from the Fr. ronger, to gnaw, Lat. rodere; and interprets "aroint thee" to inean, "be thou gnawed," "plague take thee!" He derives ronyon, in the same line, from the same root; and takes it to mean a scabby person. The latter word is more probably from Fr. rognon, rogneux, scurvy. 97. I' the shipman's card, i.e., chart; from Lat. charta, Fr. carte. 101. Forbid, forbidden, i.e., interdicted, with a curse upon him. 102. Sev'n-nights, weeks; also se'enight and sennight. Comp. fortnight, i.e., fourteen-night, two weeks. 103. Dwindle, to waste; diminutive from dwine, A.-S. dwin-an, to consume. 103. Peak, to become lean; from A.-S. pyc-an, to pick. Peak, a mountain-top, is the same word. 111. The weird sisters; weird is from A.-S. wyrd, word, as fate is from Lat. fatum, something spoken (fari). 118. What are these, et seq. Comp. Holinshed, § 15. 132. Fantastical, i.e., creatures of the Phantasy or fancy; imaginary: from Gr. Qaiva, I appear. 134. My noble partner you greet, etc. Comp. Holinshed, § 16. 136. Rapt, transported; from A.-S. reafian, Lat. rap-ere, to carry off. From the same root are rap, rape, rapacity, rapid; reave, she-riff; rob, etc. 137. If you can, speak then to me; a hypothetical sentence, having the apodosis in the imperative. 139. Who neither beg, nor fear, your favours, nor your hate, verbs and objects must be taken alternately; "who neither beg your favours, nor fear your hate." 144. Thou shalt 'get kings. Comp. Holinshed," Of thee there shall be borne which shall gouern the Scottish kingdome," etc., and the chronicle afterwards traces the line of the Stewarts from Banquo's son Fleance. 144. 'Get; used for be-get, as 'gins for be-gins in 39. 147. You imperfect speakers; the imperfection here belongs to the matter of their speech, not to the manner of it. 153. Owe, possess, derive; now used in the sense of to be indebted, to be bound. From A.-S. ágan, to possess. From the past part. owen (ágen), is formed to own, (1.) to possess, (2.) to acknowledge. From the past tense, owed (áht) is formed ought, (1.) possessed, (2.) as a present or future, is bound, or should. The (accented) á is preserved in the Sc. awn, awner. 154. Or why upon, etc., n. cl., object to say. 154. Blasted, means lit. destroyed by wind; from A.-S. blaestan, wh.from blaesan, to blow; whence blaze, blossom, blast, bluster, etc. In a moral sense blasted means confounded. 158. Corporal, having a body, used in the sense now attached to the adj. corporeal. The former is derived from the stem of corpus, corpor-; the latter is taken directly from the adj. corporeus. 161. The insane root, root causing insanity; Henbane, a narcotic plant, the juice of which, botanists tell us, dilates the pupil. 166. Macbeth; the vocative, or nominative of address. 168. Venture, risk, hazard, daring. So Merchant of Venice, 1. 1,— "Had I such venture forth." 169. His wonders and his praises do contend, Which should be thine, or his ; i.e., There is a contest whether most wonder should be his, or praise thine ;-a most felicitous compliment. The alternative form resembles that of lines 139, 140. 170. Silenced with that, adv. phr. to "he finds." Struck dumb by that thought. 174. Strange images of death, n. phr. in apposition with "what thyself didst make." 174. As thick as hail, came post with post. The folio has a comma after death, and reads "as thick as tale can post with post." The objections to the latter reading and connexion are, (1.) that the clause, in any case, must refer to the number and speed of the reports, not to the number of Macbeth's death-blows; and (2.) that, with the latter reading, there is nothing for "and" to co-ordinate with "did bear.' The obvious meaning is, that the posts or couriers came thick as hail, and every one of them did bear Macbeth's praises. 180. Pay, infin. of purpose under the regimen of "sent." 180. An earnest, a pledge, a proof of being in earnest. The adj. earnest is from A.-S. georn-ost, the superlative of georn, desirous, from yrnan, to run after. To yearn is from the same root. 182. In which addition, i.e., title, a heraldic and legal term. 185. Who was the thane; this (like all relative clauses with the correlative omitted) may be regarded as a n. cl., subject to "lives." It is really an att. cl. to "he" understood. 187. Whether he was combined with those of Norway, n. cl. object to "I know not;" means, I know not whether he openly joined the Norwegians, or secretly aided them. 188. Line, strengthen; lit. to cover the inside; hence to strengthen covertly. 189. With both, by both means. There are two words with, in English, (1.) With (instrumental) by, Lat. ab, from A.-S. wyrthan, weorthan, to be (béon, imperative by-th); (2.) With (conjunctive) = Lat. cum, from A-S. withe, a band, hence the Eng. with or withe, a willow twig. 192. Glamis and thane of Cawdor, etc. Macbeth's speeches are partly soliloquy, partly conversational, throughout the rest of the scene. How admirably this reflects his mental agitation! 196. No less, here, is equivalent to "something greater." 196. Trusted home, adv. phr. of cause or condition to "might enkindle." If trusted home, i.e., if trusted to its full extent. Home is here an adv., with the same meaning as in home-thrust. 230. The interim having weighed it. Ahs. phr. we having weighed it in the interim. 234. Liege, in the singular, means lord or sovereign; in the plural it means the people. It is from Fr. lige, Lat. ligare, to bind; and has this double meaning because under the feudal system, to which the term belongs, lord and vassals were bound to one another, the former to protect, the latter to support. 235. They are not yet come, like "are returned" in line 257; the present passive of intransitive verbs, used for the perfect active, have come and have returned. Compare Ger. Ich bin gewesen. 241. Studied, careful; for studious. 242. Owed, possessed.- Vide 153. 250.' Would thou hadst less deserved, etc. The courteous phrase in which Duncan's compliments are couched well becomes a king, "so soft and gentle of nature." The elegant circumlocution of this sentence draws out the thought to its utmost sub 198. Besides the thane of Cawdor, i.e., in addition to the thaneship of Cawdor. 206. Soliciting, encouragement, instiga-tilty. tion. So in Lat. -Sollicitare civitates, to stir up the states. 215. Whose; the possessive was used by old authors in two senses: (1.) As a possessive proper of whom (Lat. genitive); (2.) As denoting the instrument = by whom (Lat. ablative). Here it is the latter. 215. Murther; old form of murder, from A-S. morthor, murder; morth, death, Lat. mort-is. The primitive root in the Goth. is mer-yan, to scatter or dissipate, from which there have descended three groups of words, with meanings differing according to the implied object dissipated :-(1.) To dissipate or destroy life, hence mar, and murder; (2.) To dissipate darkness, hence morgen, morn; (3.) To dissipate care, hence merry, mirth. 215. Fantastical, in my phantasy, imaginary. Vide 132. 216. Function is smother'd in surmise, his power of present action is paralysed by his anticipations. i.e., 217. Nothing is but what is not ; the future alone (that which is not-yet) is present to his thoughts. 220. Without my stir. Macbeth would evidently prefer that it should come about by "chance." We can trace in this hesitation and struggle what his wife stigmatized as the "milk of human kindness" in his nature. Compare Hol. § 17,"He thought with himselfe that he must tarie a time, which should aduance him thereto (by the diuine providence) as it had come to pass in his former preferment." 222. Come is here the past participle; att. to "honours," 253. More is thy due, n. cl. object to say." The double comparison in this line is at once proper and forcible: Macbeth deserves not only "more than all can pay," but even more than that. 266. Wanton, an adj. here; revelling, luxuriating. 271. The Prince of Cumberland. Compare Hol. § 17. 276. Harbinger, lit. one who looks out for, or prepares a harbour; old form herbergeour; Ger. herberger,-hence a forerunner. Harbour is from A.-S. here, an army, and beorg-an, to fortify; hence burgh, borough, primarily signifies a fortress, and the "Fif-burgs" in the time of Alfred were five fortresses in Mercia garrisoned by the Danes. 282. Stars, hide your fires, etc. Shakespeare often introduces rhyming couplets at the close of scenes and soliloquies,—not always with the best effect. 284. The eye wink at the hand; i.e., Let the eye wink at the hand. 297. Wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win. This is the key to Macbeth's character. It is the ultimate point in the mental analysis of the tragedy. The same quality is indicated in his rather fearing to do the deed, than wishing it un-done (300). 300. And that, scil. And thou must do that. 301 Un-done does not here mean reversed after being done, but not done at all. 304. Golden round, golden circle, the crown. It may also refer, figuratively, to the completion of his career. 305. Metaphysical, supernatural; in the sense of hyper-physical, above or beyond nature. But in Latin metaphysica = supernaturalia. 306. Withal is here a preposition, an intensified form of with. It has been shown (1. 189) that there are two words with, in English, one denoting instrumentality, the other conjunction. Corresponding with these, there are two words withal, the one an adverb, signifying likewise (with all this), as in 1 Kings, "Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal (besides) how he had slain all the prophets with the sword;" the other a preposition, signifying intensified instrumentality. The latter is the word in the text; its object is "which" in the previous line. It is also used supra, 136, where its object is "that." In the double compound wherewithal, the preposition and its object are thrown into one word; as, "Wherewithal shall we be clothed" "What shall we be clothed withal"), Matt. ii. 31. 308. Is not thy master with him?= Thy master is, etc. The negative interrogation, when exclamatory, is equal to an affirmative proposition. So, an affirmative interrogation is equivalent to a negative proposition; as, "Am I my brother's keeper ?" "I am not," etc. 311. Had the speed of him, had the start of him. Speed lit. means progress, A.-S. sped. Comp. Gr. σroudn, which is probably connected with rous, as Lat. expedire is with pes, the ultimate root being the same for all, the English foot included, viz, p*d. 321. That no compunctious visitings, etc., i.e., That no feeling of compunction may step in between my purpose and its accomplishment 329. The blanket of the dark.-Blanket is here obviously used in the sense of a thick covering generally, not in the specific sense to which it is now limited. The appeal, two lines above, to Night to pall or cloak herself in the smoke of hell, makes the use of blanket here an appropriate continuation of the metaphor. Some emendators have difficulty in reconciling themselves to the word, and suggest "blankness" as a preferable reading. No such change seems necessary; and there is the special objection to "blankness" that it does not sort well with the idea of peeping. Comp. 282, et seq. 334. The instant, the present; that which is in-stans. 337. That morrow, i.e., there never will be a morrow in which Duncan shall "go hence." Morrow is here used in the sense of morning generally, not specially of next morning, to which it is now limited. 847. We will speak further. This indicates vacillation on Macbeth's part: the struggle is raging between the fear to do the deed, and the wish that it should not be left un-done. 348. To alter favour, to change the expression. So, "I have surely seen him, His favour is familiar to me."-Cymb. v. 5. And, "I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, As well as I do know your outward favour."-Jul. Cæs. 1. ii. The transference of the name which be longs primarily to the feeling, to that by which the feeling is most readily and subtilely indicated, is at once simple and natural. It is remarkable that "countenance" is an equivalent for favour in both its senses. -Vide Craik's English of Shakespeare, p. 87. 350. Scene vi.-Mark the consummate skill in the transition from the deep-seated passion and dark conspiracy of Scene v. to the unsuspecting and genial courtesy of the old King in Scene vi. The mind finds relief in passing from the deep shadows of the former to the playful lights of the latter, while the contrast brings out the features of each with startling intensity: this is the chiaroscuro of dramatic art. 353. Martlet, swift, swallow; one of the dim. of martin; Fr. martinet being the other. The bird is so called from its leaving Europe about Martinmas. Martinet, a disciplinarian, must be connected with another meaning of the Fr. word,—that of Scourge or cat-o'-nine-tails 355. Jutty, part of a building, generally a window, which juts or projects beyond the main wall. Fr. jetter, Lat. jact-um. 355. Frieze, the flat member in the entablature of a column which separates the architrave from the cornice. Fr. frise, It. frigio; probably from Phrygi-ones, the reputed inventors of ornament in architecture and dress. 356. Buttress, a projection from a wall, built between the windows and at the angles; belongs primarily to Gothic architecture. 356. Coigne, also quoigne, an angle, or corner; from Fr. coing, Lat. cuneus, a wedge. Coin, money, is from the same root, being so called from the cuneiform shape of the seal with which the coin was stamped. 360. The love that follows us, etc. Here, as in Duncan's previous speeches, the poet assigns to him an ingenious subtilty of expression. The meaning is, Your love is often troublesome to me, yet I thank you for it; if my love causes you trouble, you in like manner ought to thank me therefor." 364. In every point twice done, and then done double,-a periphrasis for our multiplied services. Compare 253. 369. We rest your hermits, i.e., you may count upon our prayers for you. Hermits here means beadsmen, those engaged to pray for others. 371. To be his purveyor. The right of the crown to buy up, forcibly if necessary, provisions for the use of the royal household, was called purveyance. The commissioners who performed this duty were called the king's purveyors. There is here, then, a delicate compliment to Macbeth. The King meant to be his purveyor. 372. Hath holp him. Holp is the old past tense of help, here used for the old past participle holpen, which is the A.-8. p. part of help-an. So also "A man is well holpe up that trusts in you."-Comedy of Errors, Iv. i. 375. In compt, in readiness; counted or reckoned up, ready for his audit. 377. Still to return your own; i.e., As we hold everything from you, whatever we give you is but returning your own. 381. If it were done, etc. It has often been pointed out that the word done has a different meaning each time it is used in this passage. It may be thus paraphrased: If the matter were all over when the deed is accomplished, then it were well it were gone through quickly." It occurs four times in the passage, and with several varieties of meaning: the first it refers to the whole matter, with its consequences; the second it refers to the murder ; the third it is a demonstrative particle, relating to the cl. "it were done quickly;" the fourth it relates to the deed, viewed simply as an act, not as murder. The sentence may be thus analysed : The sentence is both hypothetical and potential clauses A and la together form the Apodosis, 2a and a2 together form the Protasis. 382. If, etc. "If" here expresses more than a simple condition; it is a condition earnestly longed for. This slips out in the use of that' (= would that) in line 384. The two protases have their common apodosis in "We'd jump the life to come." The mood of the sentence may be called an optative conditional: If A. happened, B. would follow. Therefore, would that A. might happen, that B. might follow. 383. Trammel, to catch as in a net, from Fr. tramail, a net. 384. His, for its. Its had not come into general use in Shakespeare's time, and its place vas often supplied by his, which in a2 (Adv. cl. time.) | A.-S., was the genitive neuter, as well as masculine. The word "its" does not occur in the English Bible, its place being supplied partly by his; as "If the salt have lost his saltness," Mark ix. 50; and partly by "the-thereof;" as "five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof," Ex. Xxxviii. 1. See an interesting examination of this point in Craik's English of Shakespeare, pp. 91-97. 385. Be-all, end-all, are imperatives of be, and end, with the intensifying suffix -all, signifying entirety. Thus compounded, they are nouns, and together mean "the final consummation." The meaning of the whole passage, which its enigmatical ab ruptness makes difficult of analysis, seems to be, that if "we could exhaust the consequences of the deed here, if we could get quit of the pricking of conscience here, then we might face the life to come fearlessly. But we still have judgment here, telling us that we but teach," etc. 396. Myself, grammatically we should expect "himself," but the first person better suits Macbeth's present self-examination. 405. The feelings which the wonderful mental anatomy of this speech discloses as working in Macbeth's mind are, first, fear of consequences, specially dread of the torments of his own evil conscience; second, a sense of the baseness of so violating the laws of hospitality, of kinship, of gratitude, and of loyalty; third, a feeling of kindness and pity for Duncan (the "milk of human kindness" again); fourth, fear of the sympathy for Duncan that will be evoked by the deed; fifth, a conviction that, besides his ambition, he has no real motive for the deed. Influenced by these feelings, he has resolved to "proceed no further in this business," when his wife, the Mephistopheles of the play, appears, to taunt and torture him out of his unmanliness. 414. Would be, for "should be;" the indiscriminate use of would and should to denote condition has led to the use of would for should, in its other sense of obligation or duty. 417. So green and pale, with so much jealousy (the green-eyed monster) and fear. 419. Art thou afeard, etc. Exactly what he was. What wonderful summaries of Macbeth's moods we get in Lady Macbeth's speeches! How she galls him by the truthfulness with which she reads off his thoughts! 425. Like the poor cat i' the adage. The proverb referred to is, "The cat loves fish, but dares not wet her feet." to me. 428. That made you break this enterprise She adroitly throws the responsibility of originating the enterprise upon Macbeth, in order to make him appear recreant. But it really originated with herself. 432. Did then adhere, did then enter into our calculations, or were then favourable. 441. And we'll not fail. What diabolical resolution of character there is in this utterance! 444. Wassail, lit. health-drinking; jovial merry-making: from A.-S. waes, p. of wesan, to be, and hál, healthy. The earliest notice of the custom is on the occasion of the meeting of Vortigern with Rowena, who, "presenting him with a cup of wine, exclaimed, Lord King, waes-HEIL,' that is literally, "health be to you." con, and vinco, to subdue, which is probably connected with vincio, to bind. 447. A limbeck, an alembic (Ar.), a vessel used in distilling,-here a vapour-filled vessel. 449. What cannot you and I, etc. How skilfully is this put. She does not shock Macbeth's sensitiveness, nor raise again the fears she has laid, by using words as plain and as strong as in the opening of ber speech. She puts her thought in the most insinuating form, and that as a question to which there is but one inevitable answer. 452, Quell, kill. Qu in Eng. is the equivalent of cw in A.-S. (e.g, cuén = queen). So quell is from A.-S. cwell-an, to kill, smother, quell. Аст ІІ. 4. Husbandry, thrift; that careful management which becomes a husband or father of a family. Husband itself is from A.-S. hús, a house, and búend, a dweller; which from buan, to cultivate (whence boor, and neigh-bour). This etymology. also explains the meaning of the compounds husband-land and husbandman; the former being the land cultivated, the latter the cultivator. 8. Restrain in me, etc.; Banquo (as he hints at 1. 20) has been tempted in his dreams"in repose "-to commit some crime from which his waking nature recoils, and he implores Heaven's aid against the temptation. What a contrast to the course which Macbeth is following! 12. A-bed; that is, on-bed; as, a-board, for on board; a-hunting, for on hunting, etc. The prefix on assumed, in old English, various forms, as an, in, un. 16. Shut up, closed or concluded (scil.) the day. 19. Which, relative to "our will." 22. Entreat an hour to serve; engage or arrange for a suitable time. 24. Kind'st here means most convenient or proper. Kind is from kin, A.-S. cyn, race, and signifies the feeling appropriate to those of the same family, hence fit, becoming, congenial. Shakespeare has played upon this connexion in the line, "A little more than kin, and less than kind."-Julius Cæsar. Boyle uses kindest in the same sense as in the text, when he says, "Gabriel Plats takes care to distinguish what hay is kindest for sheep." 24. Leisure, is the Fr. loisir, which from 444. Convince, overpower; from Lat. laisser, to loose, to set free. |