As by the strength of their illusion,
Shall draw him on to his confusion.

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear;
And, you all know, security

Is mortals' chiefest enemy.

Song. [Within.] Come away, come away, &c.1 Hark! I am call'd: my little spirit, see,

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.

[Exit.

1 Witch. Come, let's make haste: she'll soon be back

again.

SCENE VI.

[Exeunt.

Fores. A Room in the Palace.

Enter LENOx and another Lord.

Len. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts,
Which can interpret farther: only, I say,

Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan
Was pitied of Macbeth :-marry, he was dead;
And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late;

Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd,
For Fleance fled. Men must not walk too late.
Who cannot want the thought', how monstrous

It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain,
To kill their gracious father? damned fact!
How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight,

In pious rage the two delinquents tear,

That were the slaves of drink, and thralls of sleep?

1 Song. [Within.] Come away, come away, &c.] Steevens refers us to the following song, as it is called, in Middleton's "Witch," which was unquestionably written some time after " Macbeth:"

"Come away, come away,

Hecate, Hecate, come away!

Hec. I come, I come, I come, I come,

With all the speed I may,

With all the speed I may."-Dyce's Middleton, iii. 303.

If it be the same song, and there are only the words "Come away," by which to identify it, both poets probably made use of the same then known piece of music. 2 Who cannot want the thought,] i. e. Who cannot but think.

Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely, too;
For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive,

To hear the men deny't. So that, I say,

He has borne all things well; and I do think,
That had he Duncan's sons under his key,

(As, an't please heaven, he shall not) they should find
What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance.

But, peace!-for from broad words, and 'cause he fail'd
His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear,

Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell
Where he bestows himself?

Lord.

The son of Duncan,

From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth,
Lives in the English court; and is receiv'd
Of the most pious Edward with such grace,
That the malevolence of fortune nothing
Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff
Is gone, to pray the holy king upon his aid
To wake Northumberland, and warlike Siward;
That by the help of these, (with Him above
To ratify the work) we may again

Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights,
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives,
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours,
All which we pine for now. And this report
Hath so exasperate the king', that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.

Len.

Sent he to Macduff?

Lord. He did; and with an absolute, "Sir, not I:"
The cloudy messenger turns me his back,

And hums, as who should say, "You'll rue the time
That clogs me with this answer.”

And that well might

Len.
Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel
Fly to the court of England, and unfold
His message ere he come, that a swift blessing
May soon return to this our suffering country
Under a hand accurs'd!

Lord.

I'll send my prayers with him!
[Exeunt.

3 The Son of Duncan,] The old copies, sons, obviously wrong.

THE king,] i. e. Macbeth. The old copy has, their king.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Cauldron.

Thunder. Enter the Three Witches.

1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew❜d.

2 Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd.
3 Witch. Harper cries,-"Tis time, 'tis time!
1 Witch. Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.-

Toad, that under cold stone",
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
2 Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake:·
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf

Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;

Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;

Gall of goat, and slips of yew,

5 HARPER cries,] In all the old folios this name is spelt Harpier: it may be doubted whether it was not a misprint for Harpy, then spelt Harpie. In Marlowe's "Tamberlaine, Part I.," 1590, 4to, Harpie is misprinted Harper: in the 8vo. edition, which is of the same date, it stands Harpy. Dyce's Marlowe, i. 51. Mr. Singer, taking Steevens's word, misquotes the line.

Toad, that under cold stone,] Such is the line in the original copies, and laying only due and expressive emphasis upon 'cold," it is not defective. Pope introduced the "" to complete the metre: Steevens read coldest for "cold;" but there is no reason whatever for preferring the superlative degree.

Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron',
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

2 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood;
Then the charm is firm and good.

Enter HECATE, and other Witches.

Hec. Oh, well done! I commend your pains,
And every one shall share i' the gains.

And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

[Music and a Song.

"Black spirits'," &c.

2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.—

Open, locks, whoever knocks!

Enter MACBETH.

[Knocking.

Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do ?

All.

A deed without a name.

Macb. I conjure you, by that which you profess, (Howe'er you come to know it) answer me:

7 Add thereto a tiger's CHAUDRON,] i. e. A tiger's entrails, from the Fr. 8 Enter Hecate, and other Witches.] The old stage-direction is, "Enter Hecate, and the other three Witches." What "other three Witches" are intended does not appear: perhaps we ought to read only, "Enter Hecate, and other three Witches;" but that some addition was meant to the three Witches, who had been engaged in the incantation, is highly probable, if only for the purpose of the song which is given immediately afterwards.

9 Music and a Song. "Black Spirits," &c.] The following is from Middleton's "Witch," and is probably the song intended :

"Black spirits, and white,

Red spirits and grey;

Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may."

Doubtless, it does not belong to Middleton more than to Shakespeare; but it was

Dyce's Middleton, iii. 328.

F f

inserted in both dramas, because it was appropriate.

VOL. V.

Though you untie the winds, and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up;

Though bleaded corn be lodg'd', and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;

Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope

Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germins' tumble all together,

Even till destruction sicken, answer me

To what I ask you.

1 Witch. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths, Or from our masters'?

Macb.

Call 'em let me see 'em.

1 Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten

Her nine farrow; grease, that's sweaten

From the murderer's gibbet, throw

Thunder. 1 Apparition, an armed Head'.

Macb. Tell me, thou unknown power,

2 Witch.

Hear his speech, but say thou nought.

He knows thy thought:

1 App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife.-Dismiss me :-enough. [Descends.

1 Though BLEADED corn be lodg'd,] "Bladed corn" in the folios; but it is manifestly an error (merely of one letter) for "bleaded corn," as it stands amended in the corr. fo. 1632. Mr. Singer says that "bladed corn is " corn just come into ear, when it is very liable to be lodged:" this is a mistake; it is most liable to be lodged when it is heavy in the ear, ripe and ready for the sickle, and such is the meaning of "bleaded," from A. S. blædan. In the next line, the corr. fo. 1632 also instructs us to read o'er for "on ;" and in the next line but one stoop for "slope;" but as these last changes can hardly be considered necessary, and may be inexpedient, we only mention them.

3

2 Of nature's GERMINS] "Germins are seeds which have begun to germinate or sprout. Shakespeare uses the word again in "King Lear," A. iii. sc. 2. DEFTLY show.] i. e. Dexterously, or adroitly, from the Sax. daft. Apparition, an armed Head.] In the old copies, the Apparitions are distinguished by the figures 1, 2, and 3, meaning the first, second, and third Apparition; and there seems every reason to continue to observe this practice, for the sake of distinctness.