But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, you. [Witches vanish. BAN. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, Andtheseare of them:- Whither are they vanish'd? MACB. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal, melted As breath into the wind.--'Would they had staid! BAN. Were such things here, as we do speak about? Or have we eaten of the insane root,1 That takes the reason prisoner ? 9 - blasted heath-] Thus, after Shakspeare, Milton, Paradise Lost, B. I. 615: 66 - their stately growth though bare eaten of the insane root,] The insane root is the root which makes insane. THEOBALD. The old copies read" on the insane root." REED. Shakspeare alludes to the qualities anciently ascribed to hemlock. So, in Greene's Never too late, 1616: "You gaz'd against the sun, and so blemished your sight; or else you have eaten of the roots of hemlock, that makes men's eyes conceit unseen objects." Again, in Ben Jonson's Sejanus: 66 - they lay that hold upon thy senses, " As thou hadst snuft up hemlock." STEEVENS. The commentators have given themselves much trouble to ascertain the name of this root, but its name was, I believe, unknown to Shakspeare, as it is to his readers; Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch having probably furnished him with the only knowledge he had of its qualities, without specifying its name. In the Life of Antony, (which our author must have diligently read,) the Roman soldiers, while employed in the MACB. Your children shall be kings. BAN. You shall be king. MACB. And thane of Cawdor too; went it not so? BAN. To the self-same tune, and words. Who's here? Enter ROSSE and AngUS. ROSSE. The king hath happily receiv'd, Macbeth, The news of thy success: and when he reads Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, His wonders and his praises do contend, Which should be thine, or his: Silenc'd with that, Parthian war, are said to have suffered great distress for want of provisions. "In the ende (says Plutarch) they were compelled to live of herbs and rootes, but they found few of them that men do commonly eate of, and were enforced to taste of them that were never eaten before; among the which there was one that killed them, and made them out of their wits; for he that had once eaten of it, his memorye was gone from him, and he knew no manner of thing, but only busied himself in digging and hurling of stones from one place to another, as though it had been a matter of great waight, and to be done with all possible speede." MALONE. * His wonders and his praises do contend, Which should be thine, or his: &c.] i. e. private admiration of your deeds, and a desire to do them public justice by commendation, contend in his mind for pre-eminence. Or, There is a contest in his mind whether he should indulge his desire of publishing to the world the commendations due to your heroism, or whether he should remain in silent admiration of what no words could celebrate in proportion to its desert. Mr. M. Mason would read wonder, not wonders; for, says he, " I believe the word wonder, in the sense of admiration, has no plural." In modern language it certainly has none; yet I cannot help thinking that, in the present instance, plural was opposed to plural by Shakspeare. STEEVENS. Silenc'd with that,] i. e. wrapp'd in silent wonder at the deeds performed by Macbeth, &c. MALONE. In viewing o'er the rest o' the self-same day, 3 As thick as tale,] Meaning, that the news came as thick as a tale can travel with the post. Or we may read, perhaps, yet better: As thick as tale, Came post with post; — That is, posts arrived as fast as they could be counted. So, in King Henry VI. P. III. Act II. sc. i: Mr. Rowe reads as thick as hail. STEEVENS. JOHNSON. The old copy reads-Can post. The emendation is Mr. Rowe's. Dr. Johnson's explanation would be less exceptionable, if the old copy had-As quick as tale. Thick applies but ill to tale, and seems rather to favour Mr. Rowe's emendation. "As thick as hail," as an anonymous correspondent observes to me, is an expression in the old play of King John, 1591: - breathe out damned orisons, " As thick as hail-stones 'fore the spring's approach." The emendation of the word can is supported by a passage in King Henry IV. P. II: " And there are twenty weak and wearied posts MALONE. Dr. Johnson's explanation is perfectly justifiable. As thick, in ancient language, signified as fast. To speak thick, in our author, does not therefore mean, to have a cloudy indistinct utterance, but to deliver words with rapidity. So, in Cymbeline, Act III. sc. ii: say, and speak thick, " (Love's counsellor should fill the bores of hearing "To the smothering of the sense) how far it is "To this same blessed Milford." Again, in King Henry IV. P. II. Act II. sc. iii : "And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish, "Became the accents of the valiant; "For those that could speak low and tardily, " Would turn &c. -To seem like him."ok" Thick therefore is not less applicable to tale, the old reading, than to hail, the alteration of Mr. Rowe. STEEVENS. Het Came post with post; and every one did bear ANGL We are sent, To give thee, from our royal master, thanks; ROSSE. And, for an earnest of a greater honour, He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor: In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! For it is thine. BAN. What, can the devil speak true? MACB. The thane of Cawdor lives; Why do you dress me In borrow'd robes? ANG. Who was the thane, lives yet; But under heavy judgment bears that life * To herald thee &c.] The old copy redundantly reads-Only to herald thee &c. STEEVENS. 5 - with Norway;] The old copy reads: with those of Norway. The players not understanding that by "Norway" our author meant the King of Norway, as in Hamlet "Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy," &c. foisted in the words at present omitted. STEEVENS. There is, I think, no need of change. The word combin'd belongs to the preceding line : "Which he deserves to lose. Whe'r he was combin'd "With those of Norway, or did line the rebel," &c. Whether was in our author's time sometimes pronounced and written as one syllable, whe'r. So, in King John: "Now shame upon you, whe'r she does or no.” 1 MALONE. He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not; But treasons capital, confess'd, and prov'd, Have overthrown him. MACB. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind.----Thanks for your pains.Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me, Promis'd no less to them? BAN. That, trusted home, trusted home,] i. e. entirely, thoroughly relied on. So, in All's well that ends well: I will pay thy graces "Home, both in word and deed." STEEVENS. The added word home shows clearly, in my apprehension, that our author wrote That, thrusted home. So, in a subsequent scene: " That every minute of his being thrusts Thrusted is the regular participle from the verb to thrust, and though now not often used, was, I believe, common in the time of Shakspeare. So, in King Henry V: "With casted slough and fresh legerity." Home means to the uttermost. So, in The Winter's Tale : - all my sorrows " You have paid home." It may be observed, that "thrusted home" is an expression used at this day; but "trusted home," I believe, was never used at any period whatsoever. I have had frequent occasion to remark that many of the errors in the old copies of our author's plays arose from the transcriber's ear having deceived him. In Ireland, where much of the pronunciation of the age of Queen Elizabeth is yet retained, the vulgar constantly pronounce the word thrust as if it were written trust; and hence, probably, the error in the text. The change is so very slight, and I am so thoroughly persuaded that the reading proposed is the true one, that had it been suggested by any former editor, I should, without hesitation, have given it a place in the text. MALONE. |