32: Which shows me many more; and some I see, For the blood-bolter'd 33 Banquo smiles upon me, 1 Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so:-But why I'll charm the air to give a sound, Our duties did his welcome pay. [Musick. The Witches dance, and vanish. sons or things sought for.' Spenser has given a circumstantial account of the glass which Merlin made for King Ryence.Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 2. A mirror of the same kind was presented to Cambuscan, in the Squire's Tale of Chaucer: and we are told that a certaine philosopher did the like to Pompey, the which shewed him in a glasse the order of his enemies march.' -Boisteau's Theatrum Mundi, translated by John Alday, b. l. no date. 32 That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry.' This was intended as a compliment to James the First: he first united the two islands and the three kingdoms under one head, whose house too was said to be descended from Banquo, who is therefore represented not only as innocent, but as a noble character; whereas, according to history, he was confederate with Macbeth in the murder of Duncan. 33 In Warwickshire, when a horse, sheep, or other animal, perspires much, and any of the hair or wool, in consequence of such perspiration, or any redundant humour, becomes matted into tufts with grime and sweat, he is said to be boltered; and whenever the blood issues out and coagulates, forming the locks into hard clotted bunches, the beast is said to be blood-boltered. When a boy has a broken head, so that his hair is matted together with blood, his head is said to be boltered [pronounced baltered]. The word baltereth is used in this sense by Philemon Holland in his Translation of Pliny's Natural History, 1601, b. xii. c. xvii. p. 370. It is therefore applicable to Banquo, who had 'twenty trenched gashes on his head.' 34 i. e. spirits. It should seem that spirits was almost always pronounced sprights or sprites by Shakspeare's cotemporaries. 35 Antique was the old spelling for antick. VOL. IV. CC Macb. Where are they? Gone?-Let this per nicious hour Stand aye accursed in the calendar! Come in, without there! Macb. Came they not by you? Len. No, indeed, my lord. Macb. Infected be the air whereon they ride; And damn'd all those that trust them!-I did hear The galloping of horse: Who was❜t came by? Len. 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word, Macduff is fled to England. Macb. Len. Ay, my good lord. Fled to England? Macb. Time, thou anticipat'st 36 my dread exploits : The flighty purpose never is o'ertook, Unless the deed go with it: From this moment, The firstlings of my hand. And even now To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o'the sword But no more sights!-Where are these gentlemen? [Exeunt. 36 i. e. preventest them, by taking away the opportunity. 37 i. e. follow, succeed in it. SCENE II. Fife. A Room in Macduff's Castle. Enter LADY MACDUFF, her Son, and Rosse. L. Macd. What had he done, to make him fly the land? Rosse. You must have patience, madam. L. Macd. He had none; His flight was madness: When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors 1. Rosse. You know not, Whether it was his wisdom, or his fear. L. Macd. Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave his babes, His mansion, and his titles, in a place From whence himself does fly? He loves us not; Rosse. My dearest coz', But cruel are the times, when we are traitors, 1 'Our fears do make us traitors.' Our flight is considered as evidence of our treason. 2 Natural touch, natural affection. 3 The fits o' the season should appear to be the violent disorders of the season, its convulsions: as we still say figuratively the temper of the times. So in Coriolanus: The violent fit o' th' times craves it as physic.' my leave of you: From what we fear, yet know not what we fear*; L. Macd. Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless. And what will you do now? How will you live? Son. As birds do, Son. With what I mother. What, with worms and flies? get, I mean; and SO do they. L. Macd. Poor bird! thou'dst never fear the net, nor lime, The pit-fall, nor the gin. Son. Why should I, mother? Poor birds they are not set for. My father is not dead, for all your saying. L. Macd. Yes, he is dead; how wilt thou do for a father? 4 The best I can make of this passage is,' says Steevens:'The times are cruel when our fears induce us to believe, or take for granted, what we hear rumoured or reported abroad; and yet at the same time, as we live under a tyrannical government, where will is substituted for law, we know not what we have to fear, because we know not when we offend.' Or, when we are led by our fears to believe every rumour of danger we hear, yet are not conscious to ourselves of any crime for which we should be disturbed with fears.' A passage like this occurs in King John:—— 'Possess'd with rumours, full of idle dreams, Not knowing what they fear, but full of fear.' 5 Sirrah was not in our author's time a term of reproach, but sometimes used by masters to servants, parents to children, &c. Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband? Son. Then you'll buy 'em to sell again. L. Macd. Thou speak'st with all thy wit; and yet i'faith, With wit enough for thee. Son. Was my father a traitor, mother? Son. What is a traitor? L. Mac. Why, one that swears and lies. L. Macd. Every one that does so, is a traitor, and must be hanged. Son. And must they all be hanged, that swear and lie? L. Macd. Every one. Son. Who must hang them? L. Macd. Why, the honest men. Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools: for there are liars and swearers enough to beat the honest men, and hang up them. L. Macd. Now, God help thee, poor monkey! But how wilt thou do for a father? Son. If he were dead, you'd weep for him: if you would not, it were a good sign that I should quickly have a new father. L. Macd. Poor prattler! how thou talk'st. Enter a Messenger. Mess. Bless you, fair dame! I am not to you known, Though in your state of honour I am perfect. I doubt, some danger does approach you nearly: 6 i. e. I am perfectly acquainted with your rank. |
