And when we have our naked frailties hid,51
That suffer in exposure, let us meet,

And question this most bloody piece of work,

To know it further. Fears and scruples shake us:
In the great hand of God I stand; and thence
Against the undivulged pretence I fight

Of treasonous malice.52

Macd.

All.

And so do I.

So all.

Macb. Let's briefly 53 put on manly readiness, And meet i' the hall together.

All.

Well contented.

[Exeunt all but MALCOLM and DONALBAIN.

Mal. What will you do? Let's not consort with them:

To show an unfelt sorrow is an office

Which the false man does' easy. I'll to England.

Don. To Ireland, I; our separated fortune

Shall keep us both the safer: where we are,

There's daggers in men's smiles: the near' in blood,
The nearer bloody.54

observes, "For dreadful deeds anticipated and resolved upon, she has strength; but the surprise of a novel horror, on which she has not counted, deprives her suddenly of consciousness: when Macbeth announces his butchery of Duncan's grooms, the lady swoons, not in feigning but in fact, and is borne away insensible."

51 Banquo and the others who slept in the castle have rushed forth undressed. This is what he refers to in "our naked frailties."

52 The natural construction is," and thence I fight against the undivulged pretence of treasonous malice." Pretence here means intention or purpose. A frequent usage. So the verb, a little further on: "What good could they pretend?"

53 Briefly, here, is quickly or speedily. Often so.—"Manly readiness" probably means man's attire; the opposite of " naked frailties."

-

54 Meaning that he suspects Macbeth, who is the next in blood, or kin.The Poet sometimes uses the form of the positive with the sense of the

Mal.
Hath not yet lighted ;55 and our safest way
Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse ;
And let us not be dainty of leave-taking,56
But shift away: there's warrant in that theft
Which steals itself when there's no mercy left.

This murderous shaft that's shot

[Exeunt.

Without the Castle.

Enter Ross and an old Man.

Old M. Threescore-and-ten I can remember well:
Within the volume of which time I've seen

Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night
Hath trifled former knowings.

Ross.

Ah, good father,

Thou seest, the Heavens, as troubled with man's act,
Threaten his bloody stage: by th' clock 'tis day,
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.
Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame,
That darkness does the face of Earth entomb,
When living light should kiss it?

Old M.

'Tis unnatural,

Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last,

A falcon, towering in her pride of place,1

Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd.

comparative; which is indicated here by the printing, near', for nearer. See King Richard the Second, page 102, note 8.

55 Suspecting this murder to be the work of Macbeth, Malcolm thinks it could have no purpose but what himself and his brother equally stand in the way of; that the "murderous shaft" must pass through them to reach its mark.

56 That is, punctilious or particular about leave-taking. 1 A phrase in falconry for soaring to the highest pitch.

Ross. And Duncan's horse',2.

certain,

a thing most strange and

Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make
War with mankind.

Old M.

'Tis said they eat each other.3 Ross. They did so, to th' amazement of mine eyes That look'd upon't. Here comes the good Macduff. Enter MACDUFF.

How goes the world, sir, now?

Macd.

Why, see you not?

Ross. Is't known who did this more than bloody deed? Macd. Those that Macbeth hath slain.

Malcolm and Donalbain, the King's two sons,
Are stol'n away and fled; which puts upon them
Suspicion of the deed.

Ross.

'Gainst nature still :

Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up 5

Thine own life's means! Then 'tis most like

The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth.

2 In divers cases, the Poet uses the form of the singular with a plural sense; as horse' for horses, house' for houses, corpse for corpses, &c.

3 Holinshed relates that, after King Duff's murder," there was a sparhawk strangled by an owl," and that "horses of singular beauty and swiftness did eat their own flesh."

4 Suborned is a technical term in law for bribed or hired. So we have the phrases "suborn false witnesses," and "subornation of perjury."

5 To ravin up is to consume or devour ravenously. The Poet elsewhere has ravin down in exactly the same sense.

Macd. He is already named, and gone to Scone

To be invested.

Ross.

Where is Duncan's body?

Macd. Carried to Colme-kill,"

The sacred storehouse of his predecessors,

And guardian of their bones.

Ross.

Macd. No, cousin, I'll to Fife.

Ross.

Will you to Scone?

Well, I will thither.7

Macd. Well, may you see things well done there; adieu! Lest our old robes sit easier than our new! 8

Ross. Farewell, father.

Old M. God's benison go with you, and with those That would make good of bad, and friends of foes!

[Exeunt.

6 Colme-kill is the famous Iona, one of the Western Isles mentioned by Holinshed as the burial-place of many ancient kings of Scotland. Colmekill means the cell or chapel of St. Columba. The place was visited by Dr. Johnson during his tour in Scotland, and drew from him the following memorable passage: "We were now treading that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. Far from me and from my friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona."

7 That is, "I will go to Scone."

8 This latter clause logically connects with "see things well done there"; adieu! being awkwardly thrust in for a rhyming couplet.

9 Benison is blessing, and is used whenever the verse requires a trisyllable. The opposite sense was expressed by malison.

ACT III.

SCENE I. Forres. A Room in the Palace.

Enter BANQUO.

Ban. Thou hast it now, - king, Cawdor, Glamis, all As the Weird Women promised; and I fear

Thou play'dst most foully for't yet it was said

It should not stand in thy posterity;

But that myself should be the root and father

Of many kings. If there come truth from them, —
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine,1-
Why, by the verities on thee made good,

May they not be my oracles as well,

And set me up in hope? But, hush! no more.

Sennet sounded. Enter MACBETH, as King; Lady MACBETH, as Queen; LENNOX, Ross, Lords, Ladies, and Attendants.

Macb. Here's our chief guest.

Lady M.

If he had been forgotten,

It had been as a gap in our great feast,

And all things unbecoming.2

Macb. To-night we hold a solemn supper,3 sir,

And I'll request your presence.

1 Their speeches prosper, or appear in the lustre of manifest truth; a conspicuous instance, to warrant belief in their predictions.

2 That is, such an oversight would have disordered the whole feast, and rendered all things unfitting and discordant.

8 This was the phrase of Shakespeare's time for a feast or banquet given on a particular occasion, to solemnize any event, as a birth, marriage, coronation.