To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice Enter LADY MACBETH. How now! what news? LADY M. He has almost supp'd. Why have you left the chamber? MACB. Hath he ask'd for me? LADY M. Know you not he has? Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, LADY M. Was the hope drunk Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? Such I account thy love. To be the same in thine own act and valour, As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, - this even-handed justice-] Mason suggested that we might more advantageously read," Thus even-handed justice." 66. I have no spur To prick the sides of my Intent, but only Malone's exposition of this troublesome passage is as follows,-"I apprehend that there is not here one long-drawn metaphor, but two distinct ones; I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent: I have nothing to stimulate me to the execution of my purpose but ambition, which is apt to overreach itself; this he expresses by the second image, of a person meaning to vault into his saddle, who, by taking too great a leap, will fall on the other side." This does not assist us much; still less does the fanciful suggestion to read for "itself" its sell, i.e. its saddle. The only resolution of the enigma which presents itself to our mind is to suppose Intent and Ambition are represented in Macbeth's disordered imagination by two steeds, the one lacking all incentive to motion, the other so impulsive that it overreaches itself and falls on its companion. VOL. VI. C And live a coward in thine own esteem; MACB. Pr'ythee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man; What beast was 't then, LADY M. As you have done to this. MACB. LADY M. If we should fail? But screw your courage to the sticking place, MACB. We fail! Bring forth men-children only! For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males. Will it not be receiv'd, 60 (*) Old text, no. Like the poor cat i' the adage.] Catus amat pisces, sed non vult tingere plantas ; or, as it is rendered in Heywood's Proverbs, 1566,-"The cat would eate fishe, and would not wet her feete." b What beast was 't then, &c.] As Mr. Collier, in deference to critical opinion, has rejected from his latest edition of the poet the preposterous substitution boast for "beast" in this line, we are spared the necessity of citing a host of passages collected for the purpose of substantiating the original reading. C- the sticking place,-] The abiding place, "Which flower out of my hand shall never passe, The Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions. The metaphor may have been taken from the screwing up the chords of a musical instrument. d -so convince,-] So subdue or overpower. – receipt of reason—] Receptacle of reason When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two LADY M. Who dares receive it other, As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar Upon his death? False face must hide what the false heart doth know [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I.-Inverness. Court of Macbeth's Castle. Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE, with a torch. BAN. How goes the night, boy? FLE. The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. FLE. I take 't, 't is later, sir. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,- Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch. BAN. What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed: He hath been in unusual pleasure, And sent forth great largess to your officers: * This diamond he greets your wife withal, By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up MACB. Our will became the servant to defect; Being unprepar'd, All's well. Which else should free have wrought. BAN. I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: (*) Old text, offices Shut up, meant finished, concluded. MACB. I think not of them: Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, BAN. At your kind'st leisure. MACB. If you shall cleave to my consent,-when 't is, It shall make honour for you.a BAN. So I lose none, In seeking to augment it, but still keep MACB. Good repose, the while! BAN. Thanks, sir; the like to you! [Exeunt BANQUO and FLEANCE. MACB. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. Is this a dagger which I see before me, [Exit Servant. The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but As this which now I draw. 40 Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going; Thus to mine eyes.-Now o'er the one-half world Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, If you shall cleave to my consent,-when 't is, It shall make honour for you.] This passage, we apprehend, has suffered some mutilation or corruption since it left the poet's hands. It seems impracticable to obtain a consistent meaning from the lines as they now stand. b- dudgeon-] The wooden haft or handle of a dagger. The curtain'd sleep; Witchcraft celebrates, &c.] To perfect the measure, D'Avenant reads, "now witchcraft celebrates," &c.; but Steevens' emendation, "The curtain'd sleeper;" &c. is more generally adopted. d With Tarquin's ravishing strides,-] It is painful to reflect, that, with the exception of "Pericles," and "All's Well that Ends Well," this sublime drama is more carelessly printed in the only old edition of it we possess, than any other in the collection; there are probably not thirty consecutive lines throughout which have come down to us as the poet wrote them. In the line above, the folio reads sides, and this, which was corrected by Pope, it may be suspected is not the only error. "Tarquin's ravishing strides," reads very like a transposition of "Ravishing Tarquin's strides." Moves like a ghost.-Thou sure and firm-set earth, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it.-Whiles I threat, he lives: 60 I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Enter LADY MACBETH. [A bell is struck. Exit. LADY M. That which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold: What hath quench'd them, hath given me fire. Hark-Peace! It was the owl that shriek'd, The fatal bellman which gives the stern'st good-night.— He is about it: The doors are open ; And the surfeited grooms do mock their charge with snores: That death and nature do contend about them, MACB. [Within.] Who's there?-what, ho! LADY M. Alack! I am afraid they have awak'd, Re-enter MACBETH. MACB. I have done the deed.-Didst thou not hear a noise? Did not you speak? MACB. This is a sorry sight. Donalbain. 20 [Looking on his hands. LADY M. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. MACB. There's one did laugh in 's sleep, And one cried, Murder! that they did wake each other; LADY M. There are two lodg'd together. MACB. One cried, God bless us! and Amen, the other; As they had seen me with these hangman's hands. Listening their fear, I could not say, Amen, When they did say, God bless us. (*) Old text, sowre. (†) Old text, which they may. |