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died

With them they think on? Things without remedy,

Should be without regard: what's done, is done.
Mach. We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'dit;
She'll close, and be herself; whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
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 place, have sent to peace,
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,
Can touch him further!

Lady M. Come on;
Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks;
Be bright and jovial 'mong your guests to-night.
Mach. So shall I, love; and so, I pray, be you:
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo;
Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue:
Unsafe the while, that we

Must lave our honours in these flattering streams; And make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are.

Lady M. You must leave this.

Macb. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!

Thou know'st, that Banquo, and his Fleance, live.

Lady M. But in them nature's copy's not

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Which keeps me pale !-Light thickens; and

the crow

Makes wing to the rooky wood:

Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
Whiles night's black agents to their prey do rouse.
Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still;
Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill:
So pr'ythee, go with me.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-The same. A park or lawn, with a gate leading to the palace.

Enter three Murderers.

1 Mur. But who did bid thee join with us? 3 Mur. Macbeth.

2 Mur. He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers

Our offices, and what we have to do,
To the direction just.

1 Mur. Then stand with us.

The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day:
Now spurs the lated traveller apace,
To gain the timely inn; and near approaches
The subject of our watch.

3 Mur. Hark! I hear horses.

Ban. [Within. Give us a light there, ho!
2 Mur. Then it is he; the rest,
That are within the note of expectation,
Already are i'the court.

1 Mur. His horses go about.

3 Mur. Almost a mile: but he does usually, So all men do, from hence to the palace gate Make it their walk.

Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE, a Servant with a torch preceding them.

2 Mur. A light, a light!

3 Mur. 'Tis he.

1 Mur. Stand to't.

Ban. It will be rain to-night.

1 Mur. Let it come down. [Assaults Banquo. Ban. O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly;

Thou may'st revenge.-O slave!

[Dies. Fleance and Servant escape.
3 Mur. Who did strike out the light?
1 Mur. Was't not the way?

3 Mur. There's but one down; the son is fled.
2 Mur. We have lost best half of our affair.
1 Mur. Well, let's away, and say how much
is done.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-A room of state in the palace.

A banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, Lady MACBETH, ROSSE, LENOX, Lords, and Attendants.

Mach. You know your own degrees, sit down; at first

And last, the hearty welcome.

Lords. Thanks to your majesty.
Mach. Ourself will mingle with society,

And play the humble host.

Our hostess keeps her state; but, in best time, We will require her welcome.

Lady M. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends:

For my heart speaks, they are welcome.

Enter first Murderer, to the door. Mach. See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks :

Both sides are even: Here I'll sit i'the midst: Be large in mirth; anon, we'll drink a measure The table round. There's blood upon thy face. Mur. 'Tis Banquo's then.

Macb. 'Tis better thee without, than he within. Is he despatch'd?

Mur. My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him.

Macb. 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.

Mur. Most royal sir, Fleance is 'scap❜d.

Mach. 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?
Mur. Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he
bides,

With twenty trenched gashes on his head;
The least a death to nature.

Mach. Thanks for that:

There the grown serpent lies; the worm, that's fled,

Hath nature, that in time will venom breed, No teeth for the present.-Get thee gone; to

morrow

We'll hear, ourselves again. [Exit Murderer. Lady M. My royal lord,

You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold, That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a making, 'Tis given with welcome: To feed, were best at home;

From thence, the sauce to meat is ceremony; Meeting were bare without it.

Mach. Sweet remembrancer!Now, good digestion wait on appetite, And health on both!

Len. May it please your highness sit?

The ghost of Banquo rises, aud sits in
Macbeth's place.

Mach. Here had we now our country's honour roof'd,

Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present; Who may I rather challenge for unkindness, Than pity for mischance!

Rosse. His absence, sir,

Lays blame upon his promise.

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highness

Please it

To grace us with your royal company? Macb. The table's full.

your

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Thy gory locks at me.

Rosse. Gentlemen, rise; his highness is not well.

Lady M. 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
He will again be well: If much you note him,
You will offend him, and extend his passion;
Feed, and regard him not.-Are you a man?

Mach. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that

Which might appal the devil.

Lady M. O proper stuff!

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
A woman's story, at a winter's fire,
Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.

Mach. Pr'ythee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you?

Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.

If charnel-houses, and our graves, must send
Those, that we bury, back, our monuments
Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost disappears.
Lady M. What! quite unmann'd in folly?
Mach. If I stand here, I saw him.
'Lady M. Fye, for shame!

Mach. Blood hath been shed ere now, i'the olden time,

Ere human 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

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Ghost rises.

And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss; Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst, And all to all.

Lords. Our duties, and the pledge.

Mach. 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, Which thou dost glare with!

Lady M. Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other; Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.

Mach. What man dare, I dare: Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 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; If trembling I inhibit thee, protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! [Ghost disappears. Unreal mockery, hence!-Why, so:-being

gone,

I am a man again.-Pray you, sit still.

There's not a one of them, but in his house I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow, (Betimes I will,) unto 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 way; I am in blood
Stept 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.
Lady M. You lack the season of all natures,
sleep.

Macb. Come, we'll to sleep: My strange and

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Thunder. Enter HECATE, meeting the three
Witches.

1 Witch. Why, how now, Hecate? you look
angerly.

Hec. Have I not reason, beldams, as you are,

Lady M. You have displac'd the mirth, broke Saucy, and overbold? How did you dare

the good meeting,

With most admir'd disorder.

Macb. Can such things be,

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,
When mine are blanch'd with fear.

Rosse. What sights, my lord?

Lady M. I pray you, speak not; he grows
worse and worse;

Question enrages him: at once, good night :-
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.

Len. Good night, and better health
Attend his majesty!

Lady M. A kind good night to all!

[Exeunt Lords and Attendants. Macb. It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood:

Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak;

Augurs, and understood relations, have By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth

The secret'st man of blood.-What is the night? Lady M. Almost at odds with morning, which is which.

Mach. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person,

At our great bidding?

Lady M. Did you send to him, sir?

Macb. I hear it by the way; but I will send:

To trade and traffic with Macbeth,
In riddles, and affairs of death;
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
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

Meet me i'the morning; thither he
Will come to know his destiny.
Your vessels, and your spells, provide,
Your charms, and every thing beside:
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal-fatal end.
Great business must be wrought ere noon :
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vaporous drop profound;
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that, distill'd by magic 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 mortals' 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. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-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 walk'd 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 !
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 sons 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
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,
All which we pine for now: And this report
Hath so exasperate the king, that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.

Len. Sent he to Macduff?

Lord. He did: and with an absolute, Sir,

not I,

The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums; as who should say, You'll rue the time,

That clogs me with this answer.

Len. 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. My prayers with him!

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 cries:-'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. 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.

[Exeunt.

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; 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; Finger of birth-strangled babe, Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger's chawdron, 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.

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.

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

What is't you do?

All. A deed without a name.

Mach. 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 waves
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
Their heads to their foundations; though the

treasure

Of nature's germins tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken, answer me
To what I ask you.

1 Witch. Speak.

2 Witch. Demand.

3 Witch. We'll answer.

Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises.
App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
Macb. Had I three ears, I'd hear thee.
App. Be bloody, bold,

And resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man,
For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.
[Descends.

Mach. Then live, Macduff: What need I fear
of thee?

But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;
That I may tell pale-hearted fear, it lies,
And sleep in spite of thunder.—What is this,
Thunder. An Apparition of a Child crowned,
with a tree in his hand, rises.

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.

App. Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no

care

Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
[Descends.

Macb. That will never be ;
Who can impress the forest; bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root ? sweet bodements!
good!

Rebellious head, rise never, till the wood
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
Throbs to know one thing: Tell me, (if your art.
Can tell so much,) shall Banquo's issue ever

1 Witch. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from Reign in this kingdom?
our mouths,

Or from our masters'.

Mach. Call them, let me see them.

1 Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten Her nine farrow; grease, that's sweaten From the murderer's gibbet, throw

Into the flame.

All. Come high, or low;

Thyself, and office, deftly show.

Thunder. An Apparition of an armed Head rises.

Macb. Tell me, thou unknown power,-
1 Witch. He knows thy thought;
Hear his speech, but say thou nought.
App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware
Macduff;

Beware the thane of Fife.-Dismiss me:-
Enough.
[Descends.
Mach. What-e'er thou art, for thy good cau-
tion, thanks;

Thou hast harp'd my fear aright:-But one
word more :-

1 Witch. He will not be commanded: Here's another,

More potent than the first.

All. Seek to know no more.

Mach. I will be satisfied: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know:-
Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is
[Hautboys.

this?

1 Witch. Show! 2 Witch. Show! 3 Witch.

Show!

All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart; Come like shadows, so depart.

Eight Kings appear, and pass over the stage in order; the last with a glass in his hand; BANquo following.

Mach. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down!

Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls:-And thy
hair,

Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first :-
A third is like the former :-Filthy hags!
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 :→→→

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