Thus do go about, about; Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, Enter MACBETH and BANQUO. Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. these, So withered, and so wild in their attire ; That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, me, By each at once her choppy finger laying Macb. Speak, if you can ;-what are you? 1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis !! 2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! 3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king here after. Ban. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?-I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner That he seems rapt withal; to me you speak not. And say, which grain will grow, and which will not, 1 The thaneship of Glamis was the ancient inheritance of Macbeth's family. The castle where they lived is still standing, and was lately the magnificent residence of the earl of Strathmore. Gray has given a particular description of it in a Letter to Dr. Wharton. 2 i. e. creatures of fantasy or imagination. Speak then to me, who neither beg, nor fear, 1 Witch. Hail! 2 Witch. 3 Witch. Hail! Hail! 1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none; So, all hail, Macbeth, and Banquo! 1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers; tell me more. No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, And these are of them.-Whither are they vanished? Mach. Into the air; and what seemed corporal, melted As breath into the wind.-'Would they had staid! That takes the reason prisoner? You shall be king. Macb. Your children shall be kings. 1 "Sinel." The late Dr. Beattie conjectured that the real name of this family was Sinane, and that Dunsinane, or the hill of Sinane, thence derived its name. 2 The insane root was probably henbane. In Batman's Commentary on Bartholome de Propriet. Rerum, a book with which Shakspeare was familiar, is the following passage:"Henbane is called insana, mad, for the use thereof is perillous; for if it be eate or dronke it breedeth madnesse, or slow lykenesse of sleepe. Therefore this hearb is called, commonly, mirilidium, for it taketh away wit and reason." Enter ROSSE and ANGUS. Rosse. The king hath happily received, Macbeth, Which should be thine, or his: Silenced with that,1 Ang. Rosse. And, for an earnest of a greater honor, Ban. What, can the devil speak true? Macb. The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me In borrowed robes? Ang. Who was the thane, lives yet; But under heavy judgment bears that life Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage; or that with both 1 i. e. admiration of your deeds, and a desire to do them justice by public commendation, contend in his mind for preeminence: he is silenced with wonder. 2 i. e. posts arrived as fast as they could be counted. Dr. Johnson explains the passage thus:-"The news came as thick as a tale can travel with the post." Mr. Reeves reads " thick as hail." 3" Came post." The old copy reads can. Rowe made the emendation. Macb. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor; The greatest is behind.-Thanks for your pains.— Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me, Promised no less to them? Ban. That, trusted home,1 Might yet enkindle 2 you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange! Macb. Two truths are told As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme.-I thank you, gentlemen.— This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill; cannot be good.—If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, But what is not. Ban. Look, how our partner's rapt. Macb. If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir. Ban. New honors come upon him Like our strange garments; cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use. 1 i. e. entirely, thoroughly relied on. 2 "Encourage you to expect the crown." 3 By his single state of man, Macbeth means his simple condition of human nature. Come what come may; Macb. Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. Macb. Give me your favor; my dull brain was wrought With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains Are registered where every day I turn The leaf to read them.-Let us toward the king.Think upon what hath chanced; and, at more times, The interim having weighed it, let us speak Our free hearts each to other. Ban. Very gladly. [Exeunt. Macb. Till then, enough.-Come, friends. SCENE IV. Fores. A Room in the Palace. Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, and Attendants. Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not Mal. Dun. There's no art, To find the mind's construction in the face.4 1 Favor is countenance, good will, and not pardon, as it has been here interpreted. Vide Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 2. 2 Studied in his death, is instructed in the art of dying. 3 Owed, owned, possessed. 4 We cannot construe the disposition of the mind by the lineaments of the face. |