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ACT II.
Scene I. Inverness. Court of Macbeth's Castle.[3924]
Enter Banquo, and Fleance bearing a torch before him.[3925]
Ban. How goes the night, boy?
Fle. The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.[3926]
Ban. And she goes down at twelve.
Fle. I take't, 'tis later, sir.
Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch.[3930]
Give me my sword.
Who's there?[3929] 10
Who's there?[3929] 10
Macb. A friend.
Ban. What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed:
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and[3931]
Sent forth great largess to your offices:[3931]
This diamond he greets your wife withal, 15
By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up[3932][3933]
In measureless content.[3932]
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and[3931]
Sent forth great largess to your offices:[3931]
This diamond he greets your wife withal, 15
By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up[3932][3933]
In measureless content.[3932]
Macb. Being unprepared,
Our will became the servant to defect,
Which else should free have wrought.
Our will became the servant to defect,
Which else should free have wrought.
Ban. All's well.[3934]
I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters:[3935] 20
To you they have show'd some truth.[3936]
I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters:[3935] 20
To you they have show'd some truth.[3936]
Macb. I think not of them:
Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve,
We would spend it in some words upon that business,[3937]
If you would grant the time.
Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve,
We would spend it in some words upon that business,[3937]
If you would grant the time.
Ban. At your kind'st leisure.[3938]
Macb. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis[3939][3940]25
It shall make honour for you.[3940]
It shall make honour for you.[3940]
Ban. So I lose none
In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,
I shall be counsell'd.
In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,
I shall be counsell'd.
Macb. Good repose the while!
Ban. Thanks, sir: the like to you![3941] 30
[Exeunt Banquo and Fleance.[3942]
Macb. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready,
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. [Exit Servant.[3943]
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. 35
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.[3944][3945]
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;[3944][3945]
And such an instrument I was to use.[3944][3945]
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,[3945]
Or else worth all the rest: I see thee still;[3945] 45
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,[3946]
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[3947]
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 50
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates[3948]
Pale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder,[3949]
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,[3950]
With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design[3951] 55
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,[3952]
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear[3953]
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,[3954]
And take the present horror from the time,[3955]
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:[3955][3956] 60
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.[3957]
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. [Exit Servant.[3943]
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. 35
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.[3944][3945]
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;[3944][3945]
And such an instrument I was to use.[3944][3945]
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,[3945]
Or else worth all the rest: I see thee still;[3945] 45
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,[3946]
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[3947]
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 50
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates[3948]
Pale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder,[3949]
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,[3950]
With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design[3951] 55
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,[3952]
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear[3953]
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,[3954]
And take the present horror from the time,[3955]
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:[3955][3956] 60
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.[3957]
[A bell rings.
I go, and it is done: the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven, or to hell. [Exit.
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven, or to hell. [Exit.
Scene II. The same.[3958]
Enter Lady Macbeth.
Lady M. That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold;
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace![3959]
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,[3959]
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it:[3959]
The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms[3959] 5
Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd their possets,[3959][3960]
That death and nature do contend about them,
Whether they live or die.
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace![3959]
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,[3959]
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it:[3959]
The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms[3959] 5
Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd their possets,[3959][3960]
That death and nature do contend about them,
Whether they live or die.
Macb. [Within] Who's there? what, ho![3961]
Enter Macbeth.
My husband!
Macb. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?[3965]
Lady M. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 15
Did not you speak?[3966]
Did not you speak?[3966]
Macb. When?
Lady M. Now.
Macb. As I descended?
Lady M. Ay.
Lady M. Donalbain.
Macb. This is a sorry sight. [Looking on his hands.[3968]20
Macb. There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried 'Murder!'[3969][3970]
That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them:[3969][3971]
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them[3969][3972]
Again to sleep.[3969]
That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them:[3969][3971]
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them[3969][3972]
Again to sleep.[3969]
Lady M. There are two lodged together.[3969] 25
Macb. One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other,
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands:[3973]
Listening their fear, I could not say 'Amen,'[3973][3974]
When they did say 'God bless us!'[3975]
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands:[3973]
Listening their fear, I could not say 'Amen,'[3973][3974]
When they did say 'God bless us!'[3975]
Lady M. Consider it not so deeply. 30
Macb. But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen'?
I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'[3976]
Stuck in my throat.[3976]
I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'[3976]
Stuck in my throat.[3976]
Lady M. These deeds must not be thought[3977][3978]
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.[3977]
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.[3977]
Macb. Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more![3979] 35
Macbeth does murder sleep'—the innocent sleep,[3979][3980]
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care,[3981]
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,[3982]
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,[3983]
Chief nourisher in life's feast,—
Macbeth does murder sleep'—the innocent sleep,[3979][3980]
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care,[3981]
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,[3982]
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,[3983]
Chief nourisher in life's feast,—
Lady M. What do you mean?[3984] 40
Macb. Still it cried 'Sleep no more!' to all the house:
'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor[3985][3986]
Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.'[3985]
'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor[3985][3986]
Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.'[3985]
Lady M. Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,
You do unbend your noble strength, to think 45
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them, and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
You do unbend your noble strength, to think 45
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them, and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
Lady M. Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,[3988] 55
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal,[3989]
For it must seem their guilt. [Exit. Knocking within.[3990]
Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,[3988] 55
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal,[3989]
For it must seem their guilt. [Exit. Knocking within.[3990]
Macb. Whence is that knocking?
How is't with me, when every noise appals me?[3991]
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes!
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 60
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,[3992][3993]
Making the green one red.[3992][3994]
How is't with me, when every noise appals me?[3991]
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes!
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 60
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,[3992][3993]
Making the green one red.[3992][3994]
Re-enter Lady Macbeth.[3995]
Lady M. My hands are of your colour, but I shame
To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within] I hear a knocking[3996][3997]65
At the south entry: retire we to our chamber:[3997]
A little water clears us of this deed:[3997]
How easy is it then! Your constancy[3997]
Hath left you unattended. [Knocking within] Hark! more knocking:[3996][3997]
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us 70
And show us to be watchers: be not lost
So poorly in your thoughts.
To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within] I hear a knocking[3996][3997]65
At the south entry: retire we to our chamber:[3997]
A little water clears us of this deed:[3997]
How easy is it then! Your constancy[3997]
Hath left you unattended. [Knocking within] Hark! more knocking:[3996][3997]
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us 70
And show us to be watchers: be not lost
So poorly in your thoughts.
[Knocking within.
[Exeunt.
Scene III. The same.[4001]
Enter a Porter. Knocking within.
Porter. Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were porter[4002][4003]
of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. [Knocking[4002][4003][4004][4005]
within] Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of[4002][4003]
Beelzebub? Here's a farmer, that hanged himself on th' expectation[4002][4003][4006]
of plenty: come in time; have napkins enow about[4002][4003][4007] 5
you; here you'll sweat for't. [Knocking within.] Knock,[4002][4003][4004][4008]
knock! Who's there, in th' other devil's name? Faith,[4002][4003][4009]
here's an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales[4002][4003]
against either scale; who committed treason enough for[4002][4003][4010]
God's sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven: O, come[4002][4003]10
in, equivocator. [Knocking within.] Knock, knock, knock![4002][4003][4004]
Who's there? Faith, here's an English tailor come hither,[4002][4003]
for stealing out of a French hose: come in, tailor; here you[4002][4003]
may roast your goose. [Knocking within.] Knock, knock;[4002][4003][4004]
never at quiet! What are you? But this place is too cold[4002][4003]15
for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I had thought to[4002][4003]
have let in some of all professions, that go the primrose[4002][4003]
way to the everlasting bonfire. [Knocking within.] Anon,[4002][4003][4004][4011]
anon! I pray you, remember the porter. [Opens the gate.[4002][4003]
of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. [Knocking[4002][4003][4004][4005]
within] Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of[4002][4003]
Beelzebub? Here's a farmer, that hanged himself on th' expectation[4002][4003][4006]
of plenty: come in time; have napkins enow about[4002][4003][4007] 5
you; here you'll sweat for't. [Knocking within.] Knock,[4002][4003][4004][4008]
knock! Who's there, in th' other devil's name? Faith,[4002][4003][4009]
here's an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales[4002][4003]
against either scale; who committed treason enough for[4002][4003][4010]
God's sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven: O, come[4002][4003]10
in, equivocator. [Knocking within.] Knock, knock, knock![4002][4003][4004]
Who's there? Faith, here's an English tailor come hither,[4002][4003]
for stealing out of a French hose: come in, tailor; here you[4002][4003]
may roast your goose. [Knocking within.] Knock, knock;[4002][4003][4004]
never at quiet! What are you? But this place is too cold[4002][4003]15
for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I had thought to[4002][4003]
have let in some of all professions, that go the primrose[4002][4003]
way to the everlasting bonfire. [Knocking within.] Anon,[4002][4003][4004][4011]
anon! I pray you, remember the porter. [Opens the gate.[4002][4003]
Enter Macduff and Lennox.
Port. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second cock:[4002][4012]
and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things.[4002][4012][4013]
and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things.[4002][4012][4013]
Macd. What three things does drink especially provoke?[4002]
Port. Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep and urine. Lechery,[4002]25
sir, it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes the desire,[4002]
but it takes away the performance: therefore much drink[4002]
may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes[4002]
him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off;[4002]
it persuades him and disheartens him; makes him stand[4002] 30
to and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a[4002][4014]
sleep, and giving him the lie, leaves him.[4002][4014]
sir, it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes the desire,[4002]
but it takes away the performance: therefore much drink[4002]
may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes[4002]
him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off;[4002]
it persuades him and disheartens him; makes him stand[4002] 30
to and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a[4002][4014]
sleep, and giving him the lie, leaves him.[4002][4014]
Macd. I believe drink gave thee the lie last night.[4002]
Port. That it did, sir, i' the very throat on me: but I[4002][4015]
requited him for his lie, and, I think, being too strong for[4002] 35
him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a[4002][4016]
shift to cast him.[4002]
requited him for his lie, and, I think, being too strong for[4002] 35
him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a[4002][4016]
shift to cast him.[4002]
Macd. Is thy master stirring?
Enter Macbeth.[4017]
Our knocking has awaked him; here he comes.
Len. Good morrow, noble sir.
Macb. Good morrow, both. 40
Macd. Is the king stirring, worthy thane?
Macb. Not yet.
Macd. He did command me to call timely on him:
I have almost slipp'd the hour.[4018]
I have almost slipp'd the hour.[4018]
Macb. I'll bring you to him.
Macd. I know this is a joyful trouble to you;
But yet 'tis one. 45
But yet 'tis one. 45
Len. Goes the king hence to-day?[4023]
Macb. He does: he did appoint so.
Len. The night has been unruly: where we lay,[4024] 50
Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say,[4024]
Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death,[4024]
And prophesying with accents terrible[4025][4026]
Of dire combustion and confused events[4026][4027][4028]
New hatch'd to the woful time: the obscure bird[4026][4028][4029][4030]55
Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth[4029]
Was feverous and did shake.[4029]
Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say,[4024]
Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death,[4024]
And prophesying with accents terrible[4025][4026]
Of dire combustion and confused events[4026][4027][4028]
New hatch'd to the woful time: the obscure bird[4026][4028][4029][4030]55
Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth[4029]
Was feverous and did shake.[4029]
Macb. Twas a rough night.
Len. My young remembrance cannot parallel
A fellow to it.
A fellow to it.
Re-enter Macduff.[4031]