Macbeth

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Scene I. A desert place

Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.

First Witch. When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won.

Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun.

First Witch. Where the place?

Second Witch. Upon the heath.

Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.

First Witch. I come, Graymalkin !

Second Witch. Paddock calls.

Third Witch. Anon. 10

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt.

Scene II. A camp near Forres

Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm,

Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants,

meeting a bleeding Sergeant.

Duncan. What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state.

Malcolm. This is the sergeant

Who like a good and hardy soldier fought 'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend ! Say to the king the knowledge of the broil As thou didst leave it.

Sergeant. Doubtful it stood;

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald — Worthy to be a rebel, for to that 10

The multiplying villanies of nature Do swarm upon him — from the western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied ; And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Show'd like a rebel's whore : but all's too weak : For brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name — Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution,

ACT I. SCENE II. 3

Like valor's minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; 20

Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Duncan. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!

Sergeant. 'As whence the sun 'gins his reflection Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, So from that spring whence comfort seenrd to come Discomfort swells/ Mark, king of Scotland, mark : No sooner justice had with valor arnrd Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, 30

But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men Began a fresh assault.

Duncan. Dismay'd not this

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

Sergeant. Yes ;

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.

If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe : Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorize another Golgotha, 40

I cannot tell — But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.

Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds ; They smack of honor both. Go get him surgeons'.

[Exit Sergeant, attended.

Who comes here?

Enter Ross.

Malcolm. The worthy thane of Ross.

Lennox. What a haste looks through his eyes ! So should he look That seems to speak things strange.

Ross. God save the king!

Duncan. Whence earnest thou, worthy thane?

Ross. From Fife, great king;

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky And fan our people cold. Norway himself, 50

With terrible numbers, Assisted by that most disloyal traitor The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, Confronted him with self -comparisons, Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude, The victory fell on us.

Duncan. Great happiness !

Ross. That now

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition ; Nor would we deign him burial of his men 60

Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's Inch Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

Duncan. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest : go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth.

Ross. I'll see it done.

Duncan. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.

[Exeunt.

ACT I. SCENE III. 5

Scene III. A heath near Forres

Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

First Witch. Where hast thou been, sister?

Second Witch. Killing swine.

Third Witch. Sister, where thou?

First Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd. ' Give me,'

quoth I : 'Aroint thee, witch ! ' the rump-fed ronyon cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger: But in a sieve I'll thither sail, And, like a rat without a tail, I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. 10

Second Witch. I'll give thee a wind.

First Witch. Thou'rt kind.

Third Witch. And I another.

First Witch. I myself have all the other, And the very ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I' the shipman's card.

I will drain him dry as hay : Sleep shall neither night nor day

Hang upon his pent-house lid ; 20

He shall live a man forbid : Weary se'nnights nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine: Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tost.

Look what I have.

Second Witch. Show me, show me.

First Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck'd as homeward he did come. [Drum within.

Third Witch. A drum, a drum ! 30

Macbeth doth come.

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about : Thrice to thine and thrice to mine And thrice again, to make up nine.

Peace ! the charm's wound up.

Enter Macbeth and Banouo

Macbeth. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Banqno. How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these So wither'd arid so wild in their attire, 40

That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught That man may question? You seem to understand me, By each at once her choppy finger laying Upon her skinny lips : you should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so.

Macbeth. Speak, if you can : what are you ?

First Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis !

ACT I. SCENE III. 7

Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane

of Cawdor!

Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter ! 50

Banquo. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair ? V the name of truth, Are ve fantastical, or that indeed

Which outwardly ye show ? My noble partner

You greet with present grace and great prediction

Of noble having and of royal hope,

That he seems rapt withal : to me you speak not.

If you can look into the seeds of time,

And say which grain will grow and which will not,

Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 60

Your favors nor your hate.

First Witch. Hail!

Second Witch. Hail !

Third Witch. Hail !

First Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

Second Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier.

Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none : So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!

Macbeth. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more : 70 By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief,

No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence

You owe this strange intelligence? or why

Upon this blasted heath you stop our way

With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you

[Witches vanish.

Banquo. The earth hath bubbles as the water has, And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd? 80

Macbeth. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd !

Banquo. Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten .on th e insane root That takes the reason prisoner?

Macbeth. Your children shall be kings.

Banquo. You shall be king.

Macbeth. And thane of Cawdor too : went it not so ?

Banquo. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here ?

Enter Ross and Angus.

Ross. The king hath happily received, Macbeth, The news of thy success ; and when he reads 90

Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, His wonders and his praises do contend Which should be thine or his : silenced with that, In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make, Strange images of death. As thick as hail Came post with post ; and every one did bear

ACT I. SCENE III. 9

Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence, And pour'd them down before him.

Angus. We are sent 100

To give thee from our royal master thanks; Only to herald thee into his sight, Not pay thee.

Ross. And for an earnest of a greater honor, He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor : In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! For it is thine.

Banquo. What, can the devil speak true? \/

Macbeth. The thane of Cawdor lives : why do you dress me In borrow'd robes?

Angus. Who was the thane lives yet,

But under heavy judgement bears that life no

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage, or that with both He labor d in his country's wreck, I know not; But treasons capital, confess' d and proved, Have overthrown him.

Macbeth. [Aside] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor !

The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus.] Thanks

for your pains. [To Banquo.] Do you not hope your children shall be

kings, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me Promised no less to them?

io MACBETH.

Banquo. That trusted home 120

Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange : And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray's In deepest consequence.

Cousins, a word, I pray you.

Macbeth. [Aside] Two truths are told,

As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme. — I thank you, gentlemen. [Aside] This supernatural soliciting 130

Cannot be ill, cannot be good : if ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth ? I am thane of Cawdor : If good, why do I yield to that suggestio Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings : My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function 140

Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is But what is not.

Banquo. Look how our partner's rapt.

Macbeth. [Aside] If chance will have me king, why, Without my stir. [chance may crown me,

Banquo. New honors come upon him,

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould

ACT I. SCENE IV. n

But with the aid of use.

Macbeth. [Aside] Come what come may,

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Banqito. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. Macbeth. Give me your favor: my dull brain was wrought With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 150 Are register'd where every day I turn The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time, The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak / Our free'hearts each to other. o^A C

^- Banqno. Very gladly.

Macbeth. Till then, enough. Come, friends. [Exeunt.

Scene IV. Forres. The palace

Flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, and Attendants.

Duncan. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not Those in commission yet return'd?

Malcolm. - My liege,

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke With one that saw him die : who did report That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, Implored your highness' pardon and set forth A deep repentance : (nothing in his life ^a^uv/v—

Became him like the leaving it ; he died As one that had been studied in his death

To throw away the dearest thing he owed 10

As 'twere a careless trifle, j

Duncan. There's no art

To find the mind's construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.

Enter Macbeth, Banouo, Ross, and Angus.

O worthiest cousin !

The sin of my ingratitude even now Was heavy on me : thou art so far before That swiftest wing of recompense is slow To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved, That the proportion both of thanks and payment Might have been mine ! only I have left to say, 20

More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Macbeth. The service and the loyalty I owe In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part Is to receive our duties : and our duties Are to your throne and state children and servants ; Which do but what they should, by doing every thing Safe toward your love and honor.

Duncan. Welcome hither :

I have begun to plant thee, and will labor /yviP^Wx^ To make thee full of growing. Noble BanquoJ That hast no less deserved, nor must be known 30

No less to have done so : let me infold thee And hold thee to my heart.

c

Banquo. There if I grow,

The harvest is your own. ^

Duncan. My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes, And you whose places are the nearest, know We will establish our estate upon Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland : which honor must Not unaccompanied invest him only; 40

But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine On all deservers. From hence to Inverness, And bind us further to you.

Macbeth. The rest is labor, which is not used for you : I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful The hearing of my wife with your approach; So humbly take my leave.

Duncan. My worthy Cawdor!

Macbeth. [Aside], The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, ] For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires ; 50

Let not light see my black and deep desires : The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. [Exit.

Duncan. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant, And in his commendations I am fed; It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, i 4 MACBETH.

'...Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome :

\ It is a peerless kinsman! [Flourish. Exeunt.

Scene V. Inverness. Macbeth s castle. Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter

Lady Macbeth. k They met me in the day of success : and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who allhailed me " Thane of Cawdor ; " by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with "Hail, king that shalt be!" This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.' Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised : yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it : what thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily ; wouldst not play false, 20 And yet wouldst wrongly win: thouidst have, great

Glamis, That which cries ' Thus thou must do, if thou have it ' ; And that which rather thou dost fear to do

ACT I. SCENETSp i 5

Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crown'd withal.

j Enter a Messenger.

What is your tidings ?

Messenger. The king comes here to-night.

Lady Macbetli. Thou'rt mad to say it :

Is not thy master with him? who, were't so, 31

Would have inform'd for preparation.

Messenger. So please you, it is true : our thane is coming : One of my fellows had the speed of him, Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more Than would make up his message.

Lady Macbeth. Give him tending;

He brings great news. [Exit Messenger.

The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal' entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, 40

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood ; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keef) peace between

The effect and it ! Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall, yon murdering ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances Yon wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dnnnest smoke of hell, 50

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ' Hold, hold ! '

Enter Macbeth.

Great Glamis ! worthy Cawdor !

Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter! Thy letters have transported me beyond This ignorant present, and I feel now The future in the instant.

Macbeth. My dearest love,

Duncan comes here to-night.

Lady Macbeth. And when goes hence?

Macbeth. To-morrow, as he purposes.

Lady Macbeth. O, never

Shall sun that morrow see ! 60

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue : look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't. He that's coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This night's great business into my dispatch ; Which shall to all our nights and days to come

\fr

ACT L SCENE VI. 17

Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.

Macbeth. We will speak further.

Lady Macbeth. Only look up clear;

To alter favor ever is to fear : 71

Leave all the rest to me. [Exeunt.

Scene VI. Before Macbeth' s castle

Hautboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Don-

ALBAIN, BANOUO, LENNOX, MACDUFF, R.OSS, ANGUS,

and Attendants.

Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses.

Banquo. This guest of summer,

Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle : Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed The air is delicate.

Enter Lady Macbeth.

Duncan. See, see, our honor'd hostess! 10

The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you How you shall bid God lid us for your pains And thank us for vour trouble.

Lady Macbeth. All our service

In every point twice done and then done double Were poor and single business to contend Against those honors deep and broad wherewith Your majesty loads our house: for those of old, And the late dignities heap'd up to them, We rest your hermits.

Duncan. Where's the thane of Cawdor?

We coursed him at the heels, and had a purpose 21

To be his purveyor : but he rides well ; And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess, We are your guest to-night.

Lady Macbeth. Your servants ever

Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, Still to return your own.

Duncan. Give me your hand ;

Conduct me to mine host : we love him highly, And shall continue our graces toward him. 30

By your leave, hostess. [Exeunt.

Scene VII. Macbeth' s castle

Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Servants with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. Then enter Macbeth.

Macbeth. \ s \£ it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well

It were done quickly : if the assassination

ACT I. SCENE VII. 19

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

With his surcease success ; that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases

We still have judgement here;' that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which being taught return

To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice 10

Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice

To our own lips. He's here in double trust ;

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against

The deep damnation of his taking-off; 20

And pity, like a naked new-born babe,

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

And falls on the other.

J

2o MACBETH.

Enter Lady Macbeth.

How now ! what news ?

Lady Macbeth. He has almost supp'd : why have you left the chamber?

Macbeth. Hath he ask'd for me?

Lady Macbeth. Know you not he has? 30

Macbeth.i We will proceed no further in this business : He hath honor'd me of late ; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon.

Lady Macbeth. Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely ? From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor 40

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteenrst the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ' I dare not ' wait upon l I would,' Like the poor cat i' the adage ?

Macbeth. Prithee, peace:

I dare do all that may become a man ; Who dares do more is none.

Lady Macbeth. What beast was't then

That made you break this enterprise to me ? When you durst do it, then you were a man ;

ACT I. SCENE VII. 21

And, to be more than what you were, you would 50

Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both : They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me : I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck 'd my nipple from his boneless gums And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.

Macbeth. If we should fail?

Lady Macbeth. We fail !

But screw your courage to the sticking-place, 60

And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep —

-

Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey Soundly invite him — his two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail so convince That memory, the warder of the brain, Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason A limbec only : when in swinish sleep Their drenched natures lie as in a death, What cannot you and I perform upon The unguarded Duncan ? what not put upon 70

His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell?

«■" Macbeth. Bring forth men-children only ;

For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males. W T ill it not be received, When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two

Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, That they have done't?

Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other,

As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar Upon his death?

Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. 80

Away, and mock the time with fairest show : False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

[Exeunt ACT II.

Scene I. Court of Macbeth 3 s castle

Enter Banquo, and Fleance bearing a torch before him.

Danquo. How goes the night, boy? '

Fleance. The moon is down ; I have not heard the

clock.

Banquo. And she goes down at twelve.

Fleance. I take't, 'tis later, sir.

Banquo. Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven ; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep : merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose !

Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch.

Give me my sword.

Who's there? 10

Act II. Scene I. 23

Macbeth. A friend.

Banquo. What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed : He hath been in unusual pleasure, and Sent forth great largess to your offices.

This diamond he greets your wife withal, By the name of most kind hostess ; and shut up In measureless content.

Macbeth. Being unprepared,

Our will became the servant to defect ; Which else should free have wrought.

Banquo. All's well.

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters : 20

To you they have show'd some truth.

Macbeth. I think not of them :

Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, We would spend it in some words upon that business, If you would grant the time.

Banquo. At your kind'st leisure.

Macbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis, It shall make honor for you.

Banquo. So I lose none

In seeking to augment it, but still keep My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, I shall be counsell'd.

Macbeth. Good repose the while!

Banquo. Thanks, sir : the like to you ! 30

[Exeunt Banquo and Fleancc.

Macbeth. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. [Exit Servant.

Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand ? Come, let me clutch thee.

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible

To feeling as to sight ? or art thou but

A dagger of the mind, a false creation,

Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ?

I see thee yet, in form as palpable 40

As this which now I draw.

Thou marshalFst me the way that I was going;

And such an instrument I was to use.

Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,

Or else worth all the rest : I see thee still ;

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,

Which was not so before. There's no such thing :

It is the bloody business which informs

Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-world

Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 50

The curtain'd sleep ; witchcraft celebrates

Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,

Alarum'd by his sentinel the wolf,

Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,

Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,

Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear

Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,

And take the present horror from the time,

Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat he lives : 60

Words to the heat of deeds too cool breath gives.

[A bell rings.

ACT II. SCENE II. 25

I go, and it is clone; the bell invites me.

Hear it not, Duncan ; for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven or to hell. [Exit.

Scene II. The same. Enter Lady Macbeth

Lady MacbethX-^hat which hath made them drunk

hath made me bold Q What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark !

Peace !

It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it : The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms Do mock their charge with snores : I have drugg'd their

possets, That death and nature do contend about them, Whether they live or die.

-Macbeth. [Within.] Who's there? what, ho!

w Lady Macbeth. Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, AntT-'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed 10

Confounds us. Hark ! I laid their daggers ready ; He could not miss 'era. Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't.

s^-~- Enter Macbeth.

My husband !

Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise ?

Lady M. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you speak?

Macbeth. When?

Lady Macbeth. Now.

Macbeth. As I descended?

Lady Macbeth. Ay.

Macbeth. Hark !

Who lies i' the second chamber?

Lady Macbeth. Donalbain.

Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. [Looking on his hands. 20