With twenty trenched gashes on his head; Macb. 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. Lady M. [Exit Murderer. My royal lord, You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold,3 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, Macb. Sweet remembrancer! Now, good digestion wait on appetite, And health on both! Len. May it please your highness sit? [The Ghost of BANQUO rises, and sits in MACBETH'S place. Macb. Here had we now our country's honour roof'd, Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present; Rosse. His absence, sir, Lays blame upon his promise. Please it your high ness To grace us with your royal company? 2 3 Macb. The table's full. Len. Here's a place reserv'd, sir. trenched gashes-] Trencher, to cut. Fr. the feast is sold, &c.] The meaning is,-That which is not given cheerfully, cannot be called a gift, it is something that must be paid for. Len. Here, my lord. What is't that moves your highness? Macb. Which of you have done this? Lords. What, my good lord? Macb. Thou canst not say, I did it: never shake 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, Lady M. This is the air-drawn dagger, which, you said, Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself! You look but on a stool. Macb. Pr'ythee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. exerted. 5 upon a thought-] i. e. as speedily as thought can be O, these flaws, and starts, (Impostors to true fear,) would well become, &c.] Flaws are sudden gusts. Impostors to truc fear, mean impostors when compared with true fear. Such is the force of the preposition to in this place. Those that we bury, back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost disappears. What! quite unmann'd in folly? Macb. If I stand here, I saw him. Lady M. Lady M. Fye, for shame! Macb. 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 That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end: but now, they rise again, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, Than such a murder is. Lady M. My worthy lord, Your noble friends do lack you. I do forget:- all; Then I'll sit down:-Give me some wine, fill full: I drink to the general joy of the whole table, Ghost rises. And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss ; Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst," • Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal;] The gentle weal, is, the peaceable community, the state made quiet and safe by human statutes; or rather that state of innocence which did not require the aid of human laws to render it quiet and secure. 7 to all, and him, we thirst,] We thirst, perhaps, means we desire to drink. And all to all.8 Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. Macb. Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; Which thou dost glare with! Lady M. Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other ; Macb. 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. Lady M. You have displac'd the mirth, broke 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,2 8 And all to all.] i. e. all good wishes to all; such as he had named above, love, health, and joy. 9 If trembling I inhibit-] i. e. forbid. Čan such things be, And overcome us like a summer's cloud, Without our special wonder?] The meaning is, can such wonders as these pass over us without wonder, as a casual summer cloud passes over us? 2 You make me strange Even to the disposition that I owe,] Mr. Steevens explains When now I think you can behold such sights, Rosse. What sights, my lord? Lady M. I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse; Question enrages him: at once, good night :— But go at once. Good night, and better health A kind good night to all! 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,3 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. Macb. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person, At our great bidding?* these words thus:-You prove to me that I am a stranger even to my own disposition, when I perceive that the very object which steals the colour from my cheek, permits it to remain in yours. In other words, -You prove to me how false an opinion I have hitherto maintained of my own courage, when yours, on the trial, is found to exceed it. 3 Augurs, and understood relations, &c.] Perhaps we should read, auguries, i. e. prognostications by means of omens and prodigies. These, together with the connection of effects with causes, being understood, (says he,) have been instrumental in divulging the most secret murders. Magot-pie is the original name of the bird; Magot being the familiar appellation given to pies, of which the modern mag is the abbreviation. How say'st thou, &c.] i. e. What do you think of this circum |
