duncan, 14, 18, etc. 
 Dunsinane, 13, 15, 33, 
 
 26, 151, etc. 
 dunnest smoke, 77. 
 dusty death, 189. 
 duties, 71, 154. 
 duties and the pledge, 
 
 135. 
 dwindle, peak, etc., 60. 
 
 ea, how sounded, 133. 
 earls, be, 198. 
 early editions of Mac- 
 beth, 11. 
 earnest of, 66, 67. 
 East, the rich, 164. 
 easy, for easily! 110, 
 
 eat, for atet 113. 
 eaten on, 64. 
 eclipse, moon's, 147. 
 ecstasy, 125, 171. 
 -ed, omitted after -te, -t, 
 
 etc., 143. 
 -ed = abut in admir'd, 
 
 etc., 137. 
 Edward, most pious, 
 
 143. 
 effects of watching, 177. 
 egg, young fry of, etc., 
 
 160, 161. 
 either thou Macbeth, 
 
 193. 
 Elocutionary analysis, 
 
 199, 200, etc. 
 else, of all men, 194. 
 embrace the fate, 123. 
 enemy, dissyl! 181. 
 England, gracious, 164. 
 English Literature, 
 
 how to study, 337. 
 enkindle you unto, 67. 
 enow, plural, 103, 159. 
 entrance, trisyl! 76. 
 entreat an hour, 91. 
 epicures, English, 183. 
 equivocate to heaven, 
 
 103. 
 equivocator, 11, 103. 
 ere (in or ere), 171. 
 essays, topics for, 215. 
 estate o' the world, 191. 
 esteem, in thine own, 87. 
 eternal jewel, 119. 
 evil, the (king's), 170. 
 examination papers, 209. 
 exasperate, Iiath so, 143. 
 exil'd friends abroad, 
 
 198. 
 expedition, 108. 
 expense, spend a large, 
 
 197. 
 expressive reading, 199. ■ 
 
 face, is as a book, 78. 
 fact, in a bad sense! 
 
 142. 
 faculties, 84. 
 faii, we fail; how read! 
 
 fail'd his presence, 143. 
 fair is foul, 52, 61. 
 falcon, towering, 112. 
 famine cling thee, 190. 
 fan our people cold, 56, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 219 
 
 i^ntastical, meaningi 
 
 62, 68. 
 fare thee well, 168. 
 farmer that hanged, 
 
 102. 
 farrow, eaten her nine, 
 
 149. 
 favor, sense of? 69, 79. 
 fear = fear for? etc., 
 
 74, 79. 
 fears, sense of? 68, 100. 
 fee grief, 173. 
 feed = mere feeding? 
 
 133 
 fell cruelty, 159. 
 fell of hair, 189. 
 feverous, 105. 
 field, into the, 177. 
 Fife, 14, 56, 178, etc 
 fil'd my mind, 118. 
 file, the valued, 131. 
 fillet of a fenny snake, 
 
 146. 
 filthy air, 53. 
 firstlings of my heart, 
 
 etc., 155. 
 fitful fever, 1S5. 
 fits o' the season, 157. 
 Flathe's comments, 37, 
 
 90. 
 flaws and starts, 133. 
 Fleance, 33, 117, 129, etc. 
 Fletcher's comments, 
 
 34. 
 flowers, in caps, 171. 
 flighty purpose, 155. 
 flout the sky, 56. 
 foisons, Scotland hath, 
 
 166. 
 fool, for weeping? 157. 
 fools of the other 
 
 senses, 93. 
 foot of motion, 109. 
 for = as for? 156. 
 for = on account of? 
 
 133. 
 for-, prefix, sense of? 
 
 168,169. 
 for = notwithstanding? 
 
 158. 
 for that = because? 173. 
 forbid, a man, 60. 
 forc'd with those, 188. 
 forge quarrels, 166. 
 Forres, 15, 53, etc. 
 forsworn, 168. 
 foul and fair, 53, 61. 
 frailties, naked, 110. 
 
 frame of things, 135. 
 franchis'd, bosom, 93. 
 free = freely? 91. 
 free = freely bestowed? 
 
 148. 
 free ^= remove? 143. 
 free hearts, 69. 
 French blunderingly 
 
 Englished, 60. 
 friend, to, 161. 
 frieze, jutty, etc., 80. 
 from = apart from? 131, 
 
 133,132. ■ 
 from = because of? 143. 
 fry, young, 160, 161. 
 full so, 73. 
 fume, 88. 
 function is smother'd, 
 
 68. 
 furbish'd arms, 55. 
 fury, valiant, 181. 
 
 gallowglasses, 53, 193. 
 Genius is rebuk'd, 118. 
 gentle my lord, 125. 
 gentle senses, 79. 
 gentle weal, 134. 
 gently render'd, 193. 
 germens, nature's. 149. 
 Gervinus's comments, 
 
 37. 
 get kings, 63. 
 ghost, 132, 133, 134, 135, 
 
 153, 154. 
 gild, with blood gilt, 
 
 100. 
 gin, a trap, 158. 
 gin to be aweary, 191. 
 given, advantage, 187. 
 gives out = shows, 173. 
 Glamis, 63, 63, etc. 
 glass which shows, 153. 
 goes the night, 90. 
 golden blood, 108. 
 go off, some must, 196. 
 go to, you have known, 
 
 178. 
 go with me, 137. 
 God be with you, 117. 
 God 'ield us, 81. 
 God's soldier, 196. 
 golden round, 75. 
 Golgotha, another, 55. 
 good = brave? 161. 
 good-bye, origin of ? 117. 
 goodness, chance of. 169. 
 
 goose, roast your, 103. 
 goose look, 183. 
 Gorgon,. a new, 106. 
 gospell'd, so, 120. 
 gouts of blood, 93. 
 grace of Grace, 198. 
 grace, present, 63. 
 grac'd person, 132. 
 gracious, 164. 
 gracious Duncan, 119. 
 gracious my lord, 190. 
 grapples, to the heart, 
 
 131. 
 grave and prosperous, 
 
 116. 
 Graymalkin, 51, 53, 145 
 great bidding, 138. 
 green one red, 101. 
 Grimm's law, 173. 
 grooms, 96, 100. 
 grove, a moving, 190. 
 grow, if I, 73. 
 guardian spirits, 118. 
 gulf, of shark, 147. 
 
 H 
 
 hail, brave friend, 53. 
 hair, 153, 197. 
 half world, 93. 
 hangman's hands, 98. 
 happier, much, 63. 
 happy, 63, 67. 
 harbinger, 73, 193. 
 hard use, wants, 139. 
 harness on our back, 
 
 191. 
 harp'd my fear, 150. 
 Harpier cries, 145. 
 harpy, in Virgil, etc., 
 
 145. 
 haste looks through, 56 
 hath = possesses? 131. 
 hautboys, 79, 152, 153. 
 have, or leaveJ 86, 87. 
 having, noble, 62. 
 Hazlitt's comments, 30 
 he within, blood? 130. 
 heax't knock, 66. 
 heath, 51, 63. 
 heaven, their candles, 
 
 90. 
 heavy summons, 91. 
 Hebrides, 53. 
 Hector Boece, 13. 
 Hecate, 94, 139, 147. 
 Hecate's offerings, 94. 
 hedg:e-pig whined, 145 
 hell is murky, 173. 
 
220 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Heraud's comments, 38. 
 hereafter, the all-hail, 
 
 78. 
 here-approaoh, 169. 
 hermits, rest your, 81. 
 hie thee hither, 75. 
 him, for he J 195. 
 his = its? 83. 
 his jewels and this, etc., 
 
 166. 
 hiss the speaker, 172. 
 hit your thoughts, 141. 
 hold I hold! 77. 
 hold rumor, 157. 
 Holinshed, 13, 15, 111, 
 
 etc. 
 hold (= loithholds?) the 
 
 due, 143. 
 holp, 81. 
 
 home (= fully?), trust- 
 ed, 67. 
 homely man's advice, 
 
 159. 
 Homer, traces of? 186. 
 Homer's Iliad, 135. 
 honors come, 68, 69. 
 honors deep, 81. 
 hoodwink, the time, 166. 
 hope drunk, 86. 
 horses, 18. 
 
 horses, monosyl. 3 112. 
 horses, on the stage, 128. 
 hose, French, 103. 
 hour to serve, 91, 92. 
 housekeeper, dog, 121. 
 how say'st thou, 138. 
 howlet's wing, 146. 
 how to study Eng. Lit., 
 
 227. 
 Hudson's comments, 35, 
 
 44. 
 hum I subjective? 173. 
 humane statute, 134. 
 Hunter's comments, 33. 
 hurly-burly, 51. 
 husbandry In heaven, 
 
 90. 
 Hyrcan tiger, 136. 
 
 Icolmkill, 113. 
 'ield = yield? 81. 
 ignorant present, 78. 
 I'Unoneof it,186. 
 ill-compos'd, 166. 
 illness = wickedness? 
 
 74. 
 toiagery, stage? 77. 
 
 Images of death, 65. 
 imitative (onomatopo- 
 
 etic) words, 127. 
 impress, the air, 194. 
 impress the forest, 151. 
 in command, 181. 
 in his life, 121. 
 in time, come, 102. 
 incarnadine, 101. 
 Inch, St. Colme's, 58. 
 Inch colony, 58. 
 informs thus, 93. 
 ingredience, 84. 
 ingredients, cauldron's, 
 
 146, 147. 
 inhabit, trembling I, 
 
 136. 
 initiate fear, 139. 
 insane root, 64. 
 instruments, put on 
 
 their, 176. 
 intemperance, 165. 
 interest, bosom, 58. 
 interim, 69. 
 intermission, 175. 
 interpolations, 12. 
 intrenchant air, 194. 
 Inverness, 14, 72, etc. 
 -toll, dissyl. ? 54. 
 lona =: Cohne-kill! 118, 
 
 114. 
 is, for are? 137. 
 it will have blood, 137. 
 
 James I, 153. 
 
 Jameson, Mrs., com- 
 ments, 30, 31, 88. 
 
 Johnson, Dr., com- 
 ments, 27, 170. 
 
 jump the life to come, 
 83 
 
 jutty, 80. 
 
 K 
 
 keep peace between, 
 etc., 76. 
 
 Kemble's comments, 28. 
 
 kerns and gallowglass- 
 es, 53, 55, 193. 
 
 key-note of Macbeth, 51. 
 
 kill, in Colme-kill, 113, 
 114. 
 
 -kin, sufSx, 52. 
 
 kind' St leisure, 92. 
 
 king-becoming graces, 
 167. 
 
 knell that summons, 96. 
 
 knoU'd, knell is. 197. 
 
 knocking, at the gata 
 
 100, 101, 102, 108. 
 knowj to = if, etc., 102. 
 knowings, former, 111. 
 
 lac'd with his golden 
 
 blood, 108. 
 lack is nothing, etc., 
 
 175. 
 lack you, 185. 
 Lady Macbeth, 12, 14, 
 
 80, 80, 96, 97, 109, 124, 
 
 etc. 
 Lady Macduff, 156, 157, 
 
 etc. 
 Lamartine's comments, 
 
 39. 
 lamp, travelling. 111. 
 lapp'd in proof, 57. 
 large in mirth, 180, 
 latch them, 178. 
 lated traveller, spurs, 
 
 128. 
 Latin diction stately, 
 
 80, 101. 
 lavish spirit, 57. 
 lease of nature, 152. 
 leasings = falsehoods, 
 
 25. 
 leave = leave off! 126. 
 leaving, the, 70. 
 leavy screens, 191. 
 Leo's comments, 40 
 -less, suffix, 165. 
 lesser than Macbeth, 63. 
 -let, dimin. suffix, 80. 
 letters, 78. 
 liege = lord? 70. 
 life o' the building, 106. 
 life to come, jump, 83. 
 light endings, 11. 
 lighted, shaft. 111. 
 like = likely? 113. 
 lily-liver' d boy, 188. 
 limoeck, 88. 
 lime = bird-lime? 158. 
 limited service, 104. 
 line the rebel, 66. 
 linen cheeks, 184. 
 list, into the, 119. 
 listening their fear, 98i 
 liver of blaspheming 
 
 etc., 147. 
 lives, for liml 126. 
 lodg'd, 148, 149. 
 lodg'd together, 98. 
 loon, cream-fac'd, 183, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 221 
 
 love that follows, 80. 
 
 loves, plural, 133, 198. 
 
 loves for his own ends, 
 140. 
 
 Lowell's comments, 40. 
 
 Luorece, Rape of, quot- 
 ed, 77, 95. 
 
 luxurious, 165. 
 
 M 
 
 Macbeth' s name, 51, 193. 
 Maobeth's history, 14, 
 
 18, etc. 
 Macdonald, 19, 53. 
 Macduff, 12, 14, 23, 155, 
 
 etc. 
 mad to say it, 75. 
 Maginn, Dr. Wm., 186, 
 magot pies, 138. 
 makes, old plural? 171. 
 make's, 109. 
 Malcolm, 14, 23, 26, 73, 
 
 161, etc. 
 malMn, in GraymaMn, 
 
 51, 52. 
 man, become a, 87. 
 manliness, 87, 137. 
 manly, time goes, 175. 
 manly readiness, 110. 
 mansionry, 80. 
 Mark Antony, 118. 
 marry, he was dead, 142. 
 marshall'st me, 93. 
 martlet, 80. 
 mated, mind, 180. 
 maw and gulf, 147. 
 maws of kites, 134. 
 may = can? 139. 
 may = must? 123. 
 me, ethical dative? 144. 
 means, 171, 180. 
 measure, drink a, 130. 
 meat, pronunciation? 
 
 132. 
 medicine of the sickl} t 
 
 etc., 183. 
 meek, adverb? 84. 
 meeting, puni 132. 
 memorize, 55. 
 metaphors, 105, 108. 
 mere = absolute? 170. 
 mere ownj 166. 
 metaphysical aid, 75. 
 mettle, 89. 
 
 mew'd, cat hath, 145. 
 M^zieres' comments, 36. 
 Middletou's Witch, 148, 
 
 mile, for miles? 190. 
 milk of concord, 167. 
 milk of humankindness, 
 
 74. 
 mine=ili my power? 71. 
 minion, 54, 112. 
 minutely revolts, 181. 
 mischief, nature's, 77. 
 missives from the king, 
 
 74. 
 mixed metaphor, 105. 
 mock the time, 89. 
 mock with snores, 96. 
 mockery, hence I 136. 
 modern ecstasy, 171. 
 moe horses, 185. 
 mongrels, 120. 
 monstrous, trisyl. ? 142. 
 more and less have, 187. 
 mortal murders, 134. 
 mortal sword, 161. 
 mortal thoughts, 76. 
 mortality, 107. 
 mortified man, 181. 
 motives, precious, 163. 
 mousing owl, 112. 
 move, each way and, 
 
 157. 
 moving grove, 190. 
 my lord, quasi com- 
 pound, 125, 190. 
 multitudinous seas, 100. 
 mummy, witch's, 147. 
 munch'd, 59. 
 murder'd sleep, 99. 
 murders, or gashmi 134, 
 
 135. 
 murky, hell is, 178. 
 muse at me, 135. 
 must=was destined to? 
 
 174. 
 must breed and haunt, 
 
 80. 
 
 N 
 naked frailties, 110. 
 napkins enough, 103, 
 
 103. 
 nature, intemperance 
 
 in, 165. 
 nature = life? 97, 131. 
 nature, wild in, 112. 
 nature's copy, 126. 
 naught that I am, 174, 
 
 175. 
 nave, from the, 04. 
 near ^nearer? 110. 
 near'st of life, 123. 
 
 needs not our mistrust, 
 
 128. 
 Neptune's ocean wash, 
 
 etc., 100. 
 newest state, 52. 
 new-hatoh'd, 105. 
 nice and yet, etc., 171. 
 niggard, of speech, 172. 
 nightgown, 101, 177,179. 
 no children, he has, 174. 
 noise is this, etc., 152. 
 non-pareil, the, 130. 
 nor = and » 73. 
 Norway himself, 56, 57. 
 Norways' King, 58. 
 Norweyan, 55, 65. 
 note, of dreadful, 127. 
 note of expectation, 128. 
 nothing, adverb? 65,181. 
 notion craz'd, 120. 
 nought, say thou, 150. 
 
 oblivious, antidote, 185. 
 
 obscure bird, 105. 
 
 -ock, sufBx, 52. 
 
 odds with morning, 138. 
 
 o'erfraught heart, 174. 
 
 o'ertook, never is, 155. 
 
 of, partitive? 64. 
 
 oflices, 91. 
 
 old turning, 102. 
 
 on (in eaten on) , 64. 
 
 once =ever? 171, 189. 
 
 one, rhyme with Scone, 
 198. 
 
 one-half world, 93. 
 
 on 't = of it, 121, 123. 
 
 onomatopoeia, 51, 127. 
 
 open'd, 164. 
 
 or, or arej 70. 
 
 or (in or ere) = before? 
 171. 
 
 other, I have all the, 59. 
 
 other, learn no, 187. 
 
 other devil's name, 103. 
 
 our high-plac'd Mac- 
 beth, 152. 
 
 our, dissyl. ? 83. 
 
 ourself, royal usage? 
 117, 129, 131. 
 
 ourselves=each other? 
 131. 
 
 out=under arms? 173. 
 
 outrun the pauser, 10& 
 
 overcome us like, etc., 
 137. 
 
 over-red thy fear, 183. 
 
223 
 
 rNBEX. 
 
 owe, meanings t 63, 70, 
 owl that shrlek'd, 96, 97. 
 
 Paddock caUs, 52. 
 painted upon a pole, 195. 
 pale-hearted fear, 151. 
 pall thee in, etc., 77. 
 palter, in a double sense, 
 
 195. 
 parallel a fellow, etc., 
 
 105. 
 parley, calls to, 106. 
 parricide, cruel, 117. 
 parted well, 197. 
 pass'd in probation, 120. 
 passion, 133. 
 patch = clown? 183. 
 pause, to fill metre? 53. 
 pauser, reason, 108. 
 pays, plural? 71. 
 peace, well at, 172. 
 peace, keep, 76, 77. 
 peace, orjjlocej 12S. 
 peace, vessel of my, 119. 
 peak and pine, 60. 
 pearl, kingdom's, 197. 
 peep through, 77. 
 pendent bed, 80. 
 perfect, I am, 159. 
 perfect spy, 132. 
 perfectest report, 73. 
 perseverance, accent? 
 
 167. 
 perturbation in nature, 
 
 177. 
 pester'd senses, 182. 
 Petri's comments, 39. 
 physics pain, 10*. 
 pilot's thumb, 61. 
 place, pride of, 112. 
 play the fool, 194. 
 player, a poor, 189. 
 please it your highness, 
 
 132. 
 pleasure, attend our, 
 
 117. 
 pleonasm? 196. 
 plural inflection, 107, 
 
 110. 
 plural, or singular? 69, 
 
 71, 136. 
 plural, of senset 178. 
 plural of revenge, 181. 
 Plutarch, 118. 
 point, already at a, 169. 
 pole, upon a, 195. 
 
 Polydorus, 188. 
 poorly, lost so, 101. 
 portable, these are, 166. 
 porter's soliloquy, 103. 
 possess, with sound, 173. 
 possets, 96, 97. 
 posters of the sea, 61. 
 power=army? 172, 180. 
 Prayer-book, quoted, 
 
 78. 
 predominance, rights, 
 
 113, 130. 
 predominant, patience, 
 
 120. 
 present, this, 78. 
 present death, 58. 
 present him, 126. 
 presently, 170. 
 pretence, 110. 
 pretend, could they, 113. 
 preys, 127. 
 pricking of my thumbs, 
 
 148. 
 pride of place, 113. 
 primrose way, 103. 
 prithee, or prythee, 87. 
 probation, pass'd in, 120 
 procreant cradle, 80. 
 producing forth, 198 
 professes itself, 193. 
 profound drop, 141. 
 prolepsis, 64, 69, 76, 79, 
 
 80, 134, 139. 
 prologues, 67. 
 proof, lapp'd in, 57. 
 proper stuff 1 133. 
 prophes3fing, 105. 
 proportion, 71. 
 prospect of belief, 63. 
 prosperous, advice, 116. 
 prosperous (Cawdor), 
 
 63. 
 protest their first, etc., 
 
 181. 
 prowess, monosyl. ? 196. 
 pull, paUl pole? 190. 
 pull in resolution, 190. 
 pun? 73, 100, 132, 185, 
 
 197. 
 purge, our country's, 
 
 183, 186. 
 purveyor, to be his, 81. 
 push us from our stools, 
 
 135. 
 push will cheer, 184. 
 put on instruments, 176. 
 put on, soldiership, 188. 
 Pythagoras, 61. 
 
 quarrel, warranted, 169 
 quarry, of deer, 178. 
 quarry or quarrel, 58. 
 quell out great, 89. 
 question, man may, 6L 
 question this, etc., llOl 
 quoth I, 59. 
 
 R 
 
 rain, let it come, 139. 
 rancors, put in, 119. 
 rapt withal, 62. 
 rather, the, 88. 
 ravell'd sleave, 99. 
 raven is hoarse, 76. 
 ravin up, 113. 
 ravin'd, shark, 147. 
 ravishing sides, 94, 95. 
 rawness, in that, 163. 
 readiness, manly, 110. 
 ready = dressed? 110. 
 rebellious dead rise, 151. 
 rebellious, point or arm? 
 
 57. 
 rebellion's head, 151, 
 
 152. 
 receipt of reason, 88. 
 receiv'd, be, 89. 
 recoil, 162, 183. 
 recorded time, 189. 
 red blood courageous? 
 
 101, 183, 184. 
 reflection, 54. 
 register'd, pains are, 69. 
 relation, too nice, 171. 
 relations understood, 
 
 138. 
 relish of, 167. 
 remedy, without all, 
 
 134. 
 remember the porter, 
 
 103. 
 remembrance, quadri- 
 
 syl.?136. 
 remembrancer, sweet, 
 
 132. 
 remorse = pity? 76. 
 render'd, castle 's, 193. 
 rent for rend, 171. 
 repose, in painting, 82. 
 require her welcome, 
 
 130. 
 resolve yourselves, 123 
 rest is labor, 73. 
 rest your hermits, 81. 
 retire we to, etc, 101. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 223 
 
 return your own, 83. 
 returns again, ISil. 
 rhinoceros, arm'd, 136. 
 rhubarb, senna, etc., 
 
 186. 
 rich East to boot, 164. 
 roast your goose, 103. 
 Roman fool, 194. 
 ronyon, rump-fed, 59. 
 roof'd, honor, 132. 
 rooky wood, 137. 
 Ross, 27, 64, etc. 
 round and top, 151. 
 round, antic, 154. 
 rouse (themselves), 
 
 137; see 189. 
 rubs nor botches, 123. 
 ruby of your cheeks, 
 
 137. 
 rump-fed ronyon, 59. 
 runs, plural? 69. 
 Russian bear, 136. 
 
 S 
 
 Safe, Banquo's, 131. 
 safe toward, 71. 
 sag with doubt, 183. 
 Saint Colme's Inch, 58. 
 Saint Columb, 58, 131. 
 Samuel Johnson, 27, 
 
 170. 
 saucy doubts, 113. 
 say to the king, 53. 
 Bcann'd, 139. 
 scanning, 83, 108, 117, 
 
 121, 159, 160, 168, 177, 
 
 183. 
 soap'd, Fleance is, 131. 
 scape, 175. 
 
 sceptres, treble, 153, 154 
 Schlegel's comments, 
 
 29. 
 school, or shoM S3. 
 Scone, 113, 198. 
 score, paid his, 197. 
 scotch'd the snake, 124. 
 Scott's account of JMac- 
 
 beth, 14. 
 screw your courage, 88. 
 sear mine eyeballs, 153. 
 sear, the yellow leaf, 
 
 184. 
 season of all natures, 
 
 139. 
 seated heart knock, 68. 
 second cock, 104. 
 secret'st man, 138. 
 
 security is mortals', 
 
 etc., 141. 
 see not the. wound, 77. 
 seeds of Banquo, 119. 
 seeds of time, 63. 
 se'ennights, weary, 60. 
 seeling night, 137. 
 seem to have thee, 75. 
 seems to speak, 56. 
 self and violent hands, 
 
 198. 
 self-, strange and, 139. 
 senna, rhubarb, etc., 
 
 186. 
 sennet, 115. 
 sense are shut, 178. 
 senses, etc., monosyl.3 
 
 79, 80. 
 sensible to feeling, 93. 
 sergeant, this is the, 53. 
 serpent, be the, 79. 
 serve, hour to, 91, 93. 
 set for, poor birds, 158. 
 setting down before, 
 
 187. 
 sewer, ofloerl 83. 
 Seyton, I say, 184. 
 shadow the numbers, 
 
 187. 
 shag-ear'd, or shag- 
 
 nair'ai 160. 
 shall, for Willi 133. 
 shard-borne beetle, 136. 
 shift away, 111. 
 shine, speeches, 115. 
 shine through you, 132. 
 shipman's caid, 60. 
 shoal (or sehooll) of 
 
 time, 83. 
 shook hands, ne'er, 54. 
 shoughs, dogs, 130. 
 should, sense of? 56, 63, 
 
 134, 164, 189, 190. 
 show and gaze o' the 
 
 time, 195. 
 show = appear? 63, 191. 
 show his eyes, 153. 
 showed like, 53. 
 shut up in, 91. 
 sicken, destruction, 149. 
 Siddons, Mrs., 31, 33, 33. 
 sides, or strides? Tar- 
 
 quin's, 94, 95. 
 sightless=invisible? 77, 
 
 85. 
 sights, no more, 155. 
 silence in incantations, 
 
 ISO. 
 
 silenc'd with that, 64, 65 
 
 silver skin lac'd, 108. 
 
 Sinel's death, 63. 
 
 single state of man, 68. 
 
 singular, for plural, 107, 
 110. 
 
 sir, significant? 138. 
 
 sirrah, 117, 158. 
 
 Siward, 14, 26, 27, 169, 
 180, 193. 
 
 skipping kerns, 55. 
 
 skirr the country, 185. 
 
 slab, 147. 
 
 sleave of care, 99. 
 
 sleeko'er, 125, 126. 
 
 sleep no more, 18, 99. 
 
 sleep-walking, 177, 178. 
 
 sleights, magic, 141. 
 
 slipp'd the hour, 104. 
 
 sliver'd in the moon's, 
 147. 
 
 slope their heads, 149. 
 
 slumbery, agitation, 177 
 
 smack (of honor, 56), 
 165. 
 
 smell of the blood, 179. 
 
 so, for OS? 56. 
 
 so bold to call, 104. 
 
 sold, 132. 
 
 soldier, God's, 196. 
 
 sole name, 163. 
 
 solenm supper, 115. 
 
 soliciting, supernatur- 
 al, 67. 
 
 solicits heaven, 170. 
 
 -some, as in vihoUsonM, 
 167. 
 
 something, adverb? 123. 
 
 sometime, 80, 81, 160. 
 
 son of mine succeeding, 
 118. 
 
 song, witch, 148, 308. 
 
 sooth, if I say, 55. 
 
 soothfastness = truth- 
 fulness, 35. 
 
 sorely charged, heart, 
 179. 
 
 sorriest fancies, 124. 
 
 sorry light, 98. 
 
 sovereign flower, 182. 
 
 speaks, my heart, 130. 
 
 speculation, no, 135. 
 
 speed, had the, 75, 76. 
 
 spoke, for spoken, 70. 
 
 spoken, 't is, 170. 
 
 spongy officers, 89. 
 
 sprights, cheer we, etc- 
 154. . 
 
224 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 spring, whence, 55. 
 
 sprites (walk like, 106), 
 141. 
 
 spy, the perfect, 132. 
 
 staff, give me my, 186. 
 
 stamp, golden, 170. 
 
 stancUess avarice, 166. 
 
 start eyes, 153. 
 
 start me, cannot, 189. 
 
 state, cause of, 117. 
 
 state of honor, 159. 
 
 state, hostess keeps, 
 129. 
 
 station, unshrinking, 
 196. 
 
 staves, hear their, 193. 
 
 stay his cure, 170. 
 
 stay upon, leisure, 69. 
 
 Steevens' comments, 28. 
 
 steps, which way, 95. 
 
 sticking place, 88. 
 
 still = constantly? 82, 
 116, 195. 
 
 still=yet! quietlyf 137. 
 
 stir, without my, 68. 
 
 stone of Scone, 113. 
 
 stones, known to move, 
 137. 
 
 stool, look on, 134. 
 
 stools, push from, 135. 
 
 straight, call upon, 126. 
 
 strange garments, 69. 
 
 strange matters, 78. 
 
 strange, make me, 137. 
 
 strangles the lamp, 111. 
 
 strides (or sides?), Tar- 
 quin's, 94. 
 
 striding the blast, 85. 
 
 strike beside us, 193. 
 
 studied in his death, 70. 
 
 Study of Eng. Lit., 227. 
 
 stuff, perilous, 18.5. 
 
 stuff, O proper 1 133. 
 
 stuff'd bosom, 185. 
 
 subom'd, they were, 
 112. 
 
 success, 67, 83. 
 
 such I account, 86. 
 
 suffering country un- 
 der, 144. 
 
 sudden, 165. 
 
 suggestion, yield to, 67. 
 
 suggestions for expres- 
 sive reading, 199. 
 
 summer-seeming, 166. 
 
 sundry ways, 164. 
 
 supper, 116, 117. 
 
 surcease, with his, S3. 
 
 surmise, smother'd In, 
 
 68. 
 surveying vantage, 55. 
 sway by, mind 1, 183. 
 swears and lies, 159. 
 sweaten, grease that's, 
 
 149. 
 sweeter welcome, 117. 
 swelter'd venom, 146. 
 Sweno, 19, 20, 58, etc. 
 swine, killing, 58. 
 sworn as you have, 87. 
 syllable of dolor, 161. 
 syllable of time, 189. 
 
 T 
 
 tail, rat without a, 59. 
 
 taint with fear, 182. 
 
 take my milk for gall, 
 77. 
 
 taking-ofl, of his, 84. 
 
 tale, thick as, 65. 
 
 Tarquin's ravishing, 
 etc., 94, 95. 
 
 tears, hiding ]oys, 72. 
 
 tears, foolishl 157. 
 
 teems a new one, 172. 
 
 temperance, king-be- 
 coming, 167. 
 
 tend on mortal thoughts 
 76. 
 
 tending, give him, 76. 
 
 terrible numbers, 57. 
 
 thalers (origin of doZ- 
 larsl) 58. 
 
 thane, 14, 27, 56, 67, 198. 
 
 that, sense of 1 57, 62, 85, 
 87,97,161,167,187. 
 
 the better, 116. 
 
 the other, falls on, 85. 
 
 the, possessive? 87. 
 
 the which, 116. 
 
 theatrical imagery, 77, 
 111, 189, 194, etc. 
 
 thee (for thou?) 75. 
 
 thee without than, 130. 
 
 their candles, 90. 
 
 Theocritus quoted, 16. 
 
 thick night, 77. 
 
 thickens, light, 127. 
 
 think, to, = in think- 
 ing? 99. 
 
 think withal, 164. 
 
 thirst, to him we, 135. 
 
 this my hand, 100. 
 
 thou, and you, 185. 
 
 thought, 99, 133. 
 
 thought, always, 123. 
 
 thralls of sleep, 142. 
 threat, whiles I, 95. 
 three ears, had j , ISO, 
 three mile, this, 190. 
 thrice, in magic, 61, 14& 
 thumb, pilot's, 61. 
 thumbs, pricking of, 
 
 148. 
 tidings, 75, 172. 
 tiger, a bark? 59. 
 tiger, Hyroan, 136. 
 time and the hour, 69. 
 time, come in, 102. 
 time, at more, 69. 
 time = people! 78, 89. 
 time, show of the, 195. 
 time, or tune, 175. 
 time, woful, 105. 
 timely, 104, 128. 
 title is afear'd, 163, 164. 
 titles, leave his, 156. 
 to = as? 161. 
 to be = in being? 87. 
 to do = to be done? 191, 
 
 193, 198. 
 to know my deed, 102. 
 to fright = in frighting, 
 
 159. 
 to, omitted before infln. I 
 
 132. 
 to the woful time, 105. 
 toad that under, etc., 
 
 146. 
 took off her life, 198. 
 tongue nor heart, 105. 
 top Macbeth, 165. 
 top of Sovereignty, 151. 
 top-full, of cruelty, 76. 
 torture of the mind, 125. 
 touch him further, 125. 
 touch, the natural, 158. 
 touch'd you, 163. 
 touching, 'for the evil,' 
 
 170. 
 towards, monosyl.? 82. 
 towering, falcon, 112. 
 trace him, 155. 
 tragedy's pall, 77. 
 trains, sense of? 168. 
 traitors, fears make us, 
 
 156, 159. 
 trammel up, 83. 
 transpose, thoughts 
 
 cannot, 162. 
 transposition, 144, 184, 
 
 197, 198. 
 travelling lamp, stran- 
 gles, 111. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 treatise, dismal, 189. 
 
 treble sceptres, 153, 154. 
 
 trees, known to speak, 
 137, 138. 
 
 trembling I inhabit, 136. 
 
 trenched gashes, 131. 
 
 trifled former know- 
 ings, 111. 
 
 trust, an absolute, 71.' 
 
 tugg'd with fortune, 
 121. 
 
 twain, dark hour or, 116. 
 
 twofold balls and treble 
 sceptres, 153, 154. 
 
 tyranny, intemperance, 
 165. 
 
 tyrant's feast, 143. 
 
 Ulrioi's comments, 35. 
 Ulysses, 59, 60. 
 unattended, left you, 
 
 104. 
 uncle Siward, 14, 180. 
 undeeded sword, 198. 
 understood relations, 
 
 138. 
 underwrit, "Here" etc., 
 
 195. 
 unflx my hair, 68. 
 unmannerly breech'd, 
 
 109. 
 nnrough youths, 181. 
 unsafe the while, 126. 
 unspeak detraction, 168. 
 untie the winds, 148. 
 untitled tyrant, 167. 
 upon a thought, 133. 
 upon his aid, 143. 
 upon the foot of motion, 
 
 109. 
 uproar the universal, 
 
 etc., 167. 
 using those thoughts, 
 
 134. 
 utterance, to the, 119. 
 
 V 
 
 Valhalla, 196. 
 
 valued file, 131. 
 
 vantage, surveying, 55. 
 
 vaporous drop pro- 
 found, 141. 
 
 vault to brag of, 107. 
 
 vaulting ambition, 85. 
 
 venom, swelter'd, 146. 
 
 verbal play, 73, 100, 133, 
 185,197, 
 
 ▼erity, king-becoming, 
 
 167. 
 vessel of my peace, 119. 
 Virgil, 60. 
 visards to our hearts, 
 
 136. 
 vouch'd, feast, 133. 
 
 want the thought, 143. 
 wanton, joys, 73. 
 warder of the brain, 88. 
 warrant in that theft, 
 
 111. 
 warranted quarrel, 169. 
 wassail so convince, 88. 
 watch = watch-cry? 94. 
 watchers, to be, 101. 
 watching, do the effects 
 
 of, 177, 
 water-rugs, dogs, 130. 
 wax image, 15, 16, 60. 
 way and move, 157. 
 way (or Mayj) of life, 
 
 184. 
 we, royal usagel 93. 
 weak endings of verses, 
 
 11. 
 weal, purg'd the gentle, 
 
 134. 
 weal, the sickly, 183. 
 weigh'd, with other, 166 
 weird sisters, 12, 16, 30, 
 
 61, 139, 154. 
 welcome, 78, 117. 
 well, 173, 179. 
 Weiss' s comments, 41. 
 western isles, 53. 
 what, peculiar use of? 
 
 138, 164, 193. 
 Whately's comments, 
 
 38. 
 whereabout, prate of 
 
 my, 95. , 
 whether, monosyl. ? 66. 
 which, and who, 179. 
 whioh=owid fte? or who? 
 
 54. 
 which, the, 116. 
 while, unsafe the, 126. 
 while=until? 117. 
 whUes, 74, 95, 137, 194. 
 whispers the o'er- 
 
 f raught heart, 174. 
 white, sign of fear? 101, 
 
 183, 184. 
 White's comments, 44. I 
 
 who, aak'd for, 171. 
 who = any one? 144. 
 who, foricTiom? 133,182, 
 who's there, 97. 
 wholesome days again, 
 
 167. 
 will become the serv- 
 ant, 91. 
 wine and wassail, 88. 
 wind, given or sold? 59, 
 
 60; untied, 148. 
 wink at the hand, eye, 
 
 73. 
 witch, Middleton's, 308. 
 witch's mummy, 147. 
 witch weather, 61. 
 witches, 15, 16, etc. 
 wish them to, 197. 
 with=by? 118, 158. 
 with, supp'd full with, 
 
 189. 
 withal, 63, 75, 91. 
 wither'd murder, 94. 
 without = outside? 117. 
 without remedy, 134. 
 witness, this filthy, 99. 
 witness'd the rather, 
 
 172. 
 wolf whose howl, 94. 
 wonders and his praises, 
 
 64, 65. 
 word, such a, 189. 
 words, gives, 95. 
 worms, live with, 158. 
 worm, that 's fled, 131. 
 worst rank of manhood, 
 
 121. 
 would, 74, 86, 118, 163, 
 
 173, 198. 
 wrack? (or wreck), 66. 
 wreck, in shipwreck- 
 ing, etc., 54, 56. ■ 
 wren, most diminutive, 
 
 156. 
 wrought, brain was, 69. 
 wrought, should free 
 
 have, 91. 
 
 Y 
 
 yellow leaf, 184 
 
 yesterdays have light- 
 ed, 189. 
 
 yesty waves conformed, 
 148. 
 
 yew, sliver'd in the, 
 etc., 147. 
 
 yield ['ield] us, 81. 
 
 young Siward slain, IVk 
 
Scale OF Miles, 
 
HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LITERATOilE. 
 
 HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LITERATURE. 
 
 {^From George H. Martin, Agent of the Mass. Board of Education.^ 
 
 What is walited Is a carefuUy graded course, which, beginning 
 ■with the poetry of action, should lead the student step by step to 
 the sentimental and the reflective, all in their simplest forms, thence 
 through the more elaborate narrative to the epic and the dramatic. 
 The aim here is not to teach authors or works, but poetry ; and the 
 works are selected for their value as illustrations, without reference 
 to their authors. A parallel course in the study of prose should be 
 pursued with the same end. Then, having learned what poetry is 
 and what prose is, what they contain and how to find their contents, 
 the pupils would be prepared to take up the study of individual 
 authors. Having studied the authors, the final step would be to 
 study the history of the literature, in which the relation of the 
 authors to each other and to their times would appear. This would 
 place the study of literature on a scientific basis, — first elementary 
 ideas, then individual wholes, then relations and classifications. 
 
 [^From an address by L. R. Williston, A.M., Supervisor of Public 
 Schools, Boston.'] 
 
 How shall the teacher bring his pupils best to see and feel the 
 thoughts of his author as he saw and felt them? 
 
 Mrst, Read the w.ork carefully with them. Let the teacher read, 
 and question as he reads. Let him often ask for paraphrases, and 
 draw out in every way the thought of his class, making sure that 
 all is clear. Let every impression have a corresponding expression, 
 which shall re-act, and deepen the impression. 
 
 Second, When a part of the work, an act, book, or canto, has 
 been carefully read, assign a theme for a written essay. Let the 
 class tell what the poet has attempted, how he has succeeded, what 
 are the impressions made by the characters, scenes, and descriptions. 
 
 Let the teacher himself write upon the themes assigned to his 
 class, and thus give them a model of what he wishes them to do. 
 
 Third, When the book or play has been carefully read and studied 
 in this way in all its parts, let it be re-read in a larger and freer way 
 than before. Let the pupUs read, and the teacher watch to see if 
 the thought is clearly apprehended by the pupil. Let the fine pas- 
 sages be read again and again by diflferent members of the class, 
 tuid their rendering be criticised by class and teacher. If the work 
 
228 HOW TO 8TUET ENGLISH LITERATURE. 
 
 read be a play, let the parts be taken by different members of the 
 class. Let all the parts of the work now be studied In their rela- 
 tion to each other and to the whole. Essays now should be written 
 upon subjects suggested by this more comprehensive study of the 
 work, — a comparison of characters, noteworthy scenes and their 
 bearing upon the whole, the style of the author, and his skill in 
 description, dramatic presentation, or invention. 
 
 If it is objected that it is impossible for a teacher with a large 
 class to revise and correct such a mass of written work, I answer 
 that it is not to be expected that all the written work of a class 
 should be read and carefully corrected by the teacher. Let him criti- 
 cise, or rather call upon his class to do so, what is noticeably wrong 
 in the essays as they are read. In these exercises, let the attention 
 be directed chiefly to the thought. Let thought govern and dii'ect 
 expression. From time to time, according to the number of his 
 class and the teacher's ability, let him assign.essays to be carefully 
 written and handed in for his own careful reading and criticism. 
 But let there be an abundance of free and rapid writing, that compo- 
 sition, that is, thought put into writing, may become easy and natural. 
 The object of the writing is not to teach the correct use of English, 
 so much as to make clear thinkers and to fix and deepen impressions. 
 
 Fourth, With the careful reading and study of some book in 
 school, I think it important that there should go the reading of 
 some other book out of school. Flowers are not all to be picked 
 and analyzed, but are to be enjoyed as they are seen by "him who 
 runs." " Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, 
 some few to be chewed and digested." Let the pupil have his exer- 
 ■ else in merely " tasting" books, with enjoyment as the chief end. 
 Let the teacher be his guide, and merely ask him to report what he 
 finds. In other words, let him read, as we all read when we read 
 for pleasure, — with his mind at ease and open to every charm that 
 genius can present. Let the teacher make the book the subject of 
 conversation with his class, and draw their attention by his questions 
 to the chief points which make it noteworthy. 
 
 To what extent shall the memory be called upon in the study of 
 English literature? Kot, I think, to commit long passages, whole 
 books, and cantos of poems. Let the pupil absorb as much as pos- 
 sible in frequent reading and in study. Now and then, let a few 
 striking lines, that have been learned by heart rather than committed 
 to memory, be recited. Do not make a disagreeable task of any 
 such exercise. For, that our pupils may receive the highest and 
 best influence from this stndy of English literature, it is essential 
 that they love it, and retain only pleasant memories of the hours 
 spent at school in the society of its best authors. 
 
 [From J. M. Buchan, Inspector of High Schools, Ontario, Canada; 
 quoted in Blaisdell's " Outline Studies in English Classics," a 
 work that should be in the hands of every teacher of our literature.'] 
 
 With all classes of pupils alike, the main thing to be aimed at 
 by the teacher is to lead them clearly and fully to understand the 
 
BOW TO STUDY ENOLTSH LITERATXTRB. 29!» 
 
 meaning of the author they are reading, and to appreciate the 
 beauty, the nobleness, the justness, or the sublimity of his thoughts 
 and language. Parsing, the analysis of sentences, the derivation 
 of words, the explanation of allusions, the scansion of verse, the 
 pointing-out of figures of speech, the hundred and one minor 
 matters on which the teacher may easily dissipate the attention of 
 the pupil, should be strictly subordinated to this great aim. ... It 
 is essential that the mind of the reader should be put en rapport 
 with that of the writer. There is something in the influence of a 
 great soul upon another, which defies analysis. No analysis of a 
 poem, however subtle, can produce the same efffect upon the mind 
 and heart as the reading of the poem itself. 
 
 Though the works of Shakespeare and Milton and our other great 
 writers were not intended by their authors to serve as text-books 
 for future generations, yet it is unquestionably the case that a large 
 amount of information may be imparted, and a very valuable train- 
 ing given, if we deal with them as we deal with Homer and Horace 
 in our best schools. Parsing, grammatical analysis, the derivation 
 of words, prosody, composition, the history of the language, and 
 to a certain extent the history of the race, may be both more pleas- 
 antly and more profitably taught in this than in any other way. It 
 is advisable for these reasons, also, that the study of these subjects 
 should be conjoined with that of the English literature. Not only 
 may time be thus economized, but the difficulty of fixing the attention 
 of flighty and inappreciative pupils may more easily be overcome. 
 
 [^S^om F. G. Fleay's " Guide to Chaucer and Spenser."^ 
 
 No doubtful critical point should ever be set before the student 
 as ascertained. One great advantage of these studies is the acquire- 
 ment of a power of forming a judgment in cases of conflicting 
 evidence. Give the student the evidence ; state your own opinion, 
 if you like, but let him judge for himself. 
 
 No extracts or incomplete works should be used. The capability 
 of appreciating a whole work, as a whole, is one of the principal 
 aims in aesthetic culture. 
 
 It is better to read thoi'oughly one simple play or poem than to 
 know details about all the dramatists and poets. The former trains 
 the brain to judge of other plays or poems; the latter only loads 
 the memory with details that can at any time be found, when 
 required, in books of reference. 
 
 For these studies to completely succeed, they must be as thorough 
 as our classical studies used to be. No difiicult point in syntax, 
 prosody, accidence, or pronunciation ; no variation in manners or 
 customs ; no historical or geographical allusion, — must be passed 
 over without explanation. This training in exactness will not inter- 
 fere with, but aid, the higher aims of literary training. 
 
 [JFVom Rev. Henry N. Hudson, Shakespearian Editor."] 
 
 I have never had and never vrill have anything but simple exer- 
 cises ; the pupils reading the author under the teacher's direction. 
 
230 BOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LlTERATUnE. 
 
 correction, and explanation ; the teacher not even requiring, though 
 usually advising, them to read over the matter in advance. Thus It 
 is a joint communing of teacher and pupils with the author for the 
 time being ; just that, and nothing more. Nor, assuredly, can such 
 communion, in so far as it is genial and free, be vrlthout substantial 
 and lasting good, — far better, indeed, than any possible cramming 
 of mouth and memory for recitation. The one thing needful here 
 is, that the pupils rightly understand and feel what tiiey read; this 
 secured, all the rest will take care of itself. 
 
 \;From Dr. Johnson, 1765.] 
 
 Let him that is yet unacquainted with the powers of Shakespeare, 
 and who desires to feel the greatest pleasure that the drama can 
 give, read every play, from the first scene to the last, with utter 
 negligence to aU his commentators. When his fancy is once on the 
 wing, let it not stoop at correction or explanation. Let him read 
 on through brightness and obscurity, through integrity and corrup- 
 tion; let him preserve Ms comprehension of the dialogue, and his 
 interest in the fable. And when the pleasures of novelty have 
 reased, let him attempt exactness, and read the commentators. 
 
 [From Professor Brainerd Kellogg.'] 
 
 The student ought, first of all, to read the play as a pleasure; 
 then to read over again, with his mind upon the characters and the 
 plot ; and, lastly, to read it for the meanings, grammar, etc. 
 
 1. The Plot and Story of the Play. 
 
 (a) The general plot ; 
 (6) The special incidents. 
 
 2. The Characters : Ability to give a connected account of all that 
 
 is done and most of what is said by each character in the 
 play. 
 
 3. The Influence and Interplay of the Characters upon each 
 
 other. 
 
 (a) Relation of A to B, and of B to A; 
 (6) Relation of A to C and D. 
 
 4. Complete Possession of the Language. 
 
 (a) Meanings of words ; 
 
 (6) Use of old words, or of words in an old meaning; 
 
 (c) Grammar; 
 
 (d) Ability to quote lines to illustrate a grammatical point. 
 
 5. Power to Reproduce, or Quote. 
 
 (a) What was said by A or B on a particular occasion; 
 (6) What was said by A in reply to B ; 
 (c) What argument was used by C at a particular juncture; 
 (<Z) To quote a line in instance of an idiom or of a peculiar 
 meaning. 
 
sow TO aTtJDT BU0LI8H LITERATXTRB. 231 
 
 6. Power to Locate. 
 
 (o) To attribute a line or statement to a certain person on 
 
 a certain occasion ; 
 (6) To cap a line ; 
 (c) To fill in the right word or epithet. 
 
 [From BlaisdelVs " OvMines for the Study of English Classics."'] 
 
 The following summary of points to be exacted . . . may prove 
 
 useful : — 
 
 I. — Points relative to substance. 
 
 1. A general knowledge of the purport of the passages, and 
 
 line of argument pursued. 
 
 2. An exact paraphrase of parts of the whole, producing ex- 
 
 actly and at length the author's meaning. 
 
 3. The force and character of epithets. 
 
 4. The meaning of similes, and expansions of metaphors. 
 
 5. The exact meaning of individual words. 
 
 II. — Points -with regard to form. 
 
 1. General grammar rules ; if necessary, peculiarities of Eng- 
 
 lish grammar. 
 
 2. Derivations : (1) General laws and principles of deriva- 
 
 tions, including a knowledge of affixes and suffixes. (2) 
 Interesting historical derivation of particular words. 
 
 III. — The knowledge of all allusions. 
 
 IV. — A knowledge of such parallel passages and illustrationB 
 
 as the teacher has supplied. 
 
 [From Professor Wm. Taylor Thorn, 1883.] 
 
 To understand Shakespeare, we must understand his medium of 
 thought, his language, as thoroughly as possible. For this, study 
 is necessary ; and one notable advantage of the thorough study of 
 this medium is that the student becomes unconsciously more or less 
 imbued with Shakespeare's turn of thought while observing his 
 turn of phrase. . . . 
 
 For the class-room, a non-sesthetic, preliminary study is best. 
 And this may be accomplished in the following way : By studying 
 carefully the Text, — the words themselves and their forms ; their 
 philological content, so far as such content is essential to the 
 thought; and the grammatical differences of usage, then and now; 
 by observing accurately the point of view of life ( Weltanschauung') 
 historically and otherwise, as shown in the text ; by taking what 
 may be called the actor's view of the personages of the play ; and, 
 finally, by a sober and discriminating aesthetic discussion of the 
 characters, of the principles represented by those characters, and 
 of the play in its parts and as a whole. 
 
332 HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LITERATURE. 
 
 I. "With regard to the words themselves and their forms : There is 
 no doubt that Shakespeare's words and word-combinations need 
 constant and careful explanation in order for the pupil to seize the 
 thought accurately or even approximately. Here, as elsewhere, 
 Coleridge's dictum remains true : " In order to get the full sense 
 of a word, we should first present to our minds the visual image 
 that forms its primary meaning." . . . 
 
 II. But this does not exhaust the interest of the words them- 
 selves. They are frequently so full of a particular use and meaning 
 of their own that they have evidently been chosen by Shakespeare 
 on that account, and can only serve fully their purpose of conveying 
 his meaning when themselves comprehended. This opens up to the 
 pupil one of the most interesting aspects of words, — their function 
 of embalming the ideas and habits of a past generation, thus giving 
 little photographic views, as it were, of the course of the national 
 life. Thus, a new element of interest and weird reality is added 
 when we find that " And like a rat without a tail " is not stuffed into 
 the witch-speech in Macbeth merely for rhyme's sake (Mac. I, iii, 9). 
 It is doubtful if anything brings so visibly before the mind's eye 
 the age, and therefore the proper point of view, of Shakespeare as 
 the accurate following-out of these implied views of life, these 
 old popular beliefs contained in his picturesque language. . . . 
 
 III. Difficulties consisting in the forms of words have been 
 already mentioned ; but they constitute in reality only a part, per- 
 haps the least part, of the grammatical impediment to our appre- 
 hending Shakespeare clearly. There is in him a splendid superiority 
 to what we call grammar which entails upon us more or less of 
 close, critical observation of his word-order, if we would seize the 
 very thought. Thus Lady Macbeth speaks of Macbeth's "flaws 
 and starts" as "impostors to true fear" (HI, iv, 64). Here, if 
 we understand " to" in its ordinary meaning, we lose entirely the 
 flue force of its use by Shakespeare, " compared to true fear," and 
 fail to see how subtly Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade Macbeth 
 that there is no cause for fear, that he is not truly " afeard," but 
 merely hysterical and unbalanced; and, failing in that, we fail in 
 part to realize the prodigious nerve and force she was herself dis- 
 playing, though vainly, for Macbeth's sake. So, too, a few lines 
 farther on, Macbeth's fine saying, " Ere humane statute purged the 
 gentle weal," becomes finer when we see that " gentle" means for 
 us " gentled," or " and made it gentle " (III, iv, 76). But for the 
 apprehension of such, to us, unwonted powers in our noble mother 
 tongue, we must study : work, that is the word for it. We appre- 
 ciate Shakespeare, as we do other things, when he has cost us 
 something. . . . 
 
 IV. With such preliminary and coincident study, the pupil pre- 
 pares herself for that wider sweep of vision called for by the viewi- 
 of life and of the universe expressed or implied by the dramatit 
 personoe themselves. The habit of mind thus acquired enables 
 her to comprehend quickly the notions of God, of life, of creation 
 ( Weltanschauung) found in ante-protestant times ; and she is ready 
 to sympathize Tirith humanity, no matter as to age, or race, or 
 clime. . . . 
 
HOW TO STUDY ENGL SB LITEBATtTRE. 233 
 
 v. Another prolific source of the realization of Shakespeare's 
 conception is obtained by suggesting the actor's view to the pupil. 
 There is much quickening of sympathy in representing to ourselves 
 the look, the posture, emphasis, of the character who speaks. The 
 same words have a totally different force according as they are pro- 
 nounced ; and it is like a revelation to a pupil sometimes to learn 
 that a speech, or even a word, was uttered thus and not so. . . . 
 
 VI. Now, all this is preliminary work and should lead up to the 
 (esthetic appreciation of Shakespeare's characters ; and to that end, 
 real conceptions, right or wrong, are essential. Let it be distinctly 
 understood: all study of words, of grammatical construction, of 
 views of life peculiar to an age past, of bodily posture and gesture, 
 — all are the preparation for the study of the characters themselves ; 
 that is, of the play itself; that is, of what Mr. Hudson calls the 
 " Shakespeare of Shakespeare." If the student does not rise to 
 this view of Shakespeare, she had better let Shakespeare alone and 
 go at something else. In studying the lives of such men as Hamlet 
 or Lear, and of such women as Lady Macbeth or Cordelia, it is of the 
 utmost consequence that the attention of the pupil be so directed 
 to their deeds and words, their expression and demonstration of 
 feeling, — to the things, further, which they omit to say or do, — as 
 to make the conception of personality as strong as possible. . . . 
 
 For a class of boys or girls, I hold that the most effectual and 
 rapid and profitable method of stiidying Shakespeare is for them 
 to learn one play as thoroughly as their teacher can make them do 
 it. Then they can read other plays with a profit and a pleasure 
 unknown and unknowable, without such a previous drill and study. 
 
 Applying now these principles, if such they can be called, my 
 method of work is this. One of the plays is selected, and after 
 some brief introductory matter, the class begins to study. Each 
 pupil reads in turn a number of lines, and then is expected to give 
 such explanations of the text as are to be found in the notes, sup- 
 plemented by her own knowledge. She has pointed out to her such 
 other matters also as may be of interest and are relevant to the text. 
 
 When the play has been finished or when any character disap- 
 pears from the play, — as Polonius in Hamlet, Duncan in Macbeth, 
 the Fool in King Lear, — the class have all those passages in the 
 play pointed out to them wherein this character appears or mention 
 is made of him; and then, with this, Shakespeare's, biography of 
 him before their eyes, they are required to write a composition — 
 bane of pupils, most useful of teachers' auxiliaries — on this char- 
 acter, without other sesthetic assistance or hints than they may have 
 gathered from the teacher in the course of their study. This is to 
 be their work, and to express their opinions of the man or the 
 woman under discussion, and is to show how far they have suc- 
 ceeded in retaining their thoughts and impressions concerning the 
 character, and how far they wish to modify them under this review. 
 They are thus compelled to realize what they do and do not think; 
 what they do and do not know ; in how far the character does or 
 does not meet their approval, and why. That is, the pupils are 
 compelled to pass judgment upon themselves along with the 
 Shakespeare character. . . . 
 
234 HOW TO STVDT ENGLISH, LITERATURE. 
 
 IV^om Prof. J. M. D. MeiUejohn!* "General Notice," 1879.] , 
 
 I . . The first purpose In this elaborate annotation Is, of course, 
 the full working out of Shakespeare's meaning. . . . This thorough 
 excavation of the meaning of a really profound thinker is one of 
 the very best kinds of training that a boy or girl can receive at 
 school. . . . And always new rewards come to the careful reader — 
 in the shape of new meanings, recognition of thoughts he had 
 before missed, of relations between the characters that had hither- 
 to escaped him. ... It is probable that, for those pupils who do 
 not study either Greek or Latin, this close examination of every 
 word and phrase in the text of Shakespeare will be the best substi- 
 tute that can be found for the study of the ancient classics. 
 
 It were much to be hoped that Shakespeare should become more 
 and more of a study, and that every boy and girl should have a 
 thorough knowledge of at least one play of Shakespeare before 
 leaving school. It would be one of the best lessons in human life, 
 without the chance of a polluting or degrading experience. It 
 would also have the effect of bringing back into the too pale and 
 formal English of modern times a large number of pithy and vigor- 
 ous phrases, which would help to develop as well as to reflect 
 vigor in the characters of the readers. Shakespeare used the 
 English language with more power than any other writer that ever 
 lived — he made it do more and say more than it had ever done ; he 
 made it speak in a more original way; and his combinations of 
 words are perpetual provocations and invitations to originality and 
 to newness of insight. 
 
 From all that has been quoted from the foregoing authorities, it 
 may justly -be inferred that somehow or other the pupil must be 
 made to feel an interest in the author, to admire what is admirable 
 in the composition, and really to enjoy its study. Secure this, and 
 all else will follow as a matter of course : fail in this, and the time 
 is wasted. 
 
 The following suggestions,* or some of them, may be helpful in 
 daily class-work : — 
 
 1. At the beginning of the exercise, or as often as need be, require 
 
 a statement of — 
 
 (o) The main object of the author in the whole poem, ora- 
 tion, play, or othei; production of which to-day's lesson is a 
 part. 
 
 (6) The object of the author in this particular canto, chap- 
 ter, act, or other division of the main work. 
 
 2. Read or recite from memory (or have the pupils do it) the finest 
 
 part or parts of the last lesson. The elocutionary talent of 
 the class should be utilized here, so that the author may appear 
 at his best. 
 
 1 Bee Saggestlone to Teacben, in Spragne'a edition of tha First Two Booki ol 
 Paradite Lott and Lycidtu. 
 
HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LITERATURE. 235 
 
 3. Require at times (often enough to keep the whole fresh in mem- 
 
 ory) a r^sumi of the ' argument,' story, or succession of 
 topics, up to the present lesson. 
 
 4. Have the student read aloud the sentence, paragraph, or lines, 
 
 now (or previously) assigned. The appointed portion should 
 have some unity., 
 
 5. Let the student interpret exactly the meaning by substituting 
 
 his own words : explain peculiarities. This paraphrase should 
 often be in writing. 
 
 6. Let him state the immedia,te object of the author in these lines. 
 
 Is this object relevant ? important ? appropriate in this place ? 
 
 7. Let him point out the ingredients (particular thoughts) that 
 
 make up the passage. Are they in good taste ? just ? natural ? 
 well arranged ? 
 
 8. Let him point out other merits or defects, — anything note- 
 
 worthy as regards nobleness of principle or sentiment, grace, 
 delicacy, beauty, rhythm, sublimity, wit, wisdom, humor, na- 
 ivete, kindliness, pathos, energy, concentrated truth, logical 
 force, originality ; give allusions, kindred passages, principles 
 illustrated, etc. 
 
 Passages of special interest may well be made the basis of lan- 
 guage lessons and of rhetorical drill. For example, a pupil might 
 be required to master thoroughly the first twenty lines of Macbeth's 
 soliloquy, Act I, sc. vii, 1-20, and then to prepare an oral or written 
 exercise upon them somewhat as follows : — 
 
 1. Memorize the lines and recite them with proper vocal expression. 
 Explain any unusual or difficult words and sentences. 
 Translate the passage into equivalent English, using, as far 
 as possible, different words, 
 (c) Point out its merits and defects, quoting parallel passages. 
 3. Call for criticisms by the class. 
 
 The pupil proceeds somewhat like this : 
 
 (a) " Done" appears to be used in two senses in the first 
 line; the first "done" meaning ended, the second meaning per- 
 formed. Richard Grant White puts a period after "well"; and, 
 beginning the next sentence with " It were done (i. e. ended) 
 quickly," he puts a comma after ' quickly '. I think this is in- 
 genious, but that it involves virtual tautology ; for it would say 
 in effect, " It were ended quickly, if there were no conse- 
 quences". "Trammel" is an old word for net or shackle. 
 "Trammel up" seems to mean "gather up as in a fish net". 
 The word " catch" seems to continue the idea of fishing, and 
 this perhaps suggested the words "bank and shoal", if we are 
 to read " shoal" in line 6. " His " in the 4th line appears to be 
 used for its, the latter word being not yet well introduced into 
 the English language in Shakespeare's time. "Surcease" is 
 from Latin supersedere, through the French surseoir, and seems 
 to mean cessation. "Be-aU" and "end-aU" illustrate Shake- 
 speare's skill and boldness in word-coining. " Bank and 
 school." The editors have generally changed " school" to 
 " shoal". It is difficult to assign any satisfactory meaning to 
 
236 BOW TO STUDY ENGLISB LITERATURE. 
 
 shoal, unless we adopt the imagery drawn from Ashing ! It is 
 commonly supposed that Shakespeare here represents time as a 
 narrow isthmus, or at least as a narrow sandbank, in the ocean of 
 eternity ; but this would tend to belittle the present time, whereas 
 he desires here to magnify it. Perhaps here is an instantaneous 
 transition from one metaphor to another. Shakespeare is fond 
 of metaphors drawn from school-keeping ; and that this is one of 
 them is somewhat confirmed by the ninth and tenth lines, in 
 which are the words "teach bloody instructions, which being 
 taught ", etc. ' ' Jump " appears to mean risk. " Ingredience ", 
 11th line, is mixture. The editors generally have changed it to 
 ' ingredients', which would imply that the constituents of the 
 compound remain separate. " Chalice" is so often used of the 
 communion cup as to suggest that the murder partakes of the 
 character of sacrUege. " Double", in the 12th line, is perhaps 
 not so good a word as triple would have been. In the 16th line, 
 nearly all the editors join " this " to " Duncan ". But such a 
 nse of the demonstrative seems odd. It singles out Duncan as if 
 he were little known, or needed to be distinguished from other 
 Duncans! " Clear" in the 18th line seems to mean blameless. 
 " Trmnpet-tongned " is perhaps suggested by the Scripture 
 passages that speak of angels sounding trumpets, as in the 8th 
 and 9th chapters of Reivelations. " Taking-off" in line 20 is a 
 euphemism for murder. 
 
 (6) Provided the deed could be actually ended at the time of 
 its doing, in that case it would be desirable to perform it speed- 
 ily. Provided the murder could gather up as in a net the re- 
 sults, and snatch a prosperous conclusion at the instant of its 
 cessation ; provided this mere stroke could constitute the en- 
 tirety of the affair, and its complete termination in this world, 
 barely in this world, upon this bench and upon this life's insti- 
 tute of instruction, I should be willing to risk the existence after 
 death. Unfortunately we always meet sentence in this life, in 
 effect .inculcating murderous teachings, that, having been im- 
 parted, come back to torment the originator. The impartial 
 goddess puts the mixture of the envenomed cup to our own 
 mouths. Duncan is vrith me in twofold confidence : to begin 
 with, because I am his relation and his liegeman, each of the 
 two a potent motive against the commission of the act ; next, 
 because I am his entertainer, that ought to close the gate in the 
 face of the assassin, instead of carrying the dagger in my own 
 hand. Furthermore, the King has exercised his official powers 
 so modestly, has lived so blamelessly in his lofty station, that 
 his merits will beseech like heavenly spirits with clarion voices 
 in condemnation of the profound diabolism of his removal. 
 
 (c) In this soliloquy, Macbeth brings up to his own mind 
 the arguments against committing the murder. It is not so 
 much the essential wickedness of the act, as the fear of the 
 consequences, that deters him. He has noticed that even in 
 this life, crime recoils upon the perpetrator. Then he names 
 circumstances which make the fact particularly atrocious. 
 
HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH UTEBATUBE. 237 
 
 Last he imagines how the horrible wickedness of the crime 
 will be enhanced in men's estimation by the acknowledged 
 virtues of the good king. — Merit of the passage ? Defects ? 
 Similar passages ? 
 i. Criticisms and opinions of the class are called for. 
 
 The foregoing crude treatment of this passage, supplemented by 
 the judicious comments of the teacher, may illustrate what we believe 
 to be one of the best possible exercises for giving fullness and accu- 
 racy in language and for cultivating the taste. The rendering of a 
 celebrated passage into exactly equivalent words furnishes, to a 
 large extent, the same excellent discipline that is aflForded by trans- 
 lating from a classical author. It will be found, upon inspection, 
 that our notes are prepared with a view to such exercises. Some- 
 times interpretations that are very nearly equivalent are given, in 
 order that a nicety of taste and a felicity of expression may be de- 
 veloped in choosing among them. Care must be taken, however, 
 not to push these or any other class exercises so far into detail as to 
 render them uninteresting, or to withdraw attention from the great 
 features of the play. It must ever be borne in mind that it is of vital 
 importance to make the student enjoy this study. 
 
DIAGKAM FOR THE ANALYSIS 
 
 OF ANT PLAY OF SHAKESPEARE, SHOWING THE 
 CONTENTS AT A GLANCE. 
 
 Fill out the Dli.gbam by wkitins vert beieflt : 
 
 (1) On the outside of the circle, a statement of the Atmosphere or 
 Environment of the play. 
 
 (2) Under the triangle, the fundamental Motive or Motives of the 
 principal character or characters. 
 
 (3) Over the apex of the triangle, the Hinge or Turning Point, 
 usuaJly in the third Act. 
 
 (4) Extending down from the apex to the base, the Central Truth, 
 Moral, or Lesson. 
 
 (6) Inside the proper spaces, the Function (office or use) of each 
 Act, showing Introduction, Blsing Action, Crisis, Descending Action, 
 and Catastrophe or Happy Issue. Any scene may be similarly 
 treated, 
 
 838 
 
THE TEUE MACBETH. 
 
 In a lecture delivered on the twentieth of November, 1895, 
 Sir Henry Irving gave the following characterization of Mac- 
 beth: 
 
 Shakespeare has in his text given Macbeth as one of the most bloody- 
 minded, hypocritical villains in his long gallery of portraits ... a hypo- 
 crite, murderer, traitor, regicide ; . . . a villain cold-blooded, remorseless, 
 with a true villain's nerve and callousness when braced to evil work, . . 
 the mere appreciation of his own wickedness giving irony to his grim 
 humor and zest to his crime; . . . having even before the opening of the 
 play a purpose of murdering Duncan, . . . a wish and intent to murder, 
 ... a resolution that never really slackened, ... a resolution as grimly 
 fixed as steel and a heart as cold as ice. 
 
 There is ample justification for forming a totally different 
 estimate of Macbeth; for conceiving of him as at first just, 
 high-souled, ingenuous, conscientious, so impressionable, so full, 
 of delicate sensibility that in after years he could truthfully 
 say — 
 
 The time has been, my senses would have oool'd 
 
 To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair 
 
 Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir 
 
 As life were in 't. . . Act V, sc. v. 
 
 dreamy and over-sensitive, to the extent of hallucination and 
 frenzy; so sympathetically complaisant as by and by to lose 
 all toughness of moral fibre; a soldier splendidly brave, deserv- 
 ing the proud name "Bellona's Bridegroom"; yet an uxorious 
 husband, so bewildered under the glamour of conjugal love and 
 swayed from foundation principles by "circumstances beyond 
 his control" (i.e., his wife!) that he could come to regard 
 cowardly assassination as a "manly" act, a "great quell," a 
 gallant "feat"! 
 
 Perhaps no man ever looked deeper into Scottish story and 
 tradition than Sir Walter Scott. In his History of Scotland he 
 asserts that Macbeth was once "a firm, just, and equitable 
 prince"; but that "apprehensions of danger . . . seem in 
 process of time to have soured his temper and rendered him 
 formidable to his jjobiUty." 
 
240 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 From the historical setting which for the most part Sir Henry 
 Irving ignored, it appears probable that in the bestowment of 
 the crown a principle of alternation had obtained. 
 
 Kenneth (i.e., the handsome) Macalpine, having gained a 
 decisive victory over the Picts in the year 842, became the 
 founder of the Scottish dynasty with the title, Kenneth the 
 First. Upon his death in 859 he left no son of military age. 
 It being requisite that the king should be able to preside in 
 council and lead in battle, Kenneth's brother Donald was 
 selected for the throne. A precedent was thus set whereby, 
 says Sir Walter Scott, "the brother of a deceased monarch 
 should be called to the crown in preference to the son ; in order, 
 it may be supposed, to escape the inconvenience of frequent 
 minorities. " On the death of Donald the sceptre reverted to 
 his brother's family, and Constantine, a son of Kenneth, suc- 
 ceeded. The alternation so begun seems to have become an 
 established usage and to have continued for about a century 
 and a half. We may even call it a part of the unwritten con- 
 stitution of Scotland in those ages that the royal authority 
 should be exercised first by a member of one of the two leading 
 families and then by a member of the other. For convenience 
 we might designate these collateral houses as the Malcolm 
 branch and the Macbeth branch of the original Macalpine 
 stirps. 
 
 But an end at length came to the peaceful transfer of the 
 sceptre. Kenneth III of the Macbeth branch was assassinated. 
 Constantine IV snatched the crown. In 995 he in turn was 
 slain, and one of the Macbeth branch succeeded as Kenneth IV. 
 Eight years later he too lost his life at the hands of an ambi- 
 tious representative of the opposite party, Malcolm, who thus 
 became Malcolm II. Malcolm's reign was long, from 1003 to 
 1033. He had no sons. His elder daughter, Beatrice, married 
 Abbaneth Crinen, an adherent of the Malcolm branch, and 
 became the mother of our Duncan of the play. His younger 
 daughter, Doada, married Sinel, an adherent of the other 
 branch, and became the mother of our Macbeth. 
 
 King Kenneth IV, whom Malcolm slew, was grandfather 
 of Gruach. According to the old usage her brother should in 
 due time have ascended the throne. But Malcolm had provided 
 against this. He seems to have flouted the principle of alterna- 
 tion and determined to shut out the Macbeths altogether. To 
 make room for his favorite, Duncan, he slew Gruach's brother. 
 There still remained a worthy representative of the Macbeth 
 side, Macbeth himself, who, now that Gruach's brother was out 
 of the way, ought to have been the next king. But whether by 
 
TEE TBUM MACBETH. 241 
 
 force or fraud or accident, Macbeth was passed by, and Dufican 
 became king wrongfully. It seems possible that Macbeth, per- 
 haps dwelling in the cloudland of dreams — for Irving insisted, 
 and rightly too, we think, that he was "the greatest poet that 
 Shakespeare has ever drawn" — was at that time too mild or 
 pious or unselfish or magnanimous to engage in a fierce scramble 
 or bloody fight or sordid intrigue for the golden bauble, and that 
 he continued such for six or seven years; so that one who knew 
 him best described him truthfully when she said — 
 
 I do 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; . . . Act I, sc. v. 
 
 The historic outline we have thus briefly drawn enables us 
 to understand why Sir Walter Scott emphatically declares, 
 "In very truth the claim of Macbeth to the throne, according to 
 the rule of Scottish succession, was better than that of Duncan." 
 
 Besides their exclusion from participation in kingly rule, 
 other wrongs had been perpetrated against the Macbeths by 
 Malcolm or his gang of followers. In 1020 Macbeth's father 
 had been killed by Malcolm. Gruach especially had cause for 
 hatred. Not only had her grandfather, Kenneth IV, and her 
 brother, the rightful heir to royalty, been slain, but her first 
 husband, Gilcomgain, had been shut up in his castle by Malcolm, 
 the castle had been fired, Gilcomgain and fifty of his adher- 
 ents had perished in the flames, and she herself with her infant 
 son had but narrowly escaped from the burning pile. She fled 
 to Macbeth. He received her kindly and married her. She is 
 our Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Of course Macbeth and his wife knew that they were origi- 
 nally entitled to the sovereignty. They must all along have 
 felt keenly the injustice done them. What more natural than 
 that they should hope for redress; that this poetic husband 
 should imbibe something of his wife's strenuous spirit, her 
 inordinate desire for power, rank, wealth, or fame? The his- 
 torian (Holinshed, Vol. II, Hist. Scot.) tells us, "Specially 
 his wife lay sore upon him ... as slie that was very ambitious, 
 brenning [burning] in unquenchable desire to bear the name 
 of queen." What more natural than that now and then in 
 moments of exasperation, brooding over their wrongs and 
 perhaps smarting anew from some real or fancied humiliation at 
 the hands of the hostile family, under her fiery appeals they 
 should resolve, vow, swear even, that they would yet have 
 
242 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 their rights and that she should yet bear the royal name for 
 which she longed? We fancy that by such promises he an- 
 swered her importunities and allayed her impatience, always 
 postponing immediate action on the ground that 
 
 Nor time nor place 
 Did then adhere, 
 
 but assuring her that he would keep the matter in mind, saying — 
 
 We will speak further. . . . Act I, sc. v. 
 
 It will perhaps be argued that as Shakespeare for dramatic 
 reasons has omitted all mention of antecedent facts, we need 
 take no note of them ; that it matters not what Macbeth, Lady 
 Macbeth, Duncan, and the rest had done or had been before 
 the opening scene. Why not, then, ignore that history alto- 
 gether and confine ourselves to the text? Why assume an 
 hypothesis not clearly advanced by the poet? 
 
 As a general answer to all such inquiries, we might say that 
 by taking cognizance of prior surroundings, knowing the mate- 
 rials out of which a drama is built, and noting the silent devia- 
 tions from historic verity or accepted tradition, we can better 
 understand the dramatist's purposes and plan. 
 
 More than this. If we assume that in this composition he 
 took for granted and kept in view some things of importance 
 not specified in the text, we shall find it easy to elucidate cer- 
 tain dark sayings. Not to anticipate other and more striking 
 illustrations of this point, does not our assumption of former 
 guileless innocence on the part of Macbeth explain as nothing 
 else can his inability to control the expression of his counte- 
 nance ? Does it not make more natural the utterance of strongly 
 remorseful words like these — 
 
 For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind; 
 
 For them the gracious Duncan have I murder 'd; 
 
 Put rancors in the vessel of my peace 
 
 Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 
 
 Given to the common enemy of man. . . . Act III, sc. 1. 
 
 Is it not at least suggestive of the ground of Macbeth's former 
 good repute and the love Macduff once bore him? 
 
 This tyrant, whose sple name blisters our tongues, 
 Was once thought honest: you have lov'd him well; . . Act IV, sc. iii. 
 
 Is not the influence of early religious training manifest in his 
 many Scriptural allusions? Was not a reminiscence of the 
 meditations of his better days and of his once keen spiritual 
 discernment what led him in after years, when far gone in 
 crime, to single out, though with an ironical sneer, a central 
 
THE TRUE MAOBETB. 243 
 
 thought in the Lord's Prayer — ^the loftiest reach of Christian 
 ethics — when he asked the two murderers, whose hatred of 
 Banquo he would intensify — 
 
 Are you so gospeU'd 
 To pray for this good man and for his issue, 
 Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave 
 And beggar'd yours for ever? . . . Act III, so. i. 
 
 Seven years have at length elapsed since Duncan began to 
 reign in 1033. How to get rid of him has been a problem. 
 He is old; his two sons are mere boys; he may fall in battle; 
 he may die a natural death, as Scottish kings have sometimes 
 done ; he may, as one of them, Constantino III, did fifty years 
 before, quit the throne and retire into a cloister; nay, for he is 
 an easy, slothful, good-natured man, he may abdicate in favor 
 of his "worthiest cousin" Macbeth, or take other steps to secure 
 his succession. 
 
 Right here it wiU be strongly objected that Shakespeare 
 says little or nothing of apparent justifications or plausible 
 excuses for the murder of Duncan. He must have mown of 
 them. He had his Holinshed open before him, and was three 
 hundred years nearer these events than we. Why, then, does 
 he not bring out the extenuating circumstances, or at least 
 intimate some of Macbeth's claims to the royal purple? 
 
 Good reasons for this silence might be assigned. He may 
 wish "to show Virtue her own features, Scorn her own image," 
 and so teach great lessons; as, that crime begets crime; that 
 ambition "overleaps itself"; that although a malefactor may 
 be willing to risk punishment in "the life to come," believing 
 God will forgive it soon, 
 
 yet there is a logic of events, "a Power at the centre of the 
 universe that makes for righteousness," so that very often 
 the guilty are punished here. 
 
 But here, upon this bank and school of time . . . 
 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 ingredience of our poisoned chalice * 
 To our own lips. . . . Act I, so. vii. 
 
 Especially, perhaps, would he teach the danger in listening ' 
 to evil suggestions, for Shakespeare is the prince of moralists — 
 
 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. . . . Act I, sc. iii. 
 
 * Note that » " chalice " is the consecrated cup used in the Holy Commvimon. 
 
244 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 Again, Shakespeare's omission of all circumstances that 
 might palliate regicide was the dictate of supreme prudence. It 
 was dangerous in those days to suggest the slightest appearance 
 of justification or even apology for violence against a mon- 
 arch, or for blows directly or indirectly struck at royal authority. 
 Within six years* five gentlemen had been hanged, drawn, 
 and quartered for high treason, the overt act alleged in the 
 indictment being the performance t of " A play of the Deposing 
 and Killing of King Richard II. " " Know ye not, " exclaimed 
 Elizabeth in the following August, "that / am Richard the 
 Second?" Shakespeare was not a fool. 
 
 Furthermore, in order to please the thick-skulled Vanity 
 who then sat on the throne of England, and who among his 
 first acts had appointed Shakespeare's company "His Majesty's 
 Players" (one of the best things James Stuart ever did), it was 
 politic in Shakespeare to remove a dark stain from the royal 
 escutcheon and to leave in deep shadow all motives of Macbeth 
 and his wife for engaging in hostile acts against Duncan. 
 Accordingly, disregarding history and tradition, which show 
 that Banquo shared in the guilt of the murder and that 
 Macbeth had grounds of complaint, Shakespeare tickles the 
 "Scottish Solomon" by whitewashing Banquo, the reputed 
 ancestor of James and of all the Stuart kings, and, by con- 
 trast, blackening Macbeth, suppressing or minimizing all exten- 
 uating facts in his favor. Shakespeare had a keen eye to 
 business. 
 
 A word as to the possible genesis of Sir Henry Irving's view 
 of Macbeth. Sir Henry knew himself no berserker, but a 
 refined gentleman. Neither in voice nor gesture, bulk nor 
 brawn, was he equipped for grand, lofty utterance combined 
 with robust, smiting, prolonged energy. He was often intense, 
 but his intensity was of the intellect rather than the emotions. 
 His voice, strong on consonants, feeble in vowels, lacked reso- 
 nance and compass; his countenance, always interesting and 
 often fascinating, was rarely kingly, never godlike ; in his poses 
 he was versatile, picturesque, dignified, but seldom statuesque 
 and majestic. He knew himself a master artist, but that his 
 art was Tennysonian rather than Miltonic, the art of Wendell 
 Holmes rather than that of Byron, of Tom Moore rather than 
 Isaiah, Addison rather than Carlyle, Joseph Jefferson than 
 Tomasso Salvini. As Dr. Primrose, Louis XI, Charles I, 
 Dubosc, and Mathias, he was perfect; not quite so as Hamlet, 
 
 * March 18, 1601. Sirs Christopher Blount, Charles Davets, John Davis, 
 Gilly Merricls, and Henry Cuffe. 
 t Acted at the Globe, Feb. 2, 16Q1. 
 
TME TRUE MACBETH. 245 
 
 less so as Shylock, least of all as Lear. To illustrate with 
 grandiose or passionate utterance a frenzied Macbeth, he would 
 have felt himself helpless. 
 
 So, using what Dr. Horace Bushnell would term a "sufficient 
 interpretation," he evolved or built from the text, consciously 
 or unconsciously, a character he could well personate, an Irving- 
 ized Macbeth — a singular creation — aU intellect, no soul; 
 with thrilling imagery, but no touch of heartfelt sympathy; 
 fancy so vivid that he could make tears trickle down his cheeks, 
 yet a spirit so Mephistophelian that he could chuckle over it 
 as but sham; superstitious, but without religious conviction; < 
 poetic with his brain, but sly, snaky, introverted, hypocritical, 
 intensely selfish; a devil turned poet, who, for mere pastime, 
 "loves to paint himself and his deeds in the blackest pigments," 
 finds grim satisfaction in "cultivating assiduously a keen sense 
 of the horror of his crimes" [we use Irving's own language], 
 loving to "bring to the exercise of his wickedness the conscious 
 deliberation of an intellectual voluptuary," "so that action 
 and reaction of poetic thought might send emotional waves 
 through the brain while the resolution was as grimly fixed as 
 steel and the heart as cold as ice, " "playing with his conscience 
 as a cat does with a mouse, " if that may be called conscience 
 which clearly distinguishes between right and wrong but feels 
 no impulse to do the one or shun the other, and is incapable of 
 genuine compunction. 
 
 Certainly Sir Henry constructed an extraordinary being, a 
 masterpiece of ingenious synthesis; and on the stage he depicted 
 it with much skill; but can it be that 4his combination of con- 
 tradictory qualities — heroic in battle, glorious in poetry, yet 
 false, cunning, cowardly, cold-blooded, stony-hearted, unscru- 
 pulous, h3rpocritical — is the Macbeth of Shakespeare? 
 
 Sir Henry rang the changes on Macbeth's poetic imagination 
 divorced from tender sensibility. "He was a poet with his 
 brain," said Sir Henry, "the greatest poet that Shakespeare 
 has ever drawn, and a villain with his heart. " The statement 
 is more than a paradox. Poets and villains, thank God, have 
 absolutely nothing in common. 
 
 The play opens with a witch scene, twelve short lines. Amid 
 thunder and lightning, the din of battle, air thick with fog and 
 filthy with smoke of gunpowder, the three weird sisters indicate 
 the weather, the time, place, and person, for their next meet- 
 ing; also two of their familiar spirits, their own character, and 
 their airy flights. 
 
 Why this witch scene? "To strike the keynote," says 
 Coleridge, Supernatural powers of evil are to pervade the 
 
246 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 environment and to be felt by Macbeth every moment. The 
 sorcery and incantations 
 
 Shall raise such artificial spritea 
 
 As by the strength of their illusion 
 
 Shall draw him on to his confusion. . . . Act III, sc. v. 
 
 But if Irving was correct in his conception — that is, if Mac- 
 beth 's character is the same from first to last — then there is 
 no need of any influx of the supernatural, no raiaon d'Ure of 
 witches, ghosts, or apparitions. 
 
 Many critics, however, insist with Gervinus that the supposed 
 supernatural phenomena are merely subjective, the figments 
 of an overwrought brain, like the air-drawn dagger of which 
 Macbeth concludes — 
 
 There's no such thing: 
 It is the bloody business which informs 
 Thus to mine eyes. . . . Act II, sc. i. 
 
 You will recall Lowell's lines in the Ghost-Seer — 
 
 Ye, who, passing graves by night, 
 Glance not to the left or right 
 Lest a spirit should arise 
 Cold and white to meet your eyes, 
 Some weak phantom which your doubt 
 Shapes upon the dark without 
 From the dark within. 
 
 Certainly we may thus account for the air-drawn dagger and 
 for Banquo's ghost; possibly for the apparitions in the cal- 
 dron scene; but no theory of subjectivity can quite explain 
 away the weird sisters. They are as distinctly visible and 
 audible to the miatter-of-fact Banquo as to the vision-haunted 
 Macbeth. 
 
 In the second scene Macbeth's brilliant heroism is set forth. 
 In two savagely-fought battles he is bravest of the brave. Sir 
 Henry seemed to forget that this heroism strongly militates 
 against his theory. A famous warrior once said, "The worse 
 the man, the better the soldier." In a bad cause it may be 
 true. But in a just cause, in a war not of "forcible annexa- 
 tion" or "criminal aggression," but of direst necessity and 
 strictest self-defence — the only war that is ever excusable — 
 where the commander in the field will make no "howling wil- 
 derness," nor wink at torture, nor permit unkindness towards 
 women, children, non-combatants, or prisoners, in such a war 
 
 The bravest are the tenderest. 
 The loving are the daring. 
 
TBE TRUE MACBETH. 247 
 
 Says the blameless knight Sir Galahad — 
 
 My good blade cleaves the casques of men ; 
 
 My tough lance thrusteth sure; 
 My strength is as the strength of ten, 
 
 Because my heart is pure. 
 
 "I selected men," said Cromwell, "who made some conscience of 
 what they did, and they were never beaten. " 
 
 Sir Henry conceded to Macbeth a fuU share of what he termed 
 "this great manly quality," bravery in battle; but he after- 
 wards styled it "the physical heroism of those born to kiU. " 
 Surely it was at first something better than that. 
 
 A priori, then, from Macbeth's magnificent conduct in face 
 of the greatest dangers we have a right to infer his original high 
 character. 
 
 Again, notice that if this embodiment of " Justice with valor 
 armed" had been at heart an unscrupulous hypocrite and traitor, 
 as Sir Henry insisted that he was, he could at the outset unques- 
 tionably have made such terms either with the rebels or with the 
 invading Norwegians as would at once have seated him on the 
 throne) or afterwards, if he had so chosen, being of the royal 
 blood and the head of an army flushed with victory, having 
 twice in one day by performing prodigies of valor saved Scot- 
 land and Scotland's king, he could immediately have demanded 
 the crown of Duncan. He does nothing of the kind. He be- 
 haves like a patriot and a Christian; he is loyal to his king. 
 
 In the last part of this scene, the secret treason of the thane 
 of Cawdor is mentioned, and Duncan awards his title to Mac- 
 beth- 
 No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive 
 Our bosom interest : go, pronounce his present death. 
 And -with his former title greet Macbeth. 
 
 In the third scene the weird sisters reappear. They tell of 
 their petty spite and supernatural power. Immediately after 
 this, Macbeth and Banquo, on their way towards the king at 
 Forres, come face to face with them. The sharp-sighted Banquo 
 sees them first. Macbeth, we presume, is in poetic reverie. 
 On the following dozen or fifteen lines much depends — 
 
 Enter Macbeth and Banquo. 
 
 Macbeth. So ionl and fair a day I have not seen. 
 
 Banquo. 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 understand me, 
 
248 THM TRUE MAC BETS. 
 
 I 
 
 By each at once her choppy finger lajring 
 
 Upon her skinny lips: you should be women, 
 
 And yet your beards forbid me to interpret 
 
 That you are so. 
 
 Macbeth. Speak, if you can: what are you. 
 First Witch. All hail, Macbeth I hail to thee, thane of Glamist 
 Second Witch. All hail, MacbethI hail to thee, thane of Cawdorl 
 Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter I 
 
 Here are two predictions: he is already thane of Glamis; he 
 shall be thane of Cawdor; and he shall be king. We should 
 naturally suppose ,that joy would have filled his heart and shone 
 in his eyes. His dream of sovereignty for himself and wife 
 is to come true. At least, if he had been wickedly ambitious 
 and unprincipled, a smile would have lit up his countenance 
 for an instant. Instead, his heart palpitates; his hair stands on 
 end; fear, terror overspreads his visage. The quick-eyed 
 Banquo perceives it and wonderingly asks — 
 
 Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear 
 Things that do sound so fair? 
 
 We may well ask the same question — Why did he? 
 
 The answer is obvious if our conception of the original char- 
 acter of Macbeth is correct, not otherwise. Macbeth has a 
 right to be king; wishes it at kast for his wife's sake; but ,thus 
 far he has been able to see no short, sure way except by mur- 
 dering Duncan. From such a foul, cruel, damnable step, "to 
 wade through slaughter to a throne"; from that vision of 
 fiendish assassination perpetrated by his own sword, or by the 
 "keen knife" in his wife's "Uttle hand";* from that bloody 
 spectacle which the witches have conjured up again, his soul, 
 not yet hardened, recoils with horror. He tells us so. In 
 the latter part of this same scene, all alone, thinking audibly, 
 he speaks of yielding for a few seconds to the contemplation of 
 the fearful deed; but he instantly shrinks from it dazed with 
 unspeakable dread, blaming himself for entertaining even for 
 a moment the accursed thought — 
 
 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 imagining : 
 
 My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, 
 
 Shakes so my single state of man that function 
 
 Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is 
 
 But what is not. 
 
 * That my keen koife see not the wound it makes. . . . Act I, sc. v. 
 All tiie perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. . . . ActViSC. jt 
 
THE TnUE MACBETH. 249 
 
 In what other way can we account for this singular manifesta- 
 tion of extreme fright and loathing? 
 
 Banquo challenges the witches to speak to him. They tell 
 him he shall be the father of kings, though not be king himself. 
 They vanish. 
 
 Without delay comes a surprising fulfilment of one of the 
 witches' predictions. It is introduced with rhetorical skill, so 
 as to make a fine climax. Messengers from the king arrive. 
 
 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. 
 
 The last six words, "Which should be thine or his," have been 
 a standing puzzle. "Commentators," remarks Hudson, "have 
 tugged mighty hard to wring a coherent and intelligible meaning 
 out of the old reading, and I have tugged mighty hard to under- 
 stand their explanations; but all the hard tugging has been 
 in vain. " Our interpretation, first published in a magazine 
 twenty-two years ago,* is as follows: Ross and Angus appear 
 to think the magnanimous Duncan contemplates abdicating 
 in favor of his heroic cousin. "Which thing — be it wealth, 
 power, the forfeited thanedom, the throne itself — shall the 
 king retain? Which thing shall he give to Macbeth?" The 
 idea of so serious a step as abdication might well make him 
 pause in silence. Ross adds — 
 
 Silenced with that. 
 In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, 
 He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, 
 Nothing afeared of what thyself didst make, 
 Strange images of Death. 
 
 Angus speaks — 
 
 We are sent 
 ' To give thee from our royal master thanks; 
 Only to herald thee into his sight. 
 Not pay thee. 
 
 Ross chimes in with the significant words — 
 
 And for an earnest of a greater honor, 
 He bade me from him call thee thane of Cawdor : 
 In which addition, hail, most worthy thane ! 
 For it is thine. 
 
 * Education, May, 1887. 
 
250 THJS TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 "An earnest of a greater honor"! Macbeth must have mused — ~ 
 What can that "greater honor" be, what but the crown itself? 
 Here it is interesting to note an odd blunder. When the 
 weird sisters hailed Macbeth thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, 
 and future king, he replied — 
 
 the thane of Cawdor lives, 
 A prosperous gentleman; 
 
 This is said to the witches. But Sir Henry Irving, copying 
 Dr. Samuel Johnson's mistake, pronounced this statement of 
 Macbeth's a proof of his hypocrisy! "Cawdor," he said, "had 
 been conquered in battle fighting against his king and country, 
 and by the very man who spoke of him as prosperous. " Pro- 
 fessor Henry Morley well says, "It not only does not appear 
 that Cawdor was taken prisoner in the battle, but Shakespeare 
 is careful to show that he was not in the battle. " 
 
 To resume: In view of the prophecies and their partial ful- 
 filment, what is the conclusion at which Macbeth arrives? 
 It is a righteous one ; namely, that he will take no steps to get 
 the crown; he will simply remain passive — 
 
 If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me 
 Without my stir. . . . Act I, sc. iii. 
 
 Note his attitude: he is resolved to wait patiently. Herein 
 the dramatist substantially agrees with the historian, who 
 says, "Macbeth thought with himself that he must tarry a 
 time which should advance him thereto [i.e., to the throne] 
 by the Divine Providence, as it had come to pass in his former 
 preferment." Shakespeare has substituted the word chance 
 for Divine Providence, perhaps to please King James by making 
 Macbeth less religious than Banquo. He concludes his solilo- 
 quy with 
 
 Come what come may, 
 Time and the hour runs through the roughest day, 
 
 evidently meaning, "No matter what happens, I merely bide 
 the time ; all things come to him who waits. " Yet in the teeth 
 of all this, and in pointed opposition to his own hypothesis of 
 total depravity. Sir Henry queerly commented, "It is of the 
 essence of evil natures that they cannot wait"! 
 
 In the next scene we have the king's effusive welcome of 
 Macbeth, and virtual acknowledgment that he has fairly 
 earned the crown. It is their first meeting since the battles — 
 
 O worthiest cousin I 
 The sin of my ingratitude even now 
 Was heavy on me. . . . Act I, sc. iv< 
 
TBB TB.XJE MACBMTB. 251 
 
 What ingratitude? This: At the most imminent peril and by 
 almost superhuman valor Macbeth has twice saved Scotland, 
 and all his reward has been the petty title of thane of Cawdor. 
 But if he has done only his duty, why this giish? The fact 
 is, Macbeth's modest self-abnegation and perfect loyalty shine 
 with as much luster as his splendid bravery; and so Duncan, 
 as if ashamed of himself, as well he might be, adds with apparent 
 sincerity — 
 
 Thou art so far before 
 That swiftest wing of recompense is, slow 
 To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved, 
 That the proportion both of thanks and payment 
 Might have been mine. Only I have left to say 
 More is thy due than more than all can pay. . . . ActI, sc.iv. 
 
 "More is thy due than more than all can pay"! If this means 
 anything, it means that all Duncan's possessions, including the 
 crown, would be inadequate compensation. Our patriot war- 
 rior's answer is neat ; we believe it sincere — 
 
 The service and the loyalty I owe. 
 In doing it, pays itself. . . . Act I, sc. iv.' 
 
 Instantly the king rejoins to the effect that in granting the 
 thaneship of Cawdor he has only made a beginning, and a very 
 small beginning, like the first steps in planting a seed or tree: 
 
 Welcome hither : 
 I have begun to plant thee and will labor 
 To make thee full of growing. 
 
 There is one way and only one in which Duncan can fulfil this 
 promise; viz., by securing the throne to Macbeth and Lady 
 Macbeth. 
 
 But within a minute Duncan dashes all such hopes to the 
 ground. Listen to him as he cuts off the possibility of keeping 
 his word and doing justice to Macbeth — 
 
 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. 
 
 To name one Prince of Cumberland in Scotland then was like 
 naming one Prince of Wales in England now. It designated 
 him as the next successor of the reigning monarch. Sir Henry 
 admitted that Duncan had no right to do this. It was a high- 
 handed usurpation. The crown belonged in the other family. 
 Well might Macbeth be enraged. In spite of settled usage and 
 
252 THE TBVB MACBETH. 
 
 of justice and fairness and the king's implied promise, the old 
 Scottish rule of alternation is again to be trampled on. Be- 
 sides, up to this hour, only Duncan has stood between him and 
 his rights; now there are two, Duncan and the boy Malcolm. 
 For a moment he is willing to strike down in death the much- 
 promising, naught-performing usurper; yet even in the midst 
 of his intense wrath he instinctively again recoils from the 
 hideous spectacle. He whispers — 
 
 The Prince of Cumberland I that is a step 
 On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, 
 For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires I 
 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! 
 
 The king tells him he is coming immediately to visit him 
 at Inverness. Now for the first time, as we incline to think, 
 Macbeth plays the hypocrite; but it is only for a moment, his 
 passion soon cools. To Duncan's rather unceremonious order — 
 
 From hence to Inverness 
 And bind us further to you, 
 
 he politely replies — 
 
 The rest is labor, which is not used for^you. 
 I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful • 
 The hearmg of my wife with your approach: 
 So humbly take my leave. 
 
 Meanwhile, as appears in the next scene. Lady Macbeth has 
 received from her husband a letter in which he tells of the 
 witches' two predictions, and the instant fulfilment of one. 
 His care seems all for her, and the letter closes affectionately — 
 
 This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of 
 |;reatness, that thou migbtest not lose the dues of rejoicing by being 
 Ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and 
 farewell. 
 
 His wife's comments on this are of weighty significance; but 
 they were wholly ignored by Sir Henry. She is not a dreamer 
 like her husband; she is a business man. She and she alone 
 has had abundant opportunity to learn all his strength and 
 weakness. Recall now what Holinshed relates — 
 
 Macbeth began to take counsel how he might usurp the kingdom 
 by force, havme a just quarrel so to do (as he took the matter), for 
 that Duncan did what in him lay to defraud him of all manner of 
 title and claim . . . unto the crown. . . '. The words of the three 
 weird sisters also . . . greatly encouraged him hereunto ; but specially 
 his wife lay sore upon him to attempt the thing, as she that was very 
 ambitious, brenning [burning] in unquenchable desire to bear the name 
 of Queen. 
 
THE TRUE MACBETH. 253 
 
 Do not forget that she knows whereof she speaks, that she 
 is all alone, thinking aloud, and has no motive to misstate : 
 
 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. . . . Act I, sc. v. 
 
 Too kind to kill the king! — that is her deliberate opinion. 
 Plainly he ought to have more wickedness in his make-up. 
 
 Thou wouldst be great; 
 Art not without ambition, but without 
 The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly. 
 That wouldst thou holily. 
 
 This word 'holily' is strong here, as it is everjrwhere. It im- 
 plies extraordinary scrupulousness as in the sight of the All- 
 seeing. 
 
 wouldst not play false, 
 And yet wouldst wrongly win. 
 
 Her judgment is sound; there is no glamour of love or poetry 
 here; he is devout and conscientious, but not quite perfect. 
 No man is. He is willing to win by indirection; desires the 
 end, rejects the means. He himself carmot kill Duncan; but 
 if some one else should, he would not wish the deed undone. 
 He is afraid to do wrong, it seems. She feels herself more dar- 
 ing- 
 Hie thee hither, 
 That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, 
 And chastise with the valor of my tongue 
 All that impedes thee from the golden round. 
 
 Here a messenger enters abruptly; tells her the king is com- 
 ing to Inverness this very evening, and that Macbeth is also 
 coming. Instantly her purpose is formed: without the aid of 
 her husband, with her own knife she will do the work. She 
 is master at home. She invokes the cooperation of evil spirits 
 supposed to help assassins. Hear her — 
 
 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 direct cruelty! make thick my blood; 
 Stop up the access and passage to remorse. 
 That no compimotious visituigs of nature 
 Shake my fell purpose, . . , 
 
264 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 Come to my woman's breasts, 
 And take my milk for eall, you murdering ministers, 
 Wherever in your sightless substances 
 You wait on nature^ mischief I 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!' 
 
 Note the words "my keen knife"! She will do the deed 
 with her own hand, her husband not being wicked enough! 
 
 Hardly have these words escaped her lips when her husband 
 enters unannounced. This is their first meeting since those 
 desperate hand to hand conflicts in which he incurred such 
 dangers, displayed such prowess, and almost single-handed 
 turned the tide of victory. We should have expected from 
 her some passionate expression of love, and of heartfelt thank- 
 fulness to God for his almost miraculous preservation from 
 wounds and death; but there is nothing of this. We like to 
 imagine that she regards him tenderly as a wife should such 
 a husband ; but there is no evidence of her affection either here 
 or anywhere. He has pet names and terms of endearment 
 for her; she none for him. She is his tempter and destroyer; 
 but he never lisps a syllable against her; he is too chivalrous 
 for that. She feels that "hell is murky," * but she scruples not 
 to imperil his soul. 
 
 It is not pleasant to say all this of the lady; but burning 
 ambition and unselfish love and pious gratitude and loyalty 
 to conscience cannot dwell together in the same bosom. Her 
 eloquent words are solely to stimulate his efforts to get the 
 crown. We quote the interview — 
 
 Great GlamisI worthy Cawdor I 
 Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter I 
 Thy letters have transported me beyond 
 This ignorant present, and I feel now 
 The future in the instant. 
 
 He replies — 
 
 My dearest love, 
 Duncan comes here to-night. 
 
 She asks — 
 He answers - 
 
 And when goes hence? 
 To-morrow, as he purposes. 
 
 * Act V, sc. i, 34. 
 
THE TRUE MACBETH. 255 
 
 The added clause, "as he purposes," has often been cited as 
 a dark hint to her that Duncan's purpose of departure is to be 
 defeated by Macbeth. It is more charitable to regard it as the 
 effect of an habitual care on his part to speak the exact truth. 
 He had learned of Duncan's intention, which any one of a 
 dozen reasons might cause to be changed; and he instinctively 
 limits his statement. He no more intimates here that the 
 king is to die than he intimates to Lennox in II, iii, 34,* that 
 the king is dead. Why seek an evil motive when a good one 
 will answer just as weU? 
 She instantly responds — 
 
 O, never 
 Shall sun that morrow see ! 
 
 This is no dark hint, but an outspoken avowal of her murder- 
 ous design. It is the first time either has broached this enter- 
 prise to the other in the play. Probably, as she says this, she 
 observes in his face an expression of perplexity, fear, horror, 
 such as Banquo had marked when the prophecy of the third 
 witch conjured up to Macbeth's overwrought imagination a 
 horrifying picture of the king weltering in gore under an assas- 
 sin's knife. 
 
 An honest man's face is naturally the mirror of his soul. 
 Over and over in this play it is so with Macbeth's. It is hard 
 for him to control his features. They will reveal his feelings. 
 His eyes are windows. You may recall the description of Sir 
 Philip Sidney in lines attributed to Spenser — 
 
 A sweet attractive kind of grace, 
 A full assurance given by looks, 
 Continual comfort in a face, 
 The lineaments of gospel books : 
 I trow that countenance cannot lie 
 Whose thoughts are legible in the eye. 
 
 What says Lady Macbeth as she watches in her husband's eyes 
 the. effect of her fierce, declared, unmistakable determination 
 that the king shall be butchered to-night? 
 
 Your face, my thane, is as a book where men 
 May read strange matters. 
 
 See how she urges him to play the hsrpocrite with his counte- 
 nance — 
 
 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. 
 
 * Lennox. Goes the king hence to-day? 
 Macbeth. He does; he did appoint so. 
 
256 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 But his visage still betrays dread, loathing, anxiety, irresolution. 
 Quick as thought, agreeably to her first plan, she at once per- 
 emptorily decides that the whole management of the bloody 
 business shall be left to her — 
 
 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. 
 
 To this second announcement of her fell resolve that the king 
 shall die this night, and to this rfesumption and avowal of her 
 original purpose of killing him with her own hands, he is non- 
 committal. It is of no use to argue with her in her present 
 mood. He inclines to postpone the subject as he has probably 
 done many times in years past. He merely says — 
 
 We will speak further. 
 
 She ends the interview by insisting again that he shall play 
 the hypocrite with his face. If he will only look innocent and 
 fearless, it is all she asks; she will do the rest — 
 
 Only look up clear; 
 To alter favor ever is to fear : 
 Leave all the rest to me. . . . Act I, sc. v. 
 
 Early that evening Duncan and his suite arrive at Inverness 
 Castle. Lady Macbeth comes to the gate to welcome them. 
 Macbeth does not come. His absence seems to excite surprise, 
 for the king asks Lady Macbeth, "Where's the thane of Caw- 
 dor?" To this she gives no answer, a suspicious circumstance. 
 Where was the thane of Cawdor? Is it not a reasonable con- 
 jecture that this man, who wears his heart on his sleeve, can- 
 not trust himself to look into the eyes of the old king who is 
 to be murdered in his bed to-night by him or by Lady Macbeth? 
 
 A supper has been hastily prepared. The king and his peers 
 are seated at the table in the great hall. Macbeth has come 
 in for a little while, but has soon left his noble guests and 
 retired to his own room. His absence excites inquiry on the 
 part of the king. No explanation of it is given. AH alone, 
 thinking aloud, with no motive to be other than honest and 
 truthful, Macbeth enumerates some half dozen objections to 
 the murder; namely, though he has little fear of punishment 
 after death and might run the risk of that, yet as a rute vengeance 
 is executed upon assassins in this life; there are ties of kinship 
 he ought not to break, bonds of loyalty, laws of hospitality; 
 Duncan's virtues, too, "will plead like angels trumpet-tongued 
 
THE TRUE MACBETH. 257 
 
 against the deep damnation of his taking-off," for so he char- 
 acterizes it; and, finally, there is no spur to the crime but 
 
 Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself 
 And falls. . . . Act I, sc. vii. 
 
 At this stage it is pertinent to note another careless misinter- 
 pretation. It was brought in by Sir Henry Irving to illustrate 
 Macbeth's poetic imaginings, so realistic, according to Sir Henry, 
 as to awaken a queer sort of pity — pity that comes and goes 
 like a blush, bathes the cheek with tears, yet in a moment gives 
 place to utter heartlessness. Quoting from the soliloquy the 
 following lines — 
 
 And pity, like a naked new-bom babe. 
 Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, hora'd 
 Upon the sightless couriers of the air. 
 Shall blow tne horrid deed in every eye. 
 That tears shall drown the wind. 
 
 Sir Henry made this singular comment — 
 
 I can see the tears trickling down Macbeth's cheeks, as, in the image 
 of pity for Duncan, he pictures the newborn babe tossed about by the 
 tempestuous wind. 
 
 Here Sir Henry missed the point of resemblance, tenderness. 
 He appeared to think that in some mysterious manner the 
 newborn babe gets mounted astride a blast, is unhorsed, and is 
 then kicked to and fro by the tempestuous steed! But it is 
 not a babe's impossible equestrianism that makes every eye, 
 save Macbeth's, swim tdth tears. It is pity, sweetly sym- 
 pathetic and delicately sensitive. A like simile in Measure for 
 Measure (Act II, sc. ii) emphasizes the tenderness of mercy. 
 
 Macbeth's soliloquy is abruptly broken off by the entrance 
 of his wife. "How now! what news?" he sharply asks. She 
 answers as sharply — 
 
 He has almost supped: why have you left the chamber? 
 
 Well, why had he? Probably for the same reason that he did 
 not go to meet the king at the gate: he could not easily and 
 skilfully act the hs^pocrite, could not trust his telltale face, 
 could not coolly confront the man he or his wife was to stab to 
 the heart in an hour or two. 
 
 Hath he asked for me? 
 
 Assuming that he must have heard of the king's naturalj 
 perhaps repeated inquiry as to his strange departure from 
 
258 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 the dimng hall, she impatiently replies, "Know you not he 
 has?" Macbeth, seemingly nettled, answers with unwonted 
 decision — 
 
 We will proceed no further in this business: 
 
 She is angry. Are all her hopes to be frustrated? She sneer- 
 ingly chides him for stupor, vacillation, sickly irresolution; 
 feeble love for her; fear, unbecoming in a man who aspires to 
 a crown. You will notice that she is continually harping on 
 courage or the lack of courage. She fears neither God nor 
 man. She would run all risks, defy all dangers. Reckless 
 daring is with her the highest of virtues; fear to do a .thing, 
 right or wrong, the basest of faults. Duty is nowhere. At 
 last she charges him with cowardice. This stings him. "Take 
 any shape but that"! 
 
 Lady Macbeth. 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'? 
 
 His answer is noble, and it reveals his ideal, manliness — 
 
 I dare do all that may become a man ; 
 Who dares do more is none. 
 
 It is well in reading this play to remember that, as Brutus's 
 ideal, ever manifest in all that is said to or by him in Julms 
 Coesar, is false honor; so Macbeth's, many times alluded to by 
 him or her in this play, is true manliness. But hers is sheer 
 audacity. He had meant, Who dares do more than becomes a 
 man is a fiend. In a flash she twists his logic, suggesting another 
 antithesis — 
 
 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 fitness now 
 Does unmake you. 
 
 Mainly on this particular passage, including the five or six 
 lines that follow. Sir Henry based his theory of Macbeth's diab- 
 olism ah initio. "Here," he said, "it is definitely stated that 
 before the present time, the subject of the murder had been 
 broached, and that it was Macbeth who had broached it." 
 One answer to this, as already suggested, is that doubtless the 
 problem of getting possession of the throne had been broached 
 
TEE TRUE MACBETH. 259 
 
 many times by one or other of them during the seven years of 
 Duncan's sway. 
 
 But there is another answer. All this utterance of Lady 
 Macbeth is the language of desperate recklessness and grossest 
 exaggeration. Listen — 
 
 I have given suck, and know 
 How tender 't is to love the babe that milks me : 
 I would, wlijle It was smiling in my face, 
 Have plucked my nipple from, his boneless gums 
 And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you 
 Have done to this. 
 
 It is safe to say she would have done nothing of the sort. So 
 far from killing her babe at her breast in fulfilment of a wicked 
 oath, we shall see that she cannot even kill her supposed enemy, 
 the king, in pursuance of what she deems a good resolution. 
 "Had I so sworn"! Very likely this is hyperbole suggested by, 
 "My dear, I swear you shall yet wear a crown," or words to 
 that effect. In the play, as we have seen, she, not he, has sug- 
 gested the murder. 
 
 The twelve or fourteen lines of the speech just quoted are a 
 masterpiece of brilliant sophistry. The plausible implication 
 that he first broke the enterprise to her; that it was not fiendish 
 nor beastly but nianly to suggest it ; that he would be still more 
 a man if he carried it into execution; that his postponements 
 on the ground that time and place were unfavorable amounted 
 to a promise of performance when circumstances should be 
 propitious; that this promise or vague assurance was equivalent 
 to a solemn oath; that it was a pious act to take such oath; 
 that it was not only inconsistent but weak and wicked to break 
 it — these sophisms are so compactly interwrought, urged so 
 swiftly and with such passionate vehemence, that her husband 
 has neither opportunity to interrupt nor power to controvert. 
 He can only interject — 
 
 If we should fail? 
 
 She scouts the idea that "we should fail." If he will rouse 
 his courage to the utmost, "we'U not fail." She tells how she 
 will assist, and how easy it will be. Duncan will sleep early 
 and soundly after his hard journey; she will meanwhile get the 
 two chamberlains, body servants of the king, dead drunk; 
 then he and she jointly can achieve the "great quell." She 
 never calls it "murder"; to her it seems something heroic — 
 "this night's great business"! Then they'll divert suspicion 
 from themselves to the drunken officers of the king's bedcham- 
 
260 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 ber. See with what care she has planned the whole to avert 
 all chance of failure — 
 
 Macbeth. If we should fail? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. We fail? 
 
 But screw your courage to the sticking place, 
 And we'll 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 Umbeck 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 oflScers, who shall bear the guilt 
 Of our great quell? 
 
 Macbeth is fairly carried away by this exhibition of nerve, 
 daring, energy, ingenuity, and indomitable will in the woman he 
 loves, fit to be the mother of heroes and kings! He exclaims — 
 
 Bring forth men-children only; 
 For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
 Nothing but males. 
 
 It is the suggestion of joint, not separate, action that seems 
 to be decisive. With her efficient cooperation in shedding 
 the king's blood and making scapegoats of the intoxicated 
 grooms, victory is in sight. She will certainly do it alone, 
 if he refuses to share in the .exploit. Better combine their 
 forces than leave her to try it unaided. Yes, he will help her 
 carry out the "enterprise" as she terms it. He catches at her 
 suggestion of putting something (she avoids the word blood) 
 on the two chamberlains to make them appear guilty. "Will 
 it not," he asks — 
 
 Will it not be receiv'd, 
 When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 
 Of his own chamber and va'd their very daggers. 
 That they have done 't? 
 
 Her answer shows her perfect confidence that no one will dare 
 reject their theory; especially since they will make a great out- 
 cry when the deed is discovered — 
 
 Who dares receive it other. 
 As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar 
 Upon his death? 
 
 He resolves; the die is cast. He likes it not, but it must be. 
 It is "terrible," but it is a "feat." He will brace up all his 
 bodily powers to accomplish it. He will try to control his face, 
 
TBB TRUE MACBBTB. 261 
 
 dissemble his horrid purpose, and keep up a fair exterior; let 
 her too play the hypocrite — 
 
 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. 
 
 It is past midnight. As a signal to him, for she still seems 
 to take direction of everything, she is to strike a bell, probably 
 to notify him that all is in readiness, the coast is clear, the 
 chamberlains are stupefied with the liquor which she has drugged 
 and given them, their daggers have been stealthily removed 
 by her from their belts and placed where her husband must see 
 them as he enters, and the king is snoring in profound sleep. 
 
 While waiting for the signal, he suddenly sees in the air, 
 within reach, what seems to be a dagger beckoning him towards 
 Duncan's room. He tries to clutch it, but it eludes his grasp. 
 Blood-drops start from the blade and handle! — Act II, sc. i. 
 Of course it is subjective; and, surely, a hardened assassin, 
 "hypocrite, traitor, villain, cold-blooded, selfish, remorseless, 
 with a true villain's nerve and callousness, a resolution as grimly 
 fixed as steel and a heart as cold as ice, and the physical heroism 
 of those born to kill" — [we are quoting Sir Henry's exact 
 words] — such a fellow would never see 
 
 A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 
 Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain. 
 
 It is now past two o'clock. He hears her signal bell — 
 
 I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. — 
 Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell 
 That summons thee to heaven — or to hell. 
 
 While he is gone on his deadly errand, she is Ustening. She 
 has done her part and even more than she had promised: she 
 has given the two valets what the policemen call "knock-out 
 drops. " She is herseH stimulated, if not intoxicated * — 
 
 Lady MOfCbeth. That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold, 
 What hath quench 'd them hath given me fire. — Hark! Peace! 
 It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
 Which gives the stem'st good-night. He is about it; 
 The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms 
 Do mock their charge with snores; I have drugg'd their possets, 
 That death and nature do contend about them. 
 Whether they live or die. 
 
 * " Our sex is obliged to Shakespeare for this passage. He seems to think 
 that a woman could not be rendered completely wicked without some degree 
 of intoxication." — Mrs. Elizabeth Griffiths, in The Morality of Shakespeare's 
 Dramas lHuatrated, 1775. — Furness and some others deny the intoxication. 
 
262 TBE TRUE MACBETB. 
 
 Macbeth. [Within.1 Wlio's there? M-hat, ho! 
 
 Lady Madeth. Alack, I am afraid they have awak'd, 
 And 't is not done. The attempt and not the deed 
 Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready; 
 He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled 
 My father as he slept, I had done 't. . Act II, sc. ii. 
 
 We love to dwell on this last statement : it is a wonderful touch — 
 
 Had he not resembled 
 My father as he slept, I had done 't. 
 
 She had gone to the king's room. Why? Perhaps to make 
 sure that all was favorable ; more Ukely, because she feared that 
 some "compunctious visitings" or "the milk of human kind- 
 ness" in her husband's nature might deter him even now. At 
 any rate she resumes her original purpose, softly draws the 
 chamberlains' daggers, advances to the bedside to stab; but 
 in the dim light the face of the aged sleeper looks so like her 
 father's that she cannot do it. She is not quite "unsexed" 
 after all. She quickly lays the daggers in readiness and rushes 
 back to her room. 
 
 In a few minutes her husband returns. In his excitement 
 he has forgotten to mark the two chamberlains with blood ; his 
 right hand is all gory; in his left are the two dripping daggers 
 which, like a fool, he has brought from the chamber of horrors; 
 and he still wears his day dress, showing that he has not been 
 in bed. Evidently he has foreseen nothing, made no prepara- 
 tion, taken no precautions, but left all to her. He does not 
 even know who lies in the second chamber. 
 
 We call careful attention to the dialogue that follows. See 
 if his conduct and speech are those of a consummate rascal; 
 a cool, calculating hypocrite; a mocking Mephistopheles, who, 
 as Sir Henry imagined, tries to "lead his wife to believe that 
 she is leading him on," and "plays with his conscience as a 
 cat does with a mouse. " 
 
 Enter Macbeth. 
 
 Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 
 Did not you speak? 
 
 Macbeth. When? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Now. 
 
 Macbeth. As I descended? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Ay. 
 
 Macbeth. Hark ! 
 Who lies i' the second chamber? 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Donalbain. 
 
 Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. [Looking at his hands. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. 
 
THE TRUE MACBETH. 263 
 
 Macbeth. There's one did laugh in 's sleep, and one cried "Murderl" 
 That they did wake each other; 1 stood and heard them: 
 But they did say their prayers, and address'd them 
 Again to sleep. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. There are two lodg'd together. 
 
 Macbeth. One cried "God bless us!" and "Amen" the other; 
 As they had seen me with these hangman's hands. 
 Listening their fear. I could not say " Amen, " 
 When they did say " God bless us !" 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Consider it not so deeply. 
 
 Macbeth. But wherefore could not I pronounce "Amen"? 
 I had most need of blessing, and " Amen" 
 Stuck in my throat. 
 
 Evidently he is accustomed to join in prayer, not with his lips 
 only but with his heart. Call him fool if you will, but do not 
 call him a hypocrite when he is so choked with emotion — 
 
 I had mo,st need of blessing, and "Amen'' 
 Stuck in my throat. 
 
 She with prophetic insight replies — 
 
 These deeds must not be thought 
 After these ways; so; it will make us mad. 
 
 He continues — 
 
 Methought I heard a voice cry " Sleep no more! 
 Macbeth does murder sleep" — the innocent sleep, 
 Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care. 
 The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath. 
 Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course. 
 Chief nourisher in life's feast, — 
 
 Lady Macbeth. What do you mean? 
 
 Macbeth. Still it cried " Sleep no more!" to all the house: 
 "Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor 
 Shall sleep no more ; Macbeth shall sleep no more. " 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, 
 You do unbend your noble strength, to think 
 So brainsickly of things. Go get some water. 
 And wash this filthy witness from your hand. 
 
 At this moment she catches a gUmpse of the daggers in his 
 left hand — 
 
 Why did you bring these daggers from the place? 
 "They must lie there : go carry them, and smear ' 
 The sleepy grooms with blood. 
 
 Macbeth. I'll go no more: 
 
 I am afraid to think what I have done; 
 Look on 't again I dare not. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Infirm of purpose! 
 
 Give me the daggers : the sleeping and the dead 
 Are but as pictures ; 't is the eye of childhood 
 That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed 
 I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal; 
 For it must seem their guilt. 
 
264 THE TRUE MACSETB. 
 
 Coleridge tells us there are no puns in Macbeth. We are sorry 
 to say there are two or three. Here is one — " gild, " " guilt. " 
 But there is a reason for it : if nothing else will restore common 
 sense to her husband, perhaps a pun will do it. Besides, it 
 is noticeable that, womanlike, she avoids repulsive words, 
 substituting euphemisms. 
 
 She snatches the daggers, rushes to the death chamber, 
 scoops up the blood with her hands, pours it on the chamber- 
 lains, lays the red daggers on their pillows, and hurries back. 
 
 While she was gone, there was a great knocking at the gate. 
 Macbeth hears it and ejaculates — 
 
 Whence is that knocking? 
 How is 't with me, when every noise appals me? 
 What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes. 
 Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 
 Clean from m^ hand? No; this my hand will rather 
 The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
 Making the green one red. 
 
 Lady Macbeth returning from the bloody room seems to have 
 overheard the last four or five lines. Reentering she expresses 
 her impatience — 
 
 My hands are of your color; but I shame 
 To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within,'] I hear a knocking 
 At the south entry: retire we to our chamber. 
 A little water clears us of this deed : 
 How easy is it, then ! Your constancy 
 
 Hath left you unattended. [Knocking within,'] Hark I more knocking. 
 Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us 
 And show us to be watchers. Be not lost 
 So poorly in your thoughts. 
 
 MaebAh. To know my deed, 't were best not know myself. 
 [Knocking v/Uhin.'] 
 Wake Duncan with thy knocking I I would thou couldstt 
 
 What shall we say to all this? Must we not conclude that 
 a good man feels he has gone fearfully, fatally wrong; and his 
 agony of remorse is almost beyond the power of words to 
 express? Yet Sir Henry declared him remorseless! 
 
 The next business of course must be to cover up the crime. 
 
 It was Macduff that was knocking so hard at the gate. He 
 had been commanded to call the king very early. He passes to 
 the king's chamber, and on discovering what had been done 
 he rouses all the sleepers with his frantic outcries. Lady 
 Macbeth rushes in with the rest, and demands — 
 
 What's the business, 
 That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley 
 The sleepers of the house? speak, speak! 
 
 Macduff. O gentle lady, 
 
 Tis not for you to hear what I can speak: 
 The repetition, in a woman's ear, . . "" 
 
 Woula murder as it fell. 
 
TEH TRUE MACBETH. 265 
 
 Enter Bai7qt70. 
 
 O Baaquo, Banquol 
 Our royal master's murdered. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Woe, alas I 
 
 What, in our house? . . . Act II, so. iii. 
 
 Her "What, in our house?" sounds like regret not at the deed 
 but at the place. Banquo's rejoinder, "Too cruel anyTvhere," 
 savors of reproof. Meanwhile Macbetl^ with Lennox had 
 sprung to the dead king's room; and, pretending to believe, 
 just as his wife had planned he should, that the two grooms, 
 whose hands and faces she had smeared with blood, and whose 
 dirks she had laid unwiped on their pillow, were the murderers, 
 he drew his sword and slew them both. Amid these throng- 
 ing horrors. Lady Macbeth faints or pretends to faint. Mac- 
 beth does not move to her assistance as others do. It looks 
 as if he thought her shanmiing. 
 
 The kinjg's two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee for their 
 lives. This puts on them suspicion of having caused the mur- 
 der of their father. 
 
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are soon crowned; but they are 
 unhappy. Very significant is her sigh — 
 
 Nought's had, all's spent. 
 Where our desire is got without content; 
 "Ks safer to be that which we destroy 
 Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. . . . Act III, sc. ii. 
 
 She chides him for thinking so much of Duncan and the cham- 
 berlains — 
 
 How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, 
 
 Of sorriest fancies your companions niaking, 
 
 Using those thoughts which should indeed have died 
 
 With them they think on? Things without all remedy 
 
 Should be without regard: what's done is done. 
 
 They have terrible dreams that render him desperate. He even 
 envies their slain victims that now sleep so peacefully — 
 
 Better be with the dead, 
 Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, 
 Than on the torture of the mind to he 
 In restless ecstacy. Duncan is in his grave; 
 After life's fitful fever he sleeps well; 
 Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison. 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
 Can touch him further. 
 
 But sorrow for the dead is blended with fear of the living. 
 He remembers the prophecy of the weird sisters and is afraid 
 of Banquo. Macbeth has a son, and like every monarch he 
 
266 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 wishes his own posterity to sit on the throne. The witches 
 pronounced Banquo the happier. Macbeth recalls the inci- 
 dent — 
 
 He chid the sisters, 
 When first they put the name of king upon me, 
 And bade them speak to him ; then prophet-like 
 They hailed him father to a line of kings. 
 Upon my head they plao'd a fruitless' crown, 
 And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, 
 Thence to be wrench 'd with an unlmeal hand. 
 No son of mine succeeding. . . . Act III, sc. i. 
 
 This thought intensifies his remorse. In vain has he defiled 
 his mind, bartered away his innocence, his happiness, his peace, 
 and his soul's most precious treasure for the empty, tormenting 
 circlet so soon to be worn in triumph by no friends of his — 
 
 If 't be so. 
 For Banquo 's issue have I fil'd my mind; 
 For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd; 
 Put rancors in the vessel of my peace 
 Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 
 Given to the common enemy of man. 
 To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings I . . . 
 
 Act III, sc. i. 
 
 To prevent this he plots the murder of Banquo and his boy 
 Fleance. At dusk accordingly Banquo is slain; but Fleanoe 
 escapes, to become the ancestor of the Stuart kings. Within 
 two hours, at a great feast in the banqueting hall of the palace, 
 Banquo's ghost confronts Macbeth, invisible to all but him, 
 though shown on the stage in Shakespeare's theatre before 
 Shakespeare's death.* The scene is one of the greatest in 
 literature. Its immediate effect is decisive. Until this hour 
 he may have intended to become an upright king. Now he 
 professes utter selfishness as his rule of action — 
 
 I will to-morrow. 
 And betimes I will, to 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 away : I am in blood 
 Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, 
 Returning were as tedious as go o'er. . . . Act III, sc. iv. 
 
 His downward career has been swift, crime begetting crime. 
 
 Faoilis descensus Avemo; 
 Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras. 
 Hoc opus, hie labor est. 
 
 * So seen at the Globe Theatre by Dr. Simon Forman, April 20, 1610, and 
 described by him in his diary. 
 
THE TBUE MACBETH. 267 
 
 Early next morning he visits the weird sisters. He hates 
 them, they have made him wretched ; but he needs them, and he 
 beheves them. They tantalize him; raise apparitions that lead 
 him to fancy himself invincible ; but they at length hft the veil 
 of futurity and show him in vision eight kings crowned, all 
 descendants of Banquo. Then they mock him with music and 
 dancing, and vanish. He is almost frenzied. At that instant 
 tidings come that Macduff, who had bluntly refused to attend 
 the banquet, has fled to England. In revenge Macbeth plans 
 and perpetrates the massacre of Macduff's household — 
 
 Wife, children, servants, all 
 That could be found. . . . Act IV, so. iii. 
 
 As we have seen, for his first murder he could plead some ex- 
 cuse, a claim of right ; for the second, the slaughter of the two 
 chamberlains, he could urge that it was done on impulse with- 
 out premeditation ; for the third, that of Banquo, he could say 
 that he was blinded by parental love; but of the butchery of 
 Lady Macduff and her little ones there could be no palhation, 
 no hope of possible advantage- either to himself or to any one 
 else. It is wickedness for its own sake. . He has adopted 
 Satan's rule of action in Paradise Lost, the canon of deviltry — 
 
 Evil, be .thou my good : by thee at least 
 Divided empire with heaven's King I hold. 
 
 It is a fatal plunge; he can sink no deeper; he has touched 
 bottom. Even his love for his wife departs. She dies, and 
 he is angry! What business has she to be dying now?* 
 
 "While the thief is stealing, the hemp is growing." Retri- 
 bution at the head of an invading army from England is advan- 
 cing with giant strides. 
 
 In the battle which follows, Macbeth, confident of the truth 
 of the witch's prediction — 
 
 None of woman born 
 Shall harm Macbeth, 
 
 believes his sword, like Arthur's Excalibur, irresistible. 
 
 But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn 
 
 Brandished by man that's of a woman born. . . . Act V, sc. vii. 
 
 Face to face with Macduff, whose family he has so cruelly 
 and causelessly murdered, remorse for a moment paralyzes his 
 
 * Macbeth. She shoidd have died hereafter; 
 
 There would have been a time for such a word. . . . Act V, sc. v. 
 
268 THE TRUE MACBETH. 
 
 arm, and he would not day him. Is it a last flicker of expiring 
 goodness, or a momentary revivification of a once glorious 
 chivalry? 
 
 Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
 
 But get thee back; my soul is too much charg'd 
 
 With blood of thine already. . . . Act V, sc. viii. 
 
 Macduff replies — 
 
 I have no words; 
 My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villtun 
 Than terms can give thee out I 
 
 They fight; neither gains any advantage. After the fashion of 
 the heroic ages, they pause for breath. Macbeth speaks — 
 
 Thou losest labor. 
 As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air 
 With tny keen sword impress as make me bleed : 
 Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; 
 I bear a charmed life, which must not yield 
 To one of woman bom. 
 
 Macduff responds — 
 
 Despair thy charm. 
 And let the angel whom thou still hast serv'd 
 Tell thee MacduS was from his mother's womb 
 Untimely ripp'dl 
 
 Macbeth's former ideal, manliness of soul based on genuine 
 goodness, has given place to mere animal courage based on the 
 witches' assurance of invulnerability. Even that fails him now, 
 when told that Macduff was never born — 
 
 Macbeth, Accursed be that tongue that tells me so. 
 For it hath cow'd my better part of man I 
 And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, 
 That palter with us in a double sense ; 
 That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
 And break it to our hope. — I'll not fight with thee. 
 
 Macduff retorts — 
 
 Then yield thee, coward, 
 And Uve to be the show and gaze o' the time; 
 We'll have thee, as bur rarer monsters are, 
 Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 
 " Here may you see the tyrant.'' 
 
 But the animal instinct for fight returns. Macbeth shouts — 
 
 I will not yield. 
 To kiss the ground before young Malcolm^ feet. 
 And to be baited with the rabble's curse. 
 Though Bimam wood be come to Dunsinane, 
 And thou oppos'd, being of no woman bom, 
 Yet I will try the last. Before my body 
 I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff, 
 And damn'd be him that first cries "Hold, enoughl" 
 
THE TRUE MACBETH. 269 
 
 This spirit is not what Sir Henry called "the great, manly 
 quality of heroism." It is less characteristic of man than of 
 beast. Wolves have it; devils, they say, have it. For some 
 time Macbeth has been growing more or less than man, a demon 
 or a brute. He is still strong in intellect, still proud of heart; 
 but of the angelic only the low ability to fight desperately and 
 die fearlessly is left. 
 
 The gist of the play, then, is the utter perdition of a great 
 and gifted soul, through yielding to successive temptations, 
 crime begetting crime. 
 
 Of all we loved and honored, nought 
 
 Save power remains, . 
 
 A fallen angel's pride of thought 
 
 Still strong in chains. 
 
 All else is gone : from those great eyes 
 
 The soul is fled. 
 When faith is lost, and honor dies, 
 
 The man is dead. 
 
 10 
 
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