Act 1 scene 2

Act 1 scene 4

Distant thunder. Enter the three Witches

Second Witch
I'll give thee a wind.

First Witch
Thou'rt kind.

Third Witch
And I another.

First Witch
I myself have all the other,
And the very ports they blow,
All the quarters that they know
I' the shipman's card.
I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid:
Weary se'nnights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-tost.
Look what I have.

Second Witch
Show me, show me.

First Witch
Here I have a pilot's thumb,
Wreck'd as homeward he did come.

Drum within

Third Witch
A drum, a drum!
Macbeth doth come.

Notes and Glossary
ACT I Scene 3 Line 98 Aroint. This word is probably derived from the Latin averrunco, '1 drive away evil;' and employed to mean 'begone' 'stand off,' 'avoid,' 'avaunt.' Various other derivations have been suggested; but the above is the most probable, because old exorcists and witch-suppressers were in the habit of using Latin terms in their adjurations. There exists an old print representing St Patrick visiting the infernal regions and putting the devils to great confusion; one of whom is driving away a crowd of the condemned, with a label issuing out of his mouth bearing these words -'Out, out, Arongt;' which word, being probably an antique form of"aroint," comes even nearer to the Latin word, which we believe to be its original root. The expression is traditionally used in Cheshire; where, if the cow press too close to the dairy-maid who is milking her, she will give the animal a push, saying at the same time, 'Roint-thee!' by which she means, 'Stand off' There is also a North-country proverb - 'Rynt ye, witch! quoth Bessie Locke to her mother.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 98 The rump-fed ronyon. Applied by the witch to the sailor's wife as a sneer at her being so poor as to have nothing to feed upon but offal and refuse bits. "Ronyon" means a scurvy wretch. See Act iv "Merry Wives. " ACT I Scene 3 Line 99 To Aleppo gone, master 0' the Tiger. In "Hakluyt's Voyages" there are several letters and journals of a voyage made to Aleppo in the ship Tiger, of London, in the year 1583. ACT I Scene 3 Line lOO In a sieve I'll thither sail. A pamphlet concerning the "Life and Death ofDr Fian, a Notable Sorcerer," 1591, and describing a conspiracy of200 witches with Dr Fian to "bewitch and drowne" King James in the sea, contains this passage: "They altogether went by sea, each one in a riddle or sieve, and went in the same very substantially with flaggons of wine, making merry and drinking by the way in the same riddles or sieves." Reginald Scot, in his "Discoveries of Witchcraft" 1584, says it was believed that witches "could sail in an egg shell, a cockle or mussel shell, through and under the tempestuous seas." ACT I Scene 3 Line 101 Like a rat without a tail. Among other preposterous popular beliefs respecting witches, it was supposed that though a witch could assume the form of any animal she pleased, the tail would still be wanting. ACT I Scene 3 Line 103 I'll give thee a wind. This offer of a wind as a free gift is accepted as a kindness, because witches were supposed to make it an article of traffic. Witness, among other quotations that have been cited to prove this, a passage from Summers's "Last Will and Testament," 1600: "In Ireland and in Denmark both, Witches for gold will sell a man a wind, Which, in the comer of a napkin wrapp'd, Shall blow him safe unto what coast he will." ACT I Scene 3 Line 109 I' the shipman's card. The mariner's compass; or, more strictly, the paper on which the points of the wind are marked. ACT I Scene 3 Line 113 Forbid. Here used in the sense of'forespoken, , 'bewitched;' under a spell or charm. ' A forbodin fellow' is a Scottish term for an unhappy fellow. ACT I Scene 3 Line 111 Sleep shall neither night nor day &c Shall he dwindle, peak and pine. In Holinshed, Shakespeare found a hint for these witch-spells; for, speaking of the witchcraft practised against King Duff, the Chronicler says that a witch was found roasting upon a wooden broach an image ofwax at the fire, resembling in feature the king's person; and ''as the image did waste afore the fire, so did the bodie of the king break forth in sweat; and as for the words of the inchantment, they served to keepe him still waking from sleepe." ACT I Scene 3 Line 116 Though his bark cannot be lost. The limitation of the witches' power is important in assessing their influence on Macbeth. In some respect his fate resembles that of the master -he is deprived of sleep, drained 'dry as hay', and metaphorically 'tempest-tossed' -but as he fails to resist their temptations he is completely lost. ACT I Scene 3 Line 124 Weird. Spelt in the Folio sometimes 'weyward' sometimes 'weyard'. The word "weird" is derived from the Saxon, wyrd, a fate, or witch; and signifies 'fatal, , 'prophetic. ' Shakespeare derived the expression in the text from Holinshed, who says "The common opinion was, that these women were either the weird sisters, that is (as ye would say) the goddesses of destinie, or else some nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of prophesie by their necromanticall science, because everie thing came to passe as they had spoken." ACTI Scene 3 Line 130 So foul and fair a day. By these words Shakespeare indicates the effect of fair weather overcast and rendered foul by the witches' spells. Their appearance is always accompanied by thunder; they meet in thunder, lightning and rain, they control the elements, vend the winds, and revel in storm and tempest. ACT I Scene 3 Line 131 How far is 't call'd to Forres? The Folio misprints 'Soris' for "Forres" here; shown to be right by the passage in Holinshed which recounts the circumstances of Macbeth and Banquo's meeting the witches on their way 'towards Fores, where the king then lay." By these few words, the dramatist contrives to denote the place where the incident takes place, to open the scene naturally and easily, and to make the moment emphatically when the witches are first beheld by their human encounterers. ACT I Scene 3 Line 141 All hail. "Hail" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon hael, or hal, meaning 'hale,' 'whole,' or 'healthy,' and "all hail" is a salutation equivalent to the Latin ave or salve, 'God save you!' ACT I Scene 3 Line 141 Thane of Glamis. The thaneship of Glamis was the ancient inheritance of Macbeth's family. The.castle where they lived is still standing today. Glamis. Now pronounced 'Glams', but in the playas two syllables. ACT I Scene 3 Line 146 Fantastical. 'Creatures of fantasy or imagination'. ACT I Scene 3 Line 149 Having. 'Possession, 'fortune,' 'estate.' See Act ii "Timon of Athens". ACT I Scene 3 Line 150 Rapt. Here and elsewhere used by Shakespeare to express 'transported;' 'in a state of mental abstraction, , 'in a fit of strongly excited impression' . ACT I Scene 3 Line 151 If you can look into the seeds of time, This is the first instance of the use of this agricultural metaphor. See I.IV .28 Duncan to Macbeth:"I have begun to plant thee, and will labour/ To make thee full of growing". Macbeth does not reply, we may consider this to be telling. Turning to Banquo Duncan says: ". ..let me infold thee/ And hold thee to my heart". Banquo' s reply is significant, because he implies that he has no ambition and will not try to harvest his destiny by cutting the King down as Macbeth will do: "There if I grow/The harvest is your own". At the end of the play Birnam wood is cut down, and it is the sight of the trees moving inexorably toward Dunsinane which finally begins to shake Macbeth's resolve. ACT I Scene 3 Line 153 Who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate. 'Who neither beg your favours nor fear your hate.' See Act v, "Coriolanus". ACT I Scene 3 Line 164 By Sinet's death. Holinshed mentions "Sinell, the thane of Glamis," as being Macbeth's father. ACT I Scene 3 Line 178 Eaten of the insane root. It is conjectured that Shakespeare, in the present passage, had thought of one that occurs in Batman's "Commentary de Propiet.Rerum;" -"Henbane...is called insina, mad, for the use thereof is perilous, for if it be eate or dronke, it breedeth madnesse, or slow lykenesses of sleepe. Therefore this hearb is called commonly Mirilidium, for it taketh away wit and reason." ACT I Scene 3 Line 189 His wonders and his praises etc.. 'His wonder and his admkation at your deeds struggle with desire to express themselves in laudation towards yourself instead of remaining within his own breast'; or, 'his wonder at your deeds and his desire to praise you for them contend for mastery within him. , ACT I Scene 3 Line 189 Silenc'd with that. 'Remaining silently absorbed in that wonder and admiration.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 203 In which addition. 'In which title.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 212 Line. Here used to express 'strengthen, , 'reinforce,' 'support,; 'sustain. ' See Act ii "First Part Henry IV ." ACT I Scene 3 Line 223 That, trusted home. 'That oracle trusted fully.' See Act V "All's Well." ACT I Scene 3 Line 224 Enkindle. 'Incite,' 'stimulate'; 'fire you with the hope of attaining.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 225 Besides the thane of Cawdor. Here, and in the preceding speech, "thane" is used elliptically for 'thaneship' or 'title of thane.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 231 Two truths are told. It appears that Macbethis dwelling upon the point of whether the titles by which the witches have saluted him are true, and not thinking of them an as prophetic. He knows that he is already thane of Glamis, he learns that he has just been created thane of Cawdor, and he tests the probability of the truth that may lie in the "shalt be king hereafter" by his knowledge of the verity that lies in the "two truths" already "told". ACT I Scene 3 Line 235 Soliciting. Here used for 'prompting' , 'urging upon the attention. , ACT I Scene 3 Line 242 Present fears. 'Objects of fear actually present.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 244 Fantastical. ' A circumstance of the fantasy or imagination. ACT I Scene 3 Line 245 My single state of man. "Single" is here used in the sense of 'imperfect,' 'fallible,' 'weak,' 'simple' See Act I "Second Part Henry IV"; and "state of man" is 'realm of man, , 'constitutional condition of man, , 'component conformation as a human being,' See Act ii "Coriolanus" and Act ii "Julius Caesar". ACT I Scene 3 Line 245 Function is smother'd in surmise. 'My mental and bodily powers are absorbed in contemplation of a possible future. , ACT I Scene 3 Line 246 Nothing is but what is not. 'Nothing seems real to me but that which is as yet unreal.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 248 Rapt. 'Involved in a state of abstraction, 'carried away into a fit of thought and absence of mind . ACT I Scene 3 Line 255 Time and the hour. An idiomatic phrase, equivalent to 'Time and the hour destined to witness a special event, 'Time and the hour appointed for a pre-ordained event. , ACT I Scene 3 Line 256 We stay upon your leisure. ' We attend upon your will to depart,, 'we wait but for your convenience to go.' See Act v "Coriolanus". ACT I Scene 3 Line 257 My dull brain was wrought with things forgotten. "wrought" is here used for 'working, , 'toiling,' 'occupied.' ACT I Scene 3 Line 259 Register'd where every day I turn the leaf to read them. Macbeth poetically refers to his mind as a memorandum-book, where he keeps a record of his friends' courtesies and kindly deeds. ACT I Scene 3 Line 262 The interim having weigh'd it. 'Duly balanced in our minds.'

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BANQUO

To ROSS and ANGUS
Look, how our partner's rapt.

MACBETH

Aside

If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir.

BANQUO
New horrors come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of use.

MACBETH

Aside

Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

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