Authors: William Shakespeare
MACBETH
Prithee see there! Behold, look,
lo
79
!—
How
say you?
Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.
If
charnel houses
81
and our graves must send
Those that we bury back, our
monuments
Shall be the maws of kites
82
.
[
Exit Ghost
]
LADY MACBETH
What, quite
unmanned
84
in
folly
?
MACBETH
If I stand here, I saw him.
LADY MACBETH
Fie
86
, for shame!
MACBETH
Blood hath been shed ere now, i’th’olden time,
Ere
human
statute purged the gentle weal
88
:
Ay, and since too, murders have been performed
Too terrible for the ear. The time has been
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end: but now they rise again
With twenty
mortal murders
93
on their
crowns
,
And push us from our
stools
94
: this is more strange
Than such a murder is.
LADY MACBETH
My worthy lord,
Your noble friends do
lack
97
you.
MACBETH
I do forget.—
Do not
muse
99
at me, my most worthy friends,
Aloud
I have a strange
infirmity
100
which is nothing
To those that know me. Come,
love and health to all
101
,
Then I’ll sit down.—Give me some wine: fill full.—
A servant fills his goblet
Enter Ghost
I drink to th’general joy o’th’whole table,
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss:
Would he were here! To all, and him, we
thirst
105
,
And
all to all
106
.
LORDS
Our
duties
107
and the
pledge
.
They drink
MACBETH
Avaunt
108
, and quit my sight! Let the earth
Sees the Ghost
hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold:
Thou hast no
speculation
110
in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with.
LADY MACBETH
Think of this, good peers,
But as a thing of custom: ’tis no other,
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.
MACBETH
What man dare, I dare.
Approach thou like the
rugged
116
Russian bear,
The
armed
117
rhinoceros, or
th’Hyrcan
tiger:
Take any shape but
that
118
, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble: or be alive again
And
dare me to the desert
120
with thy sword.
If
trembling I inhabit
121
then,
protest
me
The baby of a girl
122
. Hence, horrible
shadow
!
Unreal
mock’ry
123
, hence!—Why, so: being gone,
[
Exit Ghost
]
I am a man again.—Pray you sit still.
To the Lords
LADY MACBETH
You have
displaced the mirth
125
, broke the good
meeting
With most
admired
126
disorder.
MACBETH
Can such things be,
And
overcome
128
us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our
special
129
wonder? You
make me strange
Even to the disposition that I owe,
When now I think you can behold such sights
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks
When mine is
blanched
133
with fear.
ROSS
What sights, my lord?
LADY MACBETH
I pray you speak not: he grows worse and worse:
Question enrages him.
At once
136
, goodnight.
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once
137
.
LENNOX
Goodnight, and better health
Attend his majesty.
LADY MACBETH
A kind goodnight to all.
Exeunt Lords.
[
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth remain
]
MACBETH
It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.
Stones have been known to move and trees to speak,
Augurs
144
and
understood relations
have
By
magot-pies
145
and
choughs
and rooks brought forth
The
secret’st man of blood
146
.
What is the night
?
LADY MACBETH
Almost
at odds
147
with morning, which is which.
MACBETH
How say’st thou
148
, that Macduff
denies his person
At our great bidding?
LADY MACBETH
Did you
send
150
to him, sir?
MACBETH
I hear it
by the way
151
, but I will send.
There’s not a one of
them
152
but in his house
I keep a servant
fee’d
153
. I
will
tomorrow—
And
betimes
154
I will—to the weyard sisters:
More shall they speak, for now I am
bent
155
to know
By the worst
means
156
, the worst. For mine own good,
All causes shall give way
157
. I am in blood
Stepped in so far, that,
should I
158
wade no more,
Returning
were
159
as
tedious
as
go o’er
.
Strange things I have in
head
160
, that will
to hand
,
Which must be acted ere they may be
scanned
161
.
LADY MACBETH
You lack the
season
162
of all natures, sleep.
MACBETH
Come, we’ll to sleep. My
strange
and
self-abuse
163
Is the
initiate
164
fear that
wants
hard use
:
We are yet but
young in deed
165
.
Exeunt
Location: unspecified. This scene is probably by Thomas Middleton, apparently added for performances after Shakespeare’s retirement
Thunder. Enter the three Witches meeting Hecate
FIRST WITCH
Why, how now, Hecate? You look
angerly
1
.
HECATE
Have I not reason,
beldams
2
as you are,
Saucy
3
and overbold? How did you dare
To
trade and traffic
4
with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The
close
7
contriver of all harms,
Was never called to
bear
8
my part
Or show the glory of our
art
9
?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a
wayward
11
son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: get you gone,
And at the
pit of
Acheron
15
Meet me i’th’morning: thither he
Will come to know his destiny:
Your
vessels
18
and your spells
provide
,
Your charms and everything beside.
I am for th’air. This night I’ll
spend
20
Unto a
dismal
21
and a
fatal
end:
Great business must be
wrought
22
ere noon.
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a
vap’rous drop
24
profound
:
I’ll catch it ere it come to ground,
And that distilled by magic
sleights
26
,
Shall raise such
artificial
27
sprites
As by the strength of their
illusion
28
Shall draw him on to his
confusion
29
.
He shall
spurn
30
fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes
’bove
31
wisdom,
grace
and fear.
And you all know,
security
32
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.
Music and a song
Hark, I am called: my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud and
stays
35
for me.
[
Exit
]
Sing within:
‘
Come away, come away’
etc.
36
FIRST WITCH
Come, let’s make haste: she’ll soon be back
again.
Exeunt
Location: Scotland, exact location unspecified
Enter Lennox and another Lord
LENNOX
My former speeches have but
hit
1
your thoughts,
Which can interpret further
2
:
only I
say
Things have been strangely
borne
3
. The gracious Duncan
Was
pitied of
4
Macbeth, marry,
he was dead
:
And the right-valiant Banquo
walked too late
5
,
Whom you may say—if’t please you—Fleance killed,
For Fleance fled: men must not walk too late.
Who
cannot
want
the thought
8
how
monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father? Damnèd
fact
10
!
How it did grieve Macbeth! Did he not
straight
11
In
pious
12
rage the two delinquents tear
That were the slaves of drink and
thralls
13
of sleep?
Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too,
For ’twould have angered any heart alive
To hear the men deny’t. So that I say
He has borne all things
well
17
, and I do think
That had he Duncan’s sons
under his key
18
—
As,
an’t
19
please heaven, he shall not—they should find
What ’twere to kill a father:
so should Fleance
20
.
But, peace! For
from
21
broad
words and
cause he failed
His presence
at the tyrant’s feast, I hear
Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell
Where he
bestows himself
24
?
LORD
The
son of Duncan
25
—
From whom this tyrant
holds the due of birth
26
—
Lives in the English court, and is received
Of
28
the most
pious
Edward
with such
grace
That the
malevolence of fortune
29
nothing
Takes
30
from his high
respect
. Thither Macduff
Is gone to
pray
31
the holy king,
upon his aid
To
wake
32
Northumberland
and warlike
Siward
,
That by the help of these—with him above
To
ratify
34
the work—we may again
Give to our tables
meat
35
, sleep to our nights,
Free from our feasts and banquets
36
bloody knives,
Do faithful
homage
37
, and receive
free
honours,
All which we pine for now: and this
report
38
Hath so
exasperate
39
their king
that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.
LENNOX
Sent
he
41
to Macduff?
LORD
He did: and with an
absolute
42
‘Sir, not I’
,
The
cloudy
43
messenger
turns me
his back
And
hums
44
, as
who should
say, ‘You’ll
rue
the time
That
clogs
45
me with this answer.’