8

I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that, distill'd by magick slights,
Shall raise such artificial sprights,
As, by the strength of their illusion,
Shall draw him on to his confusion:
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear:
And you all know, security

Is mortal's chiefest enemy.

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

Hark, I am call'd; my little spirit, see,

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.

[Exit.

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

again.

SCENE VI.

[Exeunt.

Fores. A Room in the Palace.

Enter LENOX, and another Lord.

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

Things have been strangely borne: The gracious
Duncan

Was pitied of Macbeth: -marry, he was dead:-
And the right valiant Banquo walked too late;
Whom, you may say, if it please you, Fleance 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 !

have been meant for the same as the virus lunare of the ancients, being a foam which the moon was supposed to have shed on particular herbs, or other objects when strongly solicited by enchant

ment.

8 slights,] Arts; subtle practices.

How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight,
In pious rage, the two delinquents tear,
That were the slaves of drink, and thralls of sleep:
Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too;
For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive,
To hear the men deny it. So that, I say,

He has borne all things well: and I do think,
That, had he Duncan's son under his key,

(As, an't please heaven, he shall not,) they should find What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance.

But, peace! -for from broad words, and 'cause he 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,

From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth,
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, on his aid t
To wake Northumberland, and warlike Siward:
That, by the help of these, (with Him above
To ratify the work,) we may again

Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights;
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives;
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours,1
All which we pine for now: And this report
Hath so exasperate the king', that he

Prepares for some attempt of war.

Len.

+ "upon his aid" - MALONE.

Sent he to Macduff?

9 Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives ;] The construction is-Free our feasts and banquets from bloody knives.

and receive free honours,] Free may be either honours freely bestowed, not purchased by crimes; or honours without slavery, without dread of a tyrant. JOHNSON.

the king,] i. e. Macbeth.

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

And hums; as who should say,

That clogs me with this answer.

You'll rue the time

And that well might

Len.
Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel
Fly to the court of England, and unfold
His message ere he come; that a swift blessing
May soon return to this our suffering country
Under a hand accurs'd!

Lord.

My prayers with him !†

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. A dark Cave. In the middle, a Cauldron

boiling.

Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew❜d.
2 Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd.
3 Witch. Harper cries3: 'Tis time, 'tis time.

1 Witch. Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison'd entrails throw,———————
Toad, that under coldest stone,
Days and nights hast thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i'the charmed pot!
All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

+"I'll send my prayers with him," MALONE.

3 Harper cries:] Harper may be a mis-spelling, or misprint for harpy. The word cries likewise seems to countenance this supposition. Crying is one of the technical terms appropriated to the noise made by birds of prey.

2 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,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble;
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf,*
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark ;5
Root of hemlock, digg'd i'the dark;
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 :7
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver❜d by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,8
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

2 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

4

5

maw, and gulf,] The gulf is the swallow, the throat.
ravin'd salt-sea shark ;] Ravin'd is glutted with prey.

6 Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;] Sliver is a common word in the North, where it means to cut a piece or a slice.

7 Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;] These ingredients, in all probability, owed their introduction to the detestation in which the Turks were held, on account of the holy wars.

So solicitous, indeed, were our neighbours, the French, (from whom most of our prejudices, as well as customs, are derived,) to keep this idea awake, that even in their military sport of the quintain, their soldiers were accustomed to point their lances at the figure of a Saracen. STEEVENS.

» Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,] Chaudron, i. e. entrails.

Enter HECATE, and the other three Witches.

Hec. O, well done! I commend your pains;
And every one shall share i'the gains.
And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

SONG.

Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,

You that mingle may.

2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:Open, locks, whoever knocks.

Enter MACBETH.

Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags?

What is't you do?

All.

A deed without a name.

Macb. I conjure you, by that which you profess, (Howe'er you come to know it,) answer me: Though you untie the winds, and let them fight

Against the churches: though the yesty waves9
Confound and swallow navigation up;

Though bladed corn be lodg'd', and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope

9 - yesty waves· ·] That is, foaming, or frothy waves. Though bladed corn be lodg'd,] Corn, prostrated by the wind, in modern language, is said to be lay'd; but lodg'd had anciently the same meaning.

2 Though castles topple-] Topple is used for tumble.