Enter a Servant

The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!
Where got'st thou that goose look?

Servant
There is ten thousand--

MACBETH
Geese, villain!

Servant
Soldiers, sir.

MACBETH
Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear,
Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch?
Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine
Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face?

Servant
The English force, so please you.

Notes and Glossary
NOTES ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2075 Bring me no more reports' let them fly all. ' Bring me word of no more desertions; let all my nobles desert me. ' He twice afterwards mentions the "thanes" as those who "fly." ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2077 Taint. Be tainted with. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2082 The English epicures. An epithet put naturally into the mouth of Macbeth, one of an abstemious nation. ,gainst those who were more luxurious. Holinshed mentions the spare diet of the Scottish people as contrasted with the richer fare of the English; and speaks of "those superfluities which came into the realm of Scotland with the Englishman." ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2084 Sag. 'Sink by its own weight;' 'sway,' 'pend heavily,' as if overladen. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2085 Loon. A term signifying a 'base, abject fellow,' now used only in Scotland; it was formerly common in England, but spelt 'Iown;' Lowt,' or 'lout,' has the same origin. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2091 Patch. 'Fool.' ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2099 Way of life. 'Course of life, , , course of existence. , ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2100 Sear. Here used for 'dryness,' 'witheredness.' ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2101 Old age. Macbeth' s mention of himself as being now in the autumn of life, and his anticipation of the period when he shall be old, is one of those touches of long time systematically thrown in at intervals, to convey the effect of a sufficiently elapsed period for the reign of the usurper since his murder of the preceding king, Duncan. It is interesting to trace in how artistic (according to his own system of art) a mode Shakespeare has achieved this indication of dramatic time from the epoch when it is stated that Macbeth is "gone to Scone to be invested" with royalty. There is mention ot;"our bloody cousins (meaning Malcolm and Donalbain) are bestow'd in England, and in Ireland;" there is the dread of "Banquo's issue" succeeding to the throne; there is his assassination; there is Macduff's flight to the English court, that he may obtain succour to rescue his "suffering country" from the oppressor's cruel sway; there is the scene in England, with the eloquent description of Scotland's miseries, as ofa long-standing course ofwrong and suffering; there are the words, "She has light by her continually" and "It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands," thrown in during the sleep-walking scene, so as to produce the impression of a protracted period in Lady Macbeth' s condition of a nightly disquiet; and now there is introduced this allusion to Macbeth's having advanced in ye'4fs. Be it observed also, that concomitantly with these notifications of long time, there are likewise given touches of short time, such as, "Tonight we hold a solemn supper." "I will to-morrow (and betimes I will) to the weird sisters," in order to show passing and existent points of action and actual period; thus bringing all within appearance of natural progression. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2114 Moe. More. i ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2114 Skirr. 'Scour.' ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2118 Thick-coming. 'Thickly-coming,' coming in rapid succession, , 'quickly thronging.' ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2123 Raze out. Erase. 1. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2125 ... Stuffed Clogged with guilt. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2137 Senna. The first Folio prints 'cyne,' the second and third Folios 'caeny,' while the fourth Folio gives "senna". It seems to us probable that the earlier Folio readings are misprints for some old form of the word which has since been known as "senns;" such as 'cyna, , or 'cynna, , perhaps. It is stated that the leaves of a plant called Cynauchum Arghuel constitute two parts in ten of the senna of Alexandria; and it may be that there was some word, derived from the same origin, by which "senna" was known among our ancestors. ACT 5 Scene 3 Line 2143 Bane. 'Destruction.'

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MACBETH
Take thy face hence.

Exit Servant

Seyton!--I am sick at heart,
When I behold--Seyton, I say!--This push
Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now.
I have lived long enough: my way of life
Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf;
And that which should accompany old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have; but, in their stead,
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,
Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. Seyton!

Enter SEYTON

SEYTON
What is your gracious pleasure?

MACBETH
What news more?

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SEYTON
All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported.

MACBETH
I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd.
Give me my armour.

SEYTON
'Tis not needed yet.

MACBETH
I'll put it on.
Send out more horses; skirr the country round;
Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armour.
How does your patient, doctor?

Doctor
Not so sick, my lord,
As she is troubled with thick coming fancies,
That keep her from her rest.

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