 | Lady Macbeth |  |
139
SCENE IX.
Macbeth and Baudron.MACBETH.
My soul is kindling, Baudron, for the fight,
And they who dare disturb the lion's den,
Shall rue the boyhood that provokes his rage.
I was a famous soldier in my day,
And my heart leaps for this impending strife,
As when the trumpet call'd me up to arms,
On the proud dawn of battle. But I feel
That eighteen years of vexing monarchy,
Have cool'd the martial ardour in my heart,
And the entanglement of crafty care
Has long destroy'd the frankness of my youth.
BAUDRON.
Alas! dread sir, so is the course of life.
There have been men that nature meant for heroes,
So overborn by fortune's accidents,
That at their exit from the world's great stage,
Instead of plaudits, and the full resound
Of admiration irresistible,
They have been followed by the damning hiss,
So ill and slovenly they did perform.
MACBETH.
Would I had still but a free soldier liv'd,
And been unstain'd by any other blood
Than the red trophy of my country's foes.
140
Why starts your majesty?
MACBETH.
See you not these?
BAUDRON.
Where? What?
MACBETH.
It is the selfsame heraldry
With which the gentle Duncan was convey'd
To the last mansion of the scottish kings!
BAUDRON.
I see it not—Alas my gracious lord!—
MACBETH.
What can this dismal pageantry betide?
Another and another! still they come
Solemnly marshall'd—ha! the sable bier!
It stops—and see the sheeted dead thereon
Doth raise itself. My wife!—'tis all away.—
Baudron—
BAUDRON.
What would your highness?
MACBETH.
Good old man,
To live so long and fear no sights like these.
BAUDRON.
My royal lord—
141
Baudron, didst thou not say,
That if the spectral vision of the queen
Rose thrice before me, her decided death
Should mine foretoken, on the selfsame day?
Now thrice the airy semblance has appear'd,
And this time with such charnel exhibition,
That none may question what the sign portends.
BAUDRON.
The lonely shepherds in the isles forlorn,
And pale enthusiasts bred in silent glens,
Have oft by metaphysical discernment,
Seen these sad shows, and verified the bode.
| Lady Macbeth | |