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All.

Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf,
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark:
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse ;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips ;
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab;
Make the gruel thick and slab;
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble.

2nd Wi. Cool it with a baboon's blood.

Enter HECATE and the three other WITCHES.
Hec. O, well done! I commend your pains;

And every one shall share i' the gains,

And now about the caldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

(Music and a Song, Black Spirits, &c.)

2nd Wi. By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes :-
Open, locks, whoever knocks.

Enter MACBETH.

Mac. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags, What is 't you do?

All.

A deed without a name.

Mac. I conjure you, by that which you profess

(Howe'er you come to know it), answer me:

Though you untie the winds, and let them fight

Against the churches: though the yesty waves

Confound and swallow navigation up;

Though bladed corn be lodg'd, and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;

Though palaces and pyramids do slope

Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germins tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken, answer me
To what I ask you.

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1st Wi. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,

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Thunder. An Apparition of an armed Head rises.

Mac. Tell me, thou unknown power,-
1st Wi.

He knows thy thought;

Hear his speech, but say thou naught.
App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the Thane of Fife.-Dismiss me ;-Enough.

1

(Descends.)

Mac. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution thanks;
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright :-But one word more ;—
1st Wi. He will not be commanded. Here's another,
More potent than the first.

Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises.3
App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!-
Mac.

Had I three ears, I'd hear thee

App. Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born

Shall harm Macbeth.

Mac. Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?

But yet I'll make assurance doubly sure,

And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;

That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,

And sleep in spite of thunder.-What is this?

Thunder. An Apparition of a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand,

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App. Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are; Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until

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• Who can impress the forest; bid the tree

Unfix his earth-bound root? sweet bodements! good!
Rebellious head, rise never, till the wood

Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time, and mortal custom.-Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing; Tell me (if your art
Can tell so much) shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in the kingdom?

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Mac. I will be satisfied; deny me this

And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know :-
Why sinks that caldron ? and what noise is this?

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(Descends.)

(Hautboys.)

All. Show his eyes and grieve his heart,

Come like shadows, so depart.

Eight Kings appear, and pass over the stage in order; the last with a glass in his hand; Banquo following.

Mac. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down!
Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs:—And thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow is like the first;-

A third is like the former;-Filthy hags!

Why do you show me this? a fourth? Start, eyes!
What! will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
Another yet?-A seventh ?—I'll see no more:
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass
Which shows me many more; and some I see,
That two-fold balls and treble sceptres carry:
Horrible sight!-Now, I see, 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.-What, is this so?
1st Wi. Aye, sir, all this is so:-But why

Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?

Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites,
And show the best of our delights:
I'll charm the air to give a sound,
While you perform your antique round;

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Mac. 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.

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Mac. Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits :

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,

Unless the deed go with it: From this moment,

The very firstlings of my heart shall be

The firstlings of my hand. And even now

To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done:

This castle of Macduff I will surprise;

Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword

His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls

That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool;
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool;

But no more sights !4-Where are these gentlemen ?
Come, bring me where they are.

(Exeunt.)

3" Apparition of a bloody child."-The idea of a "bloody child," and of his being more potent than the armed head, and one of the masters of the witches, is very dreadful. So is that of the child crowned, with a tree in his hand. They impersonate, it is true, certain results of the war, the destruction of Macduff's children, and the succession of Banquo's; but the imagination does not make these reflections at first; and the dreadfulness still remains, of potent demons speaking in the shapes of children.

-What a world of horrors is in this little

4" But no more sights." familiar phrase!

THE QUARREL OF OBERON AND TITANIA.

A FAIRY DRAMA.

I have ventured to give the extract this title, because it not only contains the whole story of the fairy part of the Midsummer Night's Dream, but by the omission of a few lines, and the transposition of one small passage (for which I beg the reader's indulgence), it actually forms a separate little play. It is nearly such in the greater play; and its isolation was easily, and not at all injuriously effected, by the separation of the Weaver from his brother mechanicals.

Enter OBERON at one door with his train; and TITANIA at another with hers.

Ober. Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

Tit. What! jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence;

I have forsworn his bed and company.

Ober. Tarry, rash wanton; am not I thy lord?
Tit. Then I must be thy lady; but I know
When thou hast stol'n away from fairy-land,
And in the shape of Corin sat all day
Playing on pipes of corn, and versing love
To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here.
Come from the furthest steep of India,5
But that, forsooth, the bouncing Amazon,
Your buskin'd mistress, and your warrior love,
To Theseus must be wedded; and you come

To give their bed joy and prosperity?

Ober. How canst thou thus, for shame, Titania,

Glance at my credit with Hippolyta,

Knowing I know thy love to Theseus?

Didst thou not lead him through the glimmering night

From Perigenia, whom he ravished?

And make him with fair Æglé break his faith,

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