Knocks within. Mach. Whence is that knocking! [Starting. How is it with me, when every noise appals me? Clean from my hand? no, this my hand will rather Making the green, One red Enter Lady. Lady. My hands are of your colour; but I fhame [Knock. Hath left you unattended-Hark, more knocking! [Knock. Get on your night-gown, left occafion call us, And fhew us to be Watchers. Be not loft So poorly in your thoughts. 2 Mach. To know my deed, 'twere beft not know myself. Wake, Duncan, with this knocking. 'Would, thou [Exeunt. couldít! [Knocking within.] Port. Here's a knocking, indeed; if a man were porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. [Knock] Knock, knock, knock. Who's there, i'th' name of Belzebub? here's a farmer, that hang'd himself on the expectation of plenty come in time, have napkins enough about you, here you'll fweat for't. [Knock] Knock, knock. Who's there, i'th' other devil's name? Faith, here's an equivocator, that could fwear in both the fcales against either scale, who committed treafon enough for God's fake, yet could not equivocate to heav'n: oh, come in, equivocator. [Knock] Knock, knock, knock. Who's there? Faith, here's an English taylor come hither for ftealing out of a French hofe come in, taylor, here you may roast your goose. [Krock] Knock, knock. Never at quiet! what are you? but this place is too cold for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I had thought to have let in fome of all profeffions, that go the primrose way to th' everlasting bonfire.[ Knock] Anon, anon, I pray you, remember the porter. Enter Macduff, and Lenox. Macd. Was it fo late, friend, ere you went to bed, That you do lie fo late? Port. Faith, Sir, we were caroufing 'till the fecond `3 bere's an equivocator,-who committed treafon enough for God's fake.] Meaning a Jefuit; an order fo troublefome to the State in Queen Elizabeth and King James the Firft's times. The inventors of the execrable doctrine of equivocation. WARBURTON. 4 here's an English taylor come hither for fealing out of a French boje:] The archnefs of the joke confifts in this, that a French hofe being very fhort and ftrait, a taylor must be mafter of his trade who could steal any thing from thence. WARBURTON. 8 cock, cock, and drink, Sir, is a great provoker of three things. Macd. What three things doth Drink especially provoke ? Port. Marry, Sir, nose-painting, fleep, and urine. Lechery, Sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes the defire, but it takes away the performance. Therefore much Drink may be faid to be an equivocator with lechery; it makes him, and it mars him; it fets him on, and it takes him off; it perfwades him, and disheartens him; makes him ftand to, and not ftand to; in conclufion, equivocates him into a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him. Macd. I believe, Drink gave thee the lie last night. Port. That it did, Sir, i'th' very throat o' me; but I requited him for his lie; and, I think, being too ftrong for him, though he took my legs fome time, yet I made a fhift to caft him. Macd. Is thy master stirring? Our knocking has awak'd him; here he comes.. Enter Macbeth. Mach. Good morrow, Both. Macd. Is the King stirring, worthy Thane ? Mach. Not yet. Macd. He did command me to call timely on him; I've almost fipt the hour. Mach. I'll bring you to him. Macd. I know, this is a joyful trouble to you: But yet, 'tis one. Mach. The labour, we delight in, phyficks pain; This is the door. I made a shift to caft him.] To caft him up, to ease my ftomach of him. The equivoca tion is between caft or throw, as a term of wrestling, and caft or caft up. Macd. Macd. I'll make fo bold to call, 'for 'tis my limited fervice. Len. Goes the King hence to day? Mach. He did appoint fo. [Exit Macduff. Len. The night has been unruly; where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they fay, Lamentings heard i'th' air, 7 ftrange fcreams of death, • And prophefying with accents terrible batch'd, feems to be a prophecy of an event past. The term newhatch'd is properly applicable to a bird, and that birds of ill omen thould be new-batch'd to the woful time, that is, fhould appear in uncommon numbers, is very confiftent with the ret of Of the prodigies here mentioned, and with the universal disorder into which nature is defcribed as thrown, by the perpetration of this horrid murder. AND prophecying with accents terrible Of dire combuftion, and confus'd events, New batch'd to th' woeful time:] Here are groans and fcreams of death heard in the air. Thus far a ftrong imagination, armed with fuperftition, might go. But accents terrible of dire combuftion, that is, prophefying of them, in articulate founds or words, is a little too far. How ever, admit this, we are further told, that these prophefies are new batch'd to th' worful time; that is, accommodated to the muft needs have another author prefent conjuncture. And this than the air inflamed with meteors. To be fhort, the cafe was this; thefe figns and noises in a troubled heaven fet the old women upon earth a prophefying, and explaining thofe imaginary omens, which brought back to their frighten'd imaginations thofe predictions in the mouths of the people, foretelling what would happen when fuch figns Of dire combuftion, and confus'd events, The obfcure bird clamour'd the live-long night. Len. My young remembrance cannot parallel Enter Macduff. Macd. O horrour! horrour! horrour! Nor tongue, nor heart, cannot conceive, nor name thee Macb. and Len. What's the matter? appeared. This he finely calls, New batching them to the woeful time. Intimating that they had been often batched, or adapted, before to the misfortunes of former times. Shakespear was well acquainted with the nature of popular fuperftition, and has defcribed it fo precifely to the point, in a beautiful ftanza of his Venus and Adonis, that that will be the best comment on this paffage. Look how the world's poor peo- Whereon with fearful eyes they INFUSING THEM WITH DREAD FUL PROPHECIES. Here he plainly tells us, that figns in the heavens gave birth to prophefies on the earth; and tells us how too: it was by infufing fancies into the crazy imaginations of the people. His language likewife is the fame; he ufes prophecies, as in the paffage in question, to fignify forebodings. As this was the effect of fuperstition only, we may reckon to meet with it in antiquity; of which the English reader may take the following account from Milton. Hiftory of England, lib. 2. Of these enfuing troubles many foregoing figns appeared, certain women in a kind of extafy foretold of calamities to come: In the council boufe were heard by night barbarous noifes; in the theatre, bideous bowling; in the creek, borrid fights, &c. By this time I make no doubt but the reader is beforehand with me in conjecturing that Shakespear wrote, So AUNTS prophefying, &c. i. e. Matrons, old women. in Midfummer Night's Dream he fays, The wife AUNT telling the faddeft tale. Where, we fee, he makes them ftill employed on difmal fubjects, fitted to diforder the imagination. WARBURTON. I believe that no reader will either go before or follow the commentator in this conjecture. Macd. |