Macb. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On mine own sword? whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them. Macd. Re-enter MACDUFF. Turn, hell-hound, turn. Macb. Of all men else I have avoided thee: But get thee back, my soul is too much charg'd With blood of thine already. Macd. I have no words, My voice is in my sword; thou bloodier villain Than terms can give thee out! Macb. [They fight. Thou losest labour: As easy may'st thou the intrenchant air3 With thy keen sword impress, as make me bleed: I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born. Macd. Macb. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, And be these juggling fiends no more believ❜d, 4 3 As easy may'st thou the intrenchant air-] That is, air which cannot be cut. 4 -palter with us in a double sense ;] That shuffle with ambiguous expressions. That keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope. And live to be the show and gaze o'the time. We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, Here may you see the tyrant. I'll not yield, Macb. To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, And to be baited with the rabble's curse. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou oppos'd, being of no woman born, Yet I will try the last: Before my body I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff; And damn'd be him that first cries, Hold, enough. [Exeunt, fighting. Retreat. Flourish. Re-enter with Drum and Colours, MALCOLM, old SIWARD, ROSSE, LENOX, ANGUS, CATHNESS, MENTETH, and Soldiers. Mal. I would, the friends we miss were safe arriv’d. Siw. Some must go off; and yet, by these I see, So great a day as this is cheaply bought. Mal. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. Rosse. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt; He only liv'd but till he was a man; confirm'd The which no sooner had his prowess Sir. Then he is dead? Rosse. Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of sorrow Must not be measur'd by his worth, for then It hath no end. Siw. Had he his hurts before? Rosse. Ay, on the front. Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death: And so his knell is knoll'd. Re-enter MACDUFF, with MACBETH's Head on a Pole. Macd. Hail, king! for so thou art: Behold where stands The usurper's cursed head: the time is free : All. King of Scotland, hail!‡ [Flourish. Mal. We shall not spend a large expence of time, Before we reckon with your several loves, And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen, - Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen ; 5 ተ "And so," &c.— MALONE. thy kingdom's pearl,] Thy kingdom's pearl means thy kingdom's wealth, or rather ornament. "Hail, king of Scotland!"— MALONE. That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, [Flourish. Exeunt.6 6 This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fictions, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no nice discriminations of character: the events are too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents. The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said, in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that, in Shakspeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions. The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall. JOHNSON. *The following Songs are found in Sir William D'Avenant's alteration of this play, printed in 1674. The first and second of them were, I believe, written by him, being introduced at the end of the second Act, in a scene of which he undoubtedly was the author. Of the other song, which is sung in the third Act, the first words (Come away) are in the original copy of Macbeth, and the whole is found at length in Middleton's play, entitled The Witch, which has been lately printed from a manuscript in the collection of Major Pearson. Whether this song was written by Shakspeare, and omitted, like many others, in the printed copy, cannot now be ascertained. MALONE. ACT II. FIRST SONG BY THE WITCHES. 1 Witch. Speak, sister, speak; is the deed done? 2 Witch. Long ago, long ago; Above twelve glasses since have run. 3 Witch. Ill deeds are seldom slow; Nor single following crimes on former wait; Chor. We should rejoice when good kings bleed. When cattle die, about we go; What then, when monarchs perish, should we do? SECOND SONG. Let's have a dance upon the heath; ACT III. SCENE V. HECATE and the three WITCHES. MUSIC AND SONG. [Within.] Hecate, Hecate, Hecate ! O come away! Hec. Hark, I am call'd, my little spirit, see, Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. [Within.] Come away, Hecate, Hecate! O come away! [Exeunt. |