Lords. What, my good lord? Mach. Thou can'st not say, I did it: never shake Thy gory locks at me. Rosse. Gentlemen, rise; his highness is not well. 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, You shall offend him, and extend his passion;* - Feed, and regard him not.-Are you a man? Macb. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that Which might appal the devil. Lady M. O proper stuff: This the very painting of your fear: Macb. Pr'ythee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost disappears Lady M. Macb. If I stand here, I saw him. Lady M. Fie, for shame! - Macb. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal; That when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end: but now they rise again, * Prolong his suffering. † Sudden gusts. And push us from our stools: This is more strange Than such a murder is. Lady M. Your noble friends do lack you. Macb. My worthy lord, I do forget:Do not muse* at me, my most worthy friends; I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing To those that know me. Come, love and health to 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; 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; the good meeting, With most admir'd disorder. Macb. * Wonder. + Forbid. And overcome* us like a summer's cloud, When now I think you can behold such sights, - And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, When mine are blanch'd with fear. Rosse. What sights, my lord? Lady M. I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse; Question enrages him: at once, good night: Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once. Len. Attend his majesty! Good night and better health A kind good night to all! [Exeunt Lords and Attendants. Macb. It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood: Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak: forth The secret'st man of blood. ACT IV. THE POWER OF WITCHES. I conjure you, by that which you profess, Though bladed corn be lodg'd|| and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their warders' heads; Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Of nature's germins** tumble all together, † Possess. ‡ Magpies. § Frothy * Pass over. Tumble. || Laid flat by wind or rain. ** Seeds which have begun to sprout. } Even till destruction sicken, answer me MALCOLM'S CHARACTER OF HIMSELF. Mal. But I have none: The king-becoming graces Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should Uproar the universal peace, confound All unity on earth. O Scotland! Scotland! Mal. If such a one be fit to govern, speak: I am as I have spoken. Macb. Fit to govern! No, not to live. O nation miserable, And does blaspheme his breed?-Thy royal father Mal. Macduff, this noble passion, Child of integrity, hath from my soul * Over-hasty credulity For strangers to my nature. I am yet Is thine, and my poor country's, to command. AN OPPRESSED COUNTRY. Alas, poor country; Almost afraid to know itself! It cannot Be call'd our mother, but our grave: where nothing, But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile; Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air, Are made, not mark'd: were violent sorrow seems Is there scarce ask'd, for who; and good men's lives MACDUFF'S BEHAVIOUR ON THE MURDER OF HIS Rosse. WIFE AND CHILDREN. 'Would I could answer This comfort with the like! But I have words Macd. The general cause? or is it a fee-grief,‡ Rosse. No mind, that's honest, But in it shares some wo; though the main part Pertains to you alone. Macd. If it be mine, Keep it not from me, quickly let me have it. Rosse. Let not your ears despise my tongue for ever, Which shall possess them with the heavest sound, That ever yet they heard. * Common distress of mind. A grief that has a single owner. † Catchs |