Hec. Have I not reason, beldams, as you are,
Saucy, and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth,
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward 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,

Meet me i'the morning; thither he
Will come to know his destiny.
Your vessels, and your spells, provide,
Your charms, and every thing beside:
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal-fatal end.

Great business must be wrought ere noon :
Upon the corner of the moon

There hangs a vaporous drop profound;1
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that, distill'd by magic slights,
Shall raise such artificial sprites,
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:
you all know, security

And

Is mortals' chiefest enemy.

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

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.

1 Witch. Come, let's make haste; she'll soon

be back again.

[Exit.

[Exeunt.

(1) i. e. A drop that has deep or hidden qual

ities.

SCENE VI.-Fores. A room in the palace. En ter Lenox and another Lord.

Len. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts,

Which can interpret further: 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 it 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?
Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too,
For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive,
To hear the men deny it. 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 bread 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 received
Of the most pious Edward with such grace,
That the malevolence of fortune nothing
Takes from his high respect: Thither Macduff
gone to pray the holy king, on his aid

Is

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 table meat, sleep to our nights;
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives;
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours,1
All which we pine for now: And this report
Hath so exasperate2 the king, that he

Prepares for some atempt 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.

Len. And that well might 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.

My prayers with him!

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I-A dark cave. In the middle a cauldron boiling. Thunder. Enter 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 coldest stone, Days and nights hast thirty-one Swelter'd3 venom sleeping got,

(1) Honours freely bestowed. (2) For exasperated.

(3) This word is employed to signify that the animal was hot, and sweating with venom, although sleeping under a cold stone.

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 wol
Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf,1
Of the ravin'd2 salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock, digg'd i'the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
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,3
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 the other Three Witches

Hec. O, 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.

(1) The throat. (2) Ravenous. (3) Entrails.

SONG.

Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.

2 Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:Open, locks, whoever knocks.

Enter Macbeth.

Macb. How now, you secret, black, and mid night 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: Though you untie the winds, and let them fight Against the churches; though the yesty' waves Confound and swallow navigation up;

Though bladed corn be lodg'd,2 and trees blown

down;

Though castles topple3 on their warders' heads; Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope

Their heads to their foundations; though the trea

sure

Of nature's germins4 tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken, answer me

To what I ask you.

1 Witch.

2 Witch.

3 Witch.

1 Witch. Say, if thou'd'st rather hear it from our

mouths,

Or from our masters'?

Macb.

(1) Frothy.

(3) Tumble.

Call them, let me see them.

(2) Laid flat by wind or rain.

(4) Seeds which have begun to sprout.