A C T I V.

SCENE 1.
A dark Cave. In the middle, a Cauldron boiling.

Thunder. Enter the three Witches.
1. Witch. Thrice the brinded cat bath me'd 225).
2. Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge - pig whin'd.
3. Witch. Harper 212) 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 223) 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 924),
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell - broth boil and bubble.

Au. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

3. Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf 225)
Of the ravin'd salt- sea shark 226);
Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark;

221) A cat from time immemorial has been the agent and favourite of witches. Warburton. 322) Harper, der Name eines Zaubergeistes; vielleicht, nach Steevens, nur eine fehlerhafte Aussprache für barpy. 225) Swelter'd. This word seems to be employed by Shakspeare to signify that the animal was moistened with its own cold exsudations. Steevens. 294) The blind-worm is the slow-worm. Steevens. 225) The gulf is the swallow, the throat. Steevens. 226) Ravin'd is glutted with prey. Ravin is the ancient word for pray obtained by violence. Stoo

To ravin is to devour, to eat greedily. I believe the

Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse 237);
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 tyger's chaudron 22'),
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

AN. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, bum, and cauldron, bubble.

2. Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

Epter Hecate and the other three Witchor.
Hec. 0, 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.

[Masick. ]

Song:

Black spirits and white.,

Red spirits, and grey ;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,

You chat mingle may.
2. Witch. By the pricking of my

thumbs 229), Something wicked this way comes :

1955 Open, locks; whoever knocks.

Enter Macbeth. Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags? What is 't

you

do ? AU.

A deed without a name, Macb. 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 250) waves.
Confound and swallow navigation up;
Though bladed corn be lodg'd 251), and trees blown down,
Though castles topple 232) on their warders' heads;
Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope
Their heads to their foundations; thought the treasure
Of Nature's germins 233) tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken: answer me
To what I ask you.
I. Witch.

Speak.
2. Witch.

Demand. 3. Witch.

We'll answer.
1. Witch. Say if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,
Or from our masters'?
Macb..

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, defily show 23).

Thunder. An Apparition of an armed head 235) rises.
Macb. Tell me, thou unknown power,
1. IVițch.

He knows thy thought; Hear his speech, but say thou nought 236).

App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff: Beware the Thane of Fife. -Disiniss me. Enough.

[Descends. ]"

239) Foaming or frothy waves. Johnson. 23') Corn prostrated by the wind, in moderu language, is said to be lay'd; but lodg'd had anciently the same meaning. Ritson. 239) Topple is used for tumble. Steevens. 233) Germins are seeds which have begun to germinate or sprout, Steevens. 23*) deftly show i. e, with adroitness, dexterously.' Steevens. 235) The armed head represents symbolically Macbeth's head cut off and brought 10 Malcolm by Macduff. The bloody child is Macduff untimely ripp'd from his mother's womb. The child with a crown on his head, and a bough in his hand , is the royal Malcolm, who ordered his soldiers to hew them down a bough, and bear it before them to Dunsinane. This observation I liave adopted from Mr. Upton. Steevens. 236) Silence was necessary during all incantations. Steerens.

Macb. What-e'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks; Thou hast harp'd 23?) my fear aright.

But one word more. 1. Witch. He will not be commanded: here's another More potent

than the first.
Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody child rises.
App.

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbetb!
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. ]
Macb. 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 238)?
AU.

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 239)? bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? sweet bodements ! good!
Rebellious bead 269) rise never, till the 'wódd
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

237) To harp is to touch a passion, as a harper touches a string. Steevens. 238) The round is that part of the crown that encircles the head. The top is the ornament that rises above it. Johnson. 239) i. e. who can command the forest to serve him like a soldier impress'd. Johnson 240) Head means host or power. Johnson.

Can tell so much) shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom ?
AU.

Seek to know no more.
Macb. I will be satisfied: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! let me know:-
Why sinks that car dron? and what noise is this 241)?

(Hautboys. ]
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. Macb. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down! Thy crown does sear 262) mine eye-balls. And thy hair 243), 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 24")? Another yet? A seventh?

I'll see no more. And

yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass ,
Which shows me many more; and some I see,
That twofold balls and treble sceptres 945) carry...
Horrible sight! Ay now,

I see, 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd 246) Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his. What, is this so?

241) Noise in our ancient poets is often literally synony. mous for music. Steevens. 242) This expression is taken from the method formerly practised of destroying the sight of captives or competitors, by holding a burning. bason before the eye, which dried up its humidity. Johnson. 2+3) Johnson liest air; Steevens giebt der Lesårt hair den Vorzug; denn; sagt er, it implies that their hair was of the same colour, which is more likely to mark a family likeness, than the air which depends on habit. 244) to the crack of doom. i. e. the dissolution of nature. Crack has now a mean signification. It was anciently employed in a more exalted sense. Steevens.' 245) This was in. tended as a compliment to king James the first, who first united the two islands and the three kingdoms under one head; whose house too was said to be descended from Banquo. Warburton. 246), To bolter, in Warwickshire, signifies to daul, dirty, or begrime. In the same neighbourhood, when a boy has a broken head, so that his hair is marted together with blood, his head is