Mul. The worthy thane of Rosse.
Len. What a haste looks through his eyes!
So should he look,

That seems to speak things strange.
Rosse. God save the king!

Dun. Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane?
Rosse. From Fife, great king,

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

Norway himself, with terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, 'gan a dismal conflict:
Till that Bellona's bridegroom,t lapp'd in proof,+
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit: And, to conclude,
The victory fell on us;-

Dun. Great happiness! Rosse. That now

[tion;

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

Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive

Our bosom interest:-Go, pronounce his death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Rosse. I'll see it done.

Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath [Exeunt.

won.

Tiger:

But in a sieve I'll thither sail,
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 ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I' the shipman's card.¶ I will drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall, neither night nor day, Hang upon his pent-house lid; He shall live a man forbid :** Weary sev'n-nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine: Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-toss'd. Look what I have.

2 Witch. Show me, show me.

1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck'd, as homeward he did come.

3 Witch. A drum, a drum;

Macbeth doth come.

[Drum within.

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

Enter MACBETH and BANQUO.

Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. How far is't call'd to Fores?-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 under-
stand me,

By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips :-You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

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 b king hereafter.

Ban. Good Sir, why do you start; and seem

to fear

[truth, Things that do sound so fair?-I'the name of Are ye fantastical or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner You greet with present grace, and great prediction

Of noble having, and of royal hope, [not:
That he seems rapt withal; to me you speak
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,
Your favours, nor your hate.
1 Witch. Hail!

2 Witch. Hail! 3 Witch. Hail!

Avaunt, begone. Sailor's chart.

↑ Estate.

+ Supernatural, spiritual Rapturously affected

The root which makes insa.e.

Ban. To the self-same tune, and words. Who's here?

Enter ROSSE and ANGUS.

Rosse. The king hath happily receiv'd, 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: Silenc'd with
that,

In viewing o'er the rest o'the self-same day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as tale,*
Came post with post; and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.

Ang. We are sent,

To give thee, from our 1oyal master, thanks; To herald thee into his sight, not pay thee. Kosse. And, for an earnest of a greater ho[dor: He bade me, from him, call thee thane of CawIn which addition,† hail, most worthy thane! For it is thine.

nour,

Ban. What, can the devil speak true?

Ban. Look, how our partner's rapt. Macb. If chance will have the king, why, chance may crown me,

Without my stir.

Ban. New honours come upon him Like our strange garments; cleave not to their But with the aid of use. [mould, Macb. Come what come may; [day. Time and the hour runs through the roughest Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.

Macb. Give me your favour:t-my dull brain was wrought [pains With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your Are register'd where every day I turn The leaf to read them.-Let us toward the king.[time, Think upon what hath chanc'd: and, at more The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak Our free hearts each to other.

Ban. Very gladly.

Macb. Till then, enough.--Come, friends.

[Exeunt. SCENE IV.—Fores.-A Room in the Palace. Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, and ATTENDANTS.

Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are Those in commission yet return'd? Mal. My liege,

[not

you dress me

In borrow'd robes?

He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not; But treasons capital, confess'd, and prov'd, Have overthrown him.

Macb. Glamis, the 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?

Ban. That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle; you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In deepest consequence.Cousins, a word, I pray you.

Macb. Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme.-I thank you, gentleThis supernatural soliciting

[men.

Cannot be ill; cannot be good:-If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Caw-

dor:

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,

As 'twere a careless trifle.

Dun. There's no art,

To find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.-O worthiest cousin!
Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, Rosse, and Angus.
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: Thou art so far before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. 'Would thou hadst less de-
That the proportion both of thanks and pay-
serv'd;
[ment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Macb. The services 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;
[thing
Which do but what they should, by doing every
Safe toward your love and honour.

Dun. Welcome hither:

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour Tomake thee full of growing.-Noble Banquo, That hast no less deserv'd, nor must be known No less to have done so, let me infold thee, And hold thee to my heart.

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

Dun. My plenteous joys, Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow.-Sons, kinsmen, thanes, And you whose places are the nearest, know,

We will establish our estate upon
[ter,
Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereaf-
The prince of Cumberland: which honour must
Not, unaccompanied, invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers.-From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

Macb. The rest is labour, which is not us'd
for you:

I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful The hearing of my wife with your approach; So, humbly take my leave.

Dun. My worthy Cawdor!

Macb. The prince of Cumberland!-That is
a step,

On which I must fall down, or else o'er-leap,
[Aside.
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!
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.
[Exit.
Dun. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so va-
And in his commendations I am fed; [liant;*
It is a banquet to me. Let us after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome:
It is a peerless kinsman. [Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE V.-Inverness.-A Room in
MACBETH'S Castle.

Enter Lady MACBETH, reading a letter. Lady M. They met me in the day of success; and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question 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, with, Hail, king that shalt be! 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 farewell.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promis'd:-Yet do I fear thy nature;

It is too full o'the milk of human kindness,
To catch the nearest way: Thou would'st be
Art not without ambition; but without [great;
The illness should attend it. What thou
would'st highly,
[false,
That would'st thou holily; would'st not play
And yet would'st wrongly win: thou'd'st have,
great Glamis,
[have it;
That which cries, Thus thou must do, if thou
And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
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
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.- -What is your
tidings?

Enter an ATTENDANT.
Attend. The King comes here to-night.
Lady. M. Thou'rt mad to say it:

Is not thy master with him? who, wer't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.
Attend. So please you, it is true; our thane
is coming:

Full as valiant as described. ↑ Messengers. Diadema.

The best intelligence. Supernatural.

One of my fellows had the speed of him;
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely
Than would make up his message. [more
Lady M. Give him tending,
He brings great news. The raven himself is
hoarse,
[Exit ATTENDANT.
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, come, you
spirits

That tend on mortal* thoughts, unsex me here;
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
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,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring
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; [dark, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the To cry, Hold, Hold!-Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!

Enter MACbeth.

Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
The future in the instant.
This ignorant present, and I feel now

Duncan comes here to-night.
Macb. My dearest love,

Lady M. And when goes hence?
Macb. To-morrow,-as he purposes.
Shall sun that morrow see!
Lady M. O, never
Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men
May read strange matters:-To beguile the
time,

Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: look like the inno cent flower,

But be the serpent under it. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my despatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom,
Macb. We will speak further.
Lady M. Only look up clear;
To alter favour¶ ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.

[Exeunt.

Enter Lady MACBETH.

Dun. See, see! our honour'd hostess: The love that follows us, sometime is our trouble, [you, Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach How you shall bid God yield us for your And thank us for your trouble. Lady M. All our service

[pains, [ble,

now,

Enter Lady MACBETH.

Lady M. He has almost supp'd; Why have you left the chamber?

Mach. Hath he ask'd for me?
Lady M. Know you not, he has?

Mach. We will proceed no further in this business:

with

Your majesty loads our house: For those of old,
And the late dignities heap'd up to them,
We rest your hermits.t

Dun. Where's the thane of Cawdor? We cours'd him at the heels, and had a To be his purveyor: but he rides well; [pose 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.

Lady M. Your servants ever [compt, Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, Still to return your own.

Dun. Give me your hand: Conduct me to mine host; we love him highly, And shall continue our graces towards him. By your leave, hostess. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII.-The same A Room in the Castle.

Hautboys and torches. Enter, and pass over the stage, a Sewer, and divers Servants with dishes and service. Then enter MACBETH. Macb. If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well

It were done quickly: If the assassination Could trammel upon the consequence, and catch,

With his surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come.-But, in these cases, [teach We still have judgement here; that we but Bloody instructions, which, being taught, re[tice To plague the inventor: This even-handed jusCommends the ingredients of our poison'd

turn

chalice

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?

Macb. Pr'ythee, peace:

I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more, is none.

Ludy M. What beast was it then, That made you break this enterprize to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would [place, Be so much more the man. Nor time, nor Did then adhere,* and yet you would make both:

ness now

They have made themselves, and that their fit-
[know
Does unmake you. I have given suck; and
How tender 'tis, to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless
gums,
[you
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn, as
Have done to this.

Macb. If we should fail,-
Lady M. 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 jour

ney

Soundly invite him,) his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wasselt so convince,t
That memory, the warders of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbeck 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 officers; who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?||

Macb. 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
[gers,

two

Of his own chamber, and us'd their very dag. That they have don't?

Lady M. Who dares receive it other, As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar Upon his death?

Macb. I am settled, and bend up

* In the same sense as cohere,

+ Overpower.

J Murder.