Roffe, Menteeth, Angus, Cathness, : Noblemen of Scotland. Fleance, Son to Banquo. Siward, General of the English Forces. Young Siward, his Son. Siton, an Officer attending on Macbeth. Son to Macduff. Doctor. Lady Macbeth. Lady Macduff. Gentlewomen, attending on Lady. Macbeth. Hecate, and three other Witches. Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers and Attendants. The Ghoft of Banquo, and several other Apparitions. SCENE, in the End of the fourth Act, lies in England; through the rest of the Play, in Scotland; and, chiefly, at Macbeth's Castle. MACB BETH. A C T I. SCENE, an open Place. Thunder and Lightning. W Enter three Witches. I WITCH. HEN fhall we three meet again? 2 Witch. When the hurly-burly's done, When the battle's loft and won. 3 Witch. That will be ere set of fun. Witch. Where the place? 2 Witch. Upon the heath. 3 Witch. There I go to meet Macbeth. Hover through the fog and filthy air. [They rife from the ftage, and fly away. SCENE changes to the Palace at Foris. Enter King, Malcolme, Donalbain, Lenox, with Atten dants, meeting a bleeding Captain. King⋅ W 'Hat bloody man is that? he can report, The newest state. Mal. Mal. This is the Serjeant, Who like a good and hardy foldier fought Cap. Doubtful long it stood: As two spent swimmers that do cling together, Who ne'er shook hands nor bid farewel to him, King. Oh, valiant coufin! worthy gentleman! Se (1) As whence the fun 'gins bis reflection, Shipwracking forms, and direful thunders break ;] Mr. Pope has degraded this word, gins, against the general authority of the copies, without any reafon affign'd for fo doing; and fubftituted, gives, in the room of it. But it will foon be obvious, how far our author's good obfervation and knowledge of nature goes to establish his own reading, 'gins. For the fenfe is this;-"As from the place, from whence the fun begins his courfe, (viz. the Eaft,) fhipwrecking ftorms "proceed; &c."—And it is so in fact, that storms generally come from the Eaft. And it must be fo in reafon, because the natural and conftant motion of the ocean is from Eaft to Weft: and because the motion of the wind has the fame general direction. Præcipua & generalis [Ventorum] causa est ipfe Sol, qui igneo fuo jubare aerem rarefacit & attenuat; imprimis illum, in quem perpendiculares radios mittit, five fupra quem bæret. Aer enim rarefa&tus multo majorem locum postulat. Inde fit, ut aer a fole impulfus alium vicinum aerem magno impetu protrudat; cumque Sol ab Oriente in occidentem circumrotetur, præcipuus ab So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, (2) King. Difmay'd not this Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? As fparrows, eagles; or the hare the lion. As cannons overcharg'd; with double cracks, (3) So eo aëris impulfus fiet verfus occidentem.-Quia plerumque ab aëris per Solem rarefactione oritur, qui cum continue feratur ab Oriente in occidentem, majori quoque impetu protruditur aër ab Oriente in occidentem. Varenii Geograph, l. i. c. 14, &c. 20. prop. 10. and 15.------This being fo, it is no wonder that forms should come moft frequently from that quarter; or that they should be most violent, becaufe here is a concurrence of the natural motions of wind and wave. This proves clearly, that the true reading is 'gins, i. e. begins: for the other reading does not fix it to that quarter: for the fun may give its reflection in any part of its course above the horizon; but it can begin it only in one. Mr. Warburton. (2) So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, Difcomfort fwell'd.] I have not diflurb'd the text here, as the fenfe does not abfolutely require it; tho' Dr. Thirlby preferibes a very ingenious and eafy correction: So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, Difcomforts well'd. i. e. ftream'd, flow'd forth: a word that peculiarly agrees with the metaphor of a fpring. The original is Anglo-Saxon peallan, featurire; which very well expreffes the diffufion and scattering of water from its head. CHAUCER has ufed the word in these acceptations. For whiché might she no lengir restrain Troil. & Creff. 1. iv. v. 709. I can no more, but here out caft of all welfare abide the daie of my deth, or els to fe the fight that might all my wellynge forowes voide, and of the flode make an ebbe. Teftament of Love. I must report they were (3) As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks] Cannons overcharg'd with cracks I have no idea of: My pointing, I think, gives the easy and natural fenfe. Macbeth and Banquo were like cannons overcharg d; 4 So they redoubled strokes upon the foe: I cannot tell But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. King. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds: They smack of honour both. Go, get him surgeons. Enter Roffe and Angus. But who comes here? Mal. The worthy Thane of Roffe. Len. What hafte looks through his eyes? So should he look, that seems to speak things strange. Roffe. God fave the King! King. Whence cam'st thou, worthy Thane? Roffe. From Fife, great King, Norway, himself with numbers terrible, (4) Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, charg'd; why? because they redoubled strokes on the foe with twice the fury and impetuofity, as before. (4) Norway himself, with numbers terrible, Affifted by that, &c.] Norway himself affifted, &c. is a reading we owe to the editors, not to the poet. That energy and contraft of expression are loft, which my pointing restores. The sense is, Norway, who was in himself terrible by his own numbers, when afsisted by Carwdor, became yet more terrible. (5) 'Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof, Curbing bis lavish spirit.) Here again we are to quarrel with the transposition of an innocent comma; which however becomes dangerous to sense, when in the hands either of a careless or ignorant editor. Let us fee who it is that brings this rebellious arm? Why, At is Bellona's bridegroom and who is he, but Macbeth. We can never believe, our author meant any thing like this. My regulation of the pointing restores the true meaning; that the loyal Macbetb onfronted the disloyal Cawdor, arm to arm. Curbing |