 | Macbeth |  |
SCENE I.
A Cave.Thunder and Lightning. 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 the cold 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.
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:
46
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
All.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
1 Witch.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Enter Hecate, Spirits, and the Chorus of Witches.
Hec.
Oh, 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,
Inchanting all that you put in.
MUSIC and a SONG.
Hec.
Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.
1 Witch.
Tiffin, Tiffin,
Keep it stiff in.
2 Witch.
Firedrake, Puckey,
Make it lucky.
3 Witch.
Liard, Robin,
You must bob in.
Chor. of Spir.
Around, around, around, about, about;
All ill come running in, all good keep out!
1 Witch.
Here's the blood of a bat.
Hec.
Put in that, put in that.
2 Witch.
Here's Libbard's brain.
Hec.
Put in a grain.
3 Witch.
Here's juice of toad, and oil of adder;
Those will make the charm grow madder.
Hec.
Put in all these; 'twill raise a pois'nous stench!
Hold—here's three ounces of a red-hair'd wench.
Chor. of Spir.
Around, around, around, about, about;
All ill come running in, all good keep out!
Hec.
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.—
Open, locks, whoever knocks.
Hecate, Spirits, and the Chorus of Witches, Exeunt.
47
Mac.
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags?
What is't you do?
All.
A deed without a name.
Mac.
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 warder's 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.
1 Witch.
Say, if thoud'st rather hear it from our mouths
Or from our masters'?
Mac.
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 & Lightning.
An Apparition of an armed Head rises.
Mac.
Tell me, thou unknown pow'r,—
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.
Mac.
What-e'er thou art, for thy good caution, 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.
Thunder & Lightning.
48
App.
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
Mac.
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.
Mac.
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 spight of thunder.—
Thunder & Lightning.
An Apparition of a Child crowned, with a Tree in his Hand, rises.
What is this,
That rises like the issue of a king;
And wears upon his baby brow the round
And top of sovereignty?
1 Witch.
Listen, but speak not to't.
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.
Mac.
That will never be;
Who can impress the forest; bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? sweet bodements! good!
—Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing; tell me, (if your art
Can tell so much) shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?
All.
Seek to know no more.
Mac.
I will be satisfy'd: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! let me know:—
Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?
Hautboys sound..
49
Shew!
2 Witch.
Shew!
3 Witch.
Shew!
All.
Shew his eyes, and grieve his heart;
Come like shadows, so depart.
Thunder & Lightning.
Eight Kings appear, followed by the Ghost of Banquo.
Mac.
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 shew 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:—
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass,
Which shews me many more.
The Witches vanish.
Now, I see, 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.—What? is this so?
Where are they? Gone?—Let this pernicious hour
Stand aye accursed in the calendar!
Come in, without there!
Enter Seyton.
Sey.
What's your grace's will?
Mac.
Saw you the weîrd sisters?
Sey.
No, my lord.
Mac.
Came they not by you?
Sey.
No, indeed, my lord.
Mac.
Infected be the air whereon they ride;
And damn'd all those that trust them!—I did hear
The galloping of horse: who was't came by?
Sey.
'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word,
Macduff is fled to England.
Mac.
Fled to England?
Sey.
Ay, my good lord.
Mac.
Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits:
The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,
Unless the deed go with it: from this moment,
The very firstlings of my heart shall be
The firstlings of my hand. And even now
50
The castle of Macduff I will surprise;
Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace his line. No boasting like a fool;
This deed I'll do, before this purpose cool.
Exeunt.
| Macbeth | |