Within this three mile may you see it coming:

I say, a moving grove.

Macb.

If thou speak'st false,

Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive

Till famine cling* thee: if thy speech be sooth,

I care not if thou dost for me as much.—

I pull in resolution; and begin

To doubt the equivocation of the fiend,

That lies like truth: "Fear not, till Birnam wood

Do come to Dunsinane; "—and now a wood

Comes toward Dunsinane.-Arm, arm, and out!—
If this, which he avouches, does appear,

There is nor flying hence, nor tarrying here.

I 'gin to be a-weary of the sun,

And wish the estate o' the world were now undone.—
Ring the alarum-bell!—Blow, wind! come, wrack!

At least we 'll die with harness on our back.

SCENE VI.

Enter, with Drums and

The Same. A Plain before the Castle.

[Exeunt.

Colors, MALCOLM, old SIWARD, MACDUFF, etc., and their Army with Boughs.

Mal. Now near enough: your leavy screens throw down, And show like those you are. -You, worthy uncle,

Shall, with my cousin, your right noble son,

Lead our first battle: worthy Macduff and we

Shall take upon us what else remains to do,
According to our order.

Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night,

Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight.

Macd. Make all our trumpets speak: give them all breath,

Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death.

[Exeunt. Alarums continued.

SCENE VII. The Same. Another part of the Plain.

Enter MACBETH.

Mach. They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly,

But bear-like, I must fight the course.-What 's he
That was not born of woman? Such a one

Am I to fear, or none.

* Cling (A. S. clingan, to wither), shrivel, wither, pinch.-Sooth, truth. See 800thly, 41.-Harness (W, haiarn, iron; O. Fr. harnas, iron armor; Fr. harnais), armor.--First battle, advanced force.-Fight the course. An expression taken from bear-baiting. The bear was tied to a stake, and the dogs were then let loose upon him.

To doubt the equivocation, etc. Puzzled; alarmed. Very rapid; small volume; aspirated.
Arm, arm, and out! etc. Excited command. Very loud; quick; large volume.
Blow, wind, etc. Shouting defiance.

Enter young SIWARD.

Yo. Siw. What is thy name?
Macb.

Thou'lt be afraid to hear it.

Yo. Siw. No; though thou call'st thyself a hotter name Than any is in hell.

Yo. Siw. The devil himself could not pronounce a title More hateful to mine ear.

Yo. Siw. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant! with my sword

I'll prove the lie thou speak'st.

Macb.

[They fight, and young SIWARD is slain. Thou wast born of woman:

But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn,

Brandished by man that 's of a woman born.

Alarums. Enter MACDUFF.

Macd. That way the noise is.-Tyrant, show thy face!
If thou be'st slain, and with no stroke of mine,
My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still.

I cannot strike at wretched kernes,* whose arms

Are hired to bear their staves: either thou, Macbeth,

Or else my sword, with an unbattered edge,
I sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be;
By this great clatter, one of greatest note
Seems bruited. Let me find him, Fortune!
And more I beg not.

Enter MALCOLM and old SIWARD.

Siw. This way, my lord;-the castle 's gently rendered:

The tyrant's people on both sides do fight;

The noble thanes do bravely in the war;

The day almost itself professes yours,

And little is to do.

[Exit.

[Exit. Alarum.

[Exeunt. Alarum.

Mach. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them.

* Kernes. "Here the word seems to mean the lowest order of mercenary soldiers." White. See note on Kernes, Act 1, sc. 2.-Bruited, noised abroad. Fr. bruire, to roar; bruit, noise.-Gently rendered, quietly surrendered.-Strike beside us, strike wide of the mark, try not to hit us.-Roman. He is thinking of the suicide of Cato, Brutus, and others.

Tyrant, show thy face! etc. Loud defiance.

This way, my lord, etc. Joyful. Quick; loud; median; pure; large.

Why should I play the Roman fool, etc. Scorn. Radical; loud; aspirated with sneers.

And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripped!

Macb. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so!
For it hath cowed my better part of man!
And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense;

That keep the word of promise to our ear,

And break it to our hope!-I'll not fight with thee.
Macd. Then yield thee, coward,

And live to be the show and gaze o' the time!

We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,

Painted upon a pole, and underwrit,

"Here may you see the tyrant!"

To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,
And to be baited with the rabble's curse.
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,

Yet I will try the last! Before my body

I throw my warlike shield! lay on, Macduff;
And damned be he that first cries, "Hold! enough!"

[Exeunt, fighting.

*My voice, etc. So Casca, in Julius Cæsar, says, "Speak, hands, for me!"-Intrenchant, that which cannot be trenched or cut. See trenched, p. 146.-Charmed life, a life protected by magic charms. In the age of chivalry, a champion in a tournament was obliged to swear that he used no charmed weapons.-Palter, act in an insincere or false manner; shift, dodge, trifle, haggle. Low Ger. palte, rag; Fries. palt; Sw. palta; Scot. paltrie, trash; Eng. paltry, mean, worthless.-Baited (A. S. bate, contention), provoked, harassed, worried, as a chained bear is annoyed by dogs.-Hold! enough! By the old codes of honor, the mode of separating combatants was to cry "Hold!"

Turn, hell-hound, etc. The first half of this dialogue is loud, bold, defiant.

Accursed be that tongue, etc. Imprecating; desponding; distrustful; fecble. Aspirated; small

volume.

Then yield thee, coward, etc. Scorn; ridicule. Loud; radical; circumflex; small volume. I'll not yield, etc. He rouses himself grandly, and dies with a heroic bravery that partially wins back our respect.

Retreat. Flourish. Re-enter, with Drum and Colors, MALCOLM, old SIWARD, ROSSE, LENOX, ANGUS, CATHNESS, MENTETH, and Soldiers.

Mal. I would the friends we miss were safe arrived.

Siw. Some must go off;* and yet, by these I see,

So great a day as this is cheaply bought.

Mal. Macduff is missing, and your noble son.

Rosse. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt;

He only lived but till he was a man:

The which no sooner had his prowess confirmed

In the unshrinking station where he fought,

But like a man he died.

Rosse. Aye, and brought off the field. Your cause of sorrow Must not be measured by his worth, for then

They say, he parted well, and paid his score:

So, God be with him!-Here comes newer comfort.

Re-enter MACDUFF, with MACBETH'S Head on a Pole. Macd. Hail, King! for so thou art. Behold, where stands

The usurper's cursed head: the time is free.

I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl,
That speak my salutation in their minds;
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine.-

Hail, King of Scotland!

All.

King of Scotland, hail!

Mal. We shall not spend a large expense of time,
Before we reckon with your several loves,
And make us even with you.

My thanes and kinsmen,

Henceforth be Earls,-the first that ever Scotland

[Flourish.

* Some must go off, some must be slain.-Fairer death. This incident is related in Camden's Remaines.-Pearl. A collective noun, meaning a string of pearls. Spoken of the heroes that encircled Malcolm.-Henceforth be Earls. Holinshed gives the same explanation of this change of name.

I would, the friends we miss, etc. This dialogue is quite rapid.

Then he is dead? etc. The old Spartan must have spoken this with deep sorrow; from which, however, he instantly recovers.

Hail, king, etc. Great joy. Very loud; quick; median.

We shall not spend, etc. Joy; gratitude; business. Rather loud; rather quick; median; rather

large volume.

Which would be planted newly with the time,-
As calling home our exiled friends abroad,
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny;
Producing forth the cruel ministers

Of this dead butcher, and his fiendlike queen;
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life;-this, and what needful else
That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace,
We will perform in measure, time, and place.
So thanks to all at once and to each one,
Whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone.*

[Flourish. Exeunt.

* Scone. See note on Scone, Act II., sc. 2., p. 137. What's more to do, etc. Business tone with something of joy. Radical; rather loud; moderate in time, pitch, and volume.

Write a sketch of the life of Shakespeare; an account of his writings. Write an essay upon his moral character; one upon his genius; one upon the theatre. Sketch the life of Macbeth as it appears in history; the character of Macbeth as it appears in this play; of Lady Macbeth; of Duncan; of each of the other prominent personages. Write your views of the propriety or impropriety for dramatic effect, of the sequence of scenes in this play. Relate the story as developed in each act. Write out the moral or lessons conveyed by this play, and give your reasons for your conclusions on that subject. Write an essay upon alliteration; one upon English heroic verse; one upon Shakespeare's vocabulary, and what is proved by its fullness and accuracy. Argue the rightfulness or wrongfulness of Shakespeare's course in ignoring the practical questions of his age. Explain the fact that the great men of Shakespeare's time did not appreciate him. Give your views of Shakespeare's sympathies, as regards Puritanism, democracy, progress. Is the world likely to see another Shakespeare? Why? The instructor should give out other themes, the investigation of which will throw light upon the literature of Shakespeare and of the Elizabethan age. No exercise will be found more profitable than brief compositions at regular intervals on topics suggested by the reading of the author. These should be read in the hearing of the class, and the teacher should comment upon them.