Cam. My lord, your forrow was too fore laid on ; I'll fill your grave up: ftir; nay, come away ;

Would I were dead, but that, methinks, already-Or how ftol'n from the dead?
What was he, that did make it ?-See, my lord,
Would you not deem, it breath'd? and that thofe
Did verily bear blood?

ANGUS,

Lady MACDUFF.

CATHNESS,

FLEANCE, Son to Banquo.

A Scotch Doctor. A Captain. A Porter. An old

Man.

Lady MACBETH.

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth.
HECATE, and three Witches.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants, and Messengers.

The Ghost of Banquo, and feveral other Apparitions.

SCENE, in the end of the fourth Act, lies in England; through the rest of the play, in Scotland; and, chiefly, at Macbeth's Cafile.

3 Witch.

SCENE

ACT I.

I.

HEN fhall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
2 Witch. When the hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's loft and won:

3 Witch. That will be ere th' fet of fun.

1 Witch. Where the place?

2 Witch. Upon the heath:

3

Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.

1 Witch. I come, Gray-malkin!

All. Paddock calls:-Anon

Fair is foul, and foul is fair 2:

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

SCEN E II.

'Gaint my captivity: Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil,
As thou didft leave it.

Cap. Doubtful it flood;

As two fpent fwimmers, that do cling together,
And choak their art. The mercilefs Macdonel
(Worthy to be a rebel; for, to that,

The multiplying villanies of nature

Do fwarm upon him) from the western ifles
Of Kernes and Gallow-glaffes is fupply'd;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel fmiling,
Shew'd like a rebel's whore: But all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth, (well he deferves that name)
Difdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which fmoak'd with bloody execution,

Like valour's minion, carved out his paffage,
Till he fac'd the flave:

And ne'er fhook hands, nor bade farewel to him, Alarum within. Enter King Duncan, Malcolm, Do-Till he unfeam'd him from the nave 3 to the chops, nalbain, Lenox, with Attendants, meeting a bleed-And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

ing Captain.

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

Mal. This is the ferjeant,

Who like a good and hardy foldier fought

King. Oh, valiant coufin! worthy gentleman! Cap. As whence the fun 'gins his reflexion 4, Shipwrecking ftorms and direful thunders break; So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, Difcomfort fwells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: No fooner juftice had, with valour arm'd,

1 Mr. Upton obferves, that to understand this paffage, we fhould fuppofe one familiar calling with the voice of a cat, and another with the croaking of a toad. 2 i. e. we make these fudden changes 3 Warburton thinks we fhould read, from the nape to the chops; i. e. cut his skull

of the weather.

in two.

4 i. e. the caft.

Compell'd

Who comes here?

Mal. The worthy thane of Roffe.

3 Witch. Sifter, where thou?

I Witch. A failor's wife had chefnuts in her lap, And mouncht, and mouncht, and mouncht :-Give

me, quoth I.

Aroint thee, witch! the rump-fed 6 ronyon 7 cries.
Her husband's 'to Aleppo gone, mafter o' the Tyger:
But in a fieve I'll thither fail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.

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

3 Witch. And I another.

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

8

All the quarters that they know
I' the fhipman's card.

I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep fhall, neither night nor day,
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He fhall live a man forbid 9:
Weary feven-nights, nine times nine,
Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine:

Len. What a hafte looks through his eyes! So Though his bark cannot be loft,

fhould he look,

That feems to fpeak things ftrange.

Roffe. God fave the king!

King. Whence cam it thou, worthy thane?
Role. From Fife, great king,

Where the Norweyan banners flout 2 the sky,
And fan our people cold.

Norway himfelf, with terrible numbers,
Aflifted by that moft difloyal traitor

The thane of Cawdor, began a ditmal conflict:
'Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof,
Confronted him with felt-comparisons 3,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainft arm,
Curbing his lavish fpirit: And to conclude,
The victory fell on us ;-

King. Great happiness!
Ref. That now

Yet it fhall be tempest-toft.

Look what I have.

2 Witch. Shew me, fhew me.

1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb,

Wreck'd, as homeward he did come. [Drumwithir, 3 Witch. A drum, a drum;

Macbeth doth come.

All. The weird fifters 10, hand in hand,
Pofters of the fea and land,

Thus do go about, about;

Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine,
And thrice again, to make up nine:
Peace!-the charm's wound up.

Enter Macbeth and Banque.

Mac. So foul and fair a day I have not feen.
Ban. How far is 't call'd to Fores-What are

[thele,

So wither'd, and fo 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
[ceive By each at once her choppy finger laying [me,

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves compofition;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men,
'Till he difburfed, at Saint Colmes' inch 4,
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

King. No more that thane of Cawdor fhall de-Upon her skinny lips :-You should be women, Our bofom intereft:-Go, pronounce his prefent And yet your beards 12 forbid me to interpret And with his former title greet Macbeth. [death, That you are fo. Roffe. I'll fee it done.

King. What he hath loft, noble Macbeth hath

Mach. Speak, if you can ;--What are you?
I Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane
of Glamis!
[of Cawdor!

2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane
3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that thalt be king
hereafter.
[fear

Ban. Good fir, why do you ftart; and feem to

1 Memorize, for make memorable. 2 To flout is to mock or infult. brought, fhew'd he was his equal. 3 i. e. gave him as good as he 4 Colme's inch, now called Inchcomb, a fmall ifland lying in the Firth of Edinburgh, with an abbey upon it, dedicated to St. Columb; called by Camden Inch Colm, or the fe of Columba. 5 Areint, or avaunt, be gone. 6 The weird fifter here alludes to the poverty of the woman who had called her witch, as not being able to procure better provifion than Yumps and other offals. 7 i. e. fcabby or mangy woman; from rogneux, royne, fcurf, trae exact points.

8 i. e. the 9 i. e. as one under a curfe, an interdiction. 10 Weird is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word fignifying a prophecy. The weird fifters here mean the Fates or Definies of the 1 i. c. may hold converfe with. 12 Witches were fuppofed always to have

northern nations.

hair on their chins.

Things that do found so fair?—I' the name of truth, Only to herald thee into his fight,

Are ye fantaftical', or that indeed

Which outwardly ye thew? My noble partner
You greet with prefent grace, and great prediction
Of noble having 2, and of royal hope,
That he feems wrapt withal; to me you speak not:
If you can look into the feeds of time, [not;
And fay, which grain will grow, and which will
Speak then to me, who neither beg, nor fear,
Your favours, nor your hate.

I Witch. Hail!

2 Witch. Hail!

1 Witch. Leifer than Macbeth, and greater.

2 Witch. Not fo happy, yet much happier. 3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be So, all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

[none:

Not pay thee.

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

Ban. What, can the devil speak true? [drefs me
Macb. The thane of Cawdor lives; Why do you
In borrow'd robes?

Ang. Who was the thane, lives yet;
But under heavy judgment bears that life,
Which he deferves to lofe. Whether he was
Combin'd with Norway; or did line the rebel
With hidden help and vantage; or that with both
He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not;
But treafons capital, confefs'd, and prov'd,
Have overthrown him.

Macb. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor:

The greateft is behind.-Thanks for your pains-
Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When thofe that gave the thane of Cawdor to me,
Promis'd no lefs to them?

1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! Mac. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: By Sinel's 3 death, I know, I am thane of Glamis ; But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, A profperous gentleman; and, to be king, Stands not within the profpect of belief, Ban. That, trusted home 6, No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence Might yet enkindle 7 you unto the crown, You owe this ftrange intelligence? or why Befides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis ftrange: Upon this blafted heath you stop our way And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, With fuch prophetick greeting ?---Speak, I charge The inftruments of darknefs tell us truths; [you. [Witches vanish. Win us with honeft trifles, to betray us Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, In deepest confequence.-Coufius, a word, I pray And there are of them :-Whither are they va- Mach. Two truths are told,

you.

nith'd?

[melted As happy prologues to the swelling act Macb. Into the air; and what feem'd corporal, Of the imperial theme.--I thank you, gentlemen.→→ As breath into the wind.-Would they had staid! This fupernatural foliciting 8

Ban. Were fuch things here, as we do fpeak Cannot be ill; cannot be good:--If ill,

Or have we eaten of the infane root 4,

That takes the reafon prifoner?

Mach. Your children thall be kings.
Ban. You fhall be king.

Macb. And thane of Cawdor too; went
Bun. To the felf-iame tune, and words.
here?

[about? Why hath it given me earnest of fuccefs,
Commencing in a truth? I am thine of Cawdor:
It good, why do I yield to that fuggeftion
Whofe horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my feated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the ufe of nature? Prefent fears
Are lefs than horrible imaginings:

[fo?

it not

Who's

My thought, whofe murder yet is but fantastical,
Macbeth,Shakes fo my fingle ftate of man, that function
Is fmother'd in furmile 9; and nothing is,
But what is not.

Enter Roffe and Angus.
Roffe. The king hath happily receiv'd,
The news of thy fuccefs: and when he reads
Thy perional venture in the rebel's fight,
His wonders and his praifes do contend,
Which thould be thine, or his: Silenc'd with that,
In viewing o'er the reft o' the felf-fame day,
He finds thee in the ftout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afraid of what thyfelf didft make,
Strange images of death. As thick as tale,
Came poft with poft ; and every one did bear
Thy praifes in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.

1 i. e. creatures of fantafy or imagination.

2 Having, we have before obferved, is eftate, pof

feffion, fortune. 3 The father of Macbeth. 4 Shakspeare here alludes to the qualities anciently afcribed to hemlock. 5 That is, pofts arrived as fast as they could be counted.

as far as it will go. 7 Enkindle, for to ftimulate you to feek. 8 Warburton thinks foliciting is here put for information; while Johnfon rather thinks it means incitement. 9 Meaning, now about me I have no perception, being intent wholly on that which has yet no exilence.' 19 i. c. was worked, agitated.

With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains The prince of Cumberland: which honour muft
Are regitter'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.

They are not yet come back. But I have fpoke
With one that faw him die: who did report,
That very frankly he confefs'd his treafons;
Implor'd your highness' pardon; and fet forth
A deep repentance: nothing in his life
Became him, like the leaving it; he dy'd
As one that had been ftudied in his death,
To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd,
As 'twere a careless trifle.

King. There's no art,

To find the mind's conftruction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An abfolute truft.-O worthieft coufin!

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Roffe, and Angus.
The fin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: Thou art so far before,
That fwifteft wing of recompence is flow
To overtake thee. 'Would thou hadft lefs deferv'd;
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to fay,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Macb. The fervice and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itfelf. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties: and our duties
Are to your throne and ftatc, children, and fervants;
Which do but what they fhould, by doing
Safe toward your love and honour 3.

King. Welcome hither:

Not, unaccompanied, inveft him only,
But figns of noblenefs, like itars, fhall fhine
On all defervers.-From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

[you:

Macb. The reft is labour, which is not us'd for
I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So, humbly take my leave.

King. My worthy Cawdor!

[step,

Mach. The prince of Cumberland 4!-That is a
On which I muft fall down, or elfeo'er-leap, [Afide.
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light fee my black and deep defires:
The eye wink at the hand! yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to fee. [Exit.
King. True, worthy Banquo; he is full fo vá-
And in his commendations I am fed ; [liant;

It is a banquet to me. Let us after him,
Whofe care is gone before to bid us welcome :
It is a peerless kinfman.
[Flourish. Exeunt.

Enter Macbeth's Wife alone, with a Letter.

Lady." They met me in the day of fuc"cefs; and I have learned by the perfecteft re<< port 5, they have more in them than mortal "knowledge. When I burnt in defire to queftion "them further, they made themfelves-air, into

which they vanifh'd. Whiles I ftood rapt in the "wonder of it, came miffives from the king, who

all-hail'd me, Thane of Cawdor; by which title, "before, thefe weird fifters faluted me, and re"ferr'd me to the coming on of time, with, Hail, "king that fhalt be! This have I thought good to "deliver thee, my deareft partner of greatness; "that thou might'ft not lofe the dues of rejoicing, "by being ignorant of what greatness is promis'd "thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewel."

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and fhalt be [ture; What thou art promis'd:-Yet do I fear thy naevery It is too full o' the milk of human kindness, [thing To catch the nearest way: Thou would't be great; Art not without ambition; but without [highly,

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing.--Noble Banquo,
That haft no lefs deferv'd, nor must be known
No lefs to have done fo, let me enfold thee,
And hold thee to my heart.

Ban. There if I grow,
The harveft is your own.

King. My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fulness, feek to hide themfelves
In drops of forrow.-Sons, kinfmen, thing,
And you whofe places are the nearoft, know,
We will establish our eftate upon
Our eldert, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter,

The illnefs fhould attend it. What thou would'ft
That would't thou holily; would'st not play false,
And yet would't wrongly win: thou 'd'it have,
great Glamis,

That which cries, Thus thru must do, if thou have it;
And that which rather thou deft fear to do,
Than wifheft should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my fpirits in thine ear;
And chaftife with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round 6,
Which fate and metaphyfical 7 aid doth feem
To have thee crown'd withal.What is your
tidings?

That is, inftructed in the art of dying. 2 i. e. the frame or difpofition of the mind, whether it is determined to good or ill. 3 i. e. We do but perform our duty when we contract all our views to your fervice. + Mr. Steevens obferves, that the crown of Scotland was originally not hereditary. When a fucceífor was declared in the life-time of a King (as was often the cafe), the title of Prince of Cumberland was immediately beftowed on him as the mark of his defignation. Cumberland was at that time held by Scotland of the crown of England, as a fief." 5 i. e. By the belt intelligence. 6. e. the diadem. 7. Metaphyfical is here put for fupernatural.

Enter