SCENE VII. The same. Another Part of the Plain. Enter MACBETH. Macb. They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But, bear-like, I must fight the course. 8-What's he, That was not born of woman? Such a one Am I to fear, or none. Enter young SIWARD. Yo. Siw. What is thy name? Macb. Thou'lt be afraid to hear it. Yo. Siw. No; tho' thou call'st thyself a hotter name Than any is in hell. Macb. My name's Macbeth. Yo. Siw. The devil himself could not pronounce a title More hateful to mine ear. Macb. No, nor more fearful. Yo. Siw. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my sword I'll prove the lie thou speak'st. [They fight, and young SIWARD is slain. Macb. Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Alarums. Enter MACDUFF. [Exit. Macd. That way the noise is :-Tyrant, show thy face: If thou be'st slain, and with no stroke of mine, My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. I cannot strike at wretched kernes, whose arms Are hir'd to bear their staves; either thou, Macbeth, I sheath again undeeded. There thou should'st be ; [Exit. Alarum. Enter MALCOLM and old SIWARD. Siw. This way, my lord ;-the castle's gently render'd: The tyrant's people on both sides do fight ; The noble thanes do bravely in the war; The day almost itself professes yours, And little is to do. [8] A phrase taken from bear-baiting. STEEV. [9] From bruit, Fr. To bruit is to report with clamour; to noise. STEE 38 VOL. III. Mal. We have met with foes That strike beside us. Siw. Enter, sir, the castle. [Exeunt. Alarum. Re-enter MACBETH. Macb. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On mine own sword? whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them. Re-enter MACDUFF. Macd. Turn, hell-hound, turn. Macb. Of all men else I have avoided thee : But get thee back, my soul is too much charg'd With blood of thine already. Macd. I have no words, My voice is in my sword; thou bloodier villain Macb. Thou losest labour : As easy may'st thou the intrenchant air2 [They fight. With thy keen sword impress, as make me bleed : I bear a charmed life, 3 which must not yield Macd. Despair thy charm; And let the angel, whom thou still hast serv'd, Macb. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, And break it to our hope.—I'll not fight with thee. And live to be the show and gaze o' the time. Here may you see the tyrant. Mach. I'll not yield, [1] Alluding, perhaps, to the suicide of Cato Uticensis. [2] That is, air, which cannot be cut. JOHNS. STEEV. [3] In the days of chivalry, the champion's arms being ceremoniously bless. ed, each took an oath that he used no charmed weapons. Macbeth, according to the law of arms or perhaps only in allusion to this custom, tells Macduff of the security he had in the prediction of the spirit. UPTON. [4] That shuffle with ambiguous expressions. JOHNS. To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, I throw my warlike shield: Lay on, Macduff; And damn'd be him that first cries, Hold, enough. [Exeunt, fighting. Re-enter fighting, and MACBETH is slain. Retreat. Flourish. Re-enter, with Drum and Colours, MALCOLM, old SIWARD, ROSSE, LENOX, ANGUS, CATHNESS, MENTETH, and Soldiers. Mal. I would, the friends we miss were safe arriv'd. Siw. Some must go off: and yet, by these I see, So great a day as this is cheaply bought. Mal. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. Rosse. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt: He only liv'd but till he was a man ; The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd In the unshrinking station where he fought, But like a man he died. Siw. Then he is dead? Rosse. Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of sorrow Must not be measur'd by his worth, for then It hath no end. Sir. Had he his hurts before? Rosse. Ay, on the front. Siw. Why then, God's soldier be he! Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death :5 Mal. He's worth more sorrow, And that I'll spend for him. Siw. He's worth no more; They say, he parted well, and paid his score: [5] This incident is thus related from Henry of Huntingdon, by Camden, in his Remains, from which our author probably copied it :-When Siward, the martial earl of Northumberland, understood that his son, whom he had sent in service against the Scotchmen, was slain, he demanded whether his wounds were in the fore part or hinder part of his body. When it was answered, in the fore part, he replied, "I'am right glad; neither wish I any other death to me of mine." JOHNS. Re-enter MACDUFF, with MACBETH's Head on a Pole. Macd. Hail, king for so thou art: Behold, where stands The usurper's cursed head: the time is free: All. King of Scotland, hail! [Flourish. Mal. We shall not spend a large expense of time, Before we reckon with your several loves, And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen, In such an honour nam'd. What's more to do, Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen ; [Flourish. Exeunt. It may be worth while to remark, that Milton, who left behind him a list of no less than CII. dramatic subjects, had fixed on the story of this play among the rest. His intention was to have begun with the arrival of Malcolm at Macduff's castle The matter of Duncan (says he) may be expressed by the appearing of his ghost " It should seem from this last memorandum, that Milton disliked the licence his predecessor had taken in comprehending a history of such length within the short compass of a play, and would have new written the whole on the plan of the ancient drama. He could not surely have indulged so vain a hope, as that of excelling Shakspeare in the tragedy of Macbeth. STEEVENS. END OF VOL. 1II. MUNROE & FRANCIS' Third Edition. |