William Shakespeare
Macbeth
Act I, Scene 1
A desert place.
[Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches]
First Witch. When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won. 5
Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch. Where the place?
Second Witch. Upon the heath.
Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch. I come, Graymalkin! 10
Second Witch. Paddock calls.
Third Witch. Anon.
All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
[Exeunt]
Act I, Scene 2
A camp near Forres.
[Alarum within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant]
Duncan. What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state. 20
Malcolm. This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it. 25
Sergeant. Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald—
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature 30
Do swarm upon him—from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name— 35
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, 40
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.
Duncan. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sergeant. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, 45
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had with valour arm'd
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage, 50
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault.
Duncan. Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sergeant. Yes; 55
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 60
Or memorise another Golgotha,
I cannot tell.
But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons. 65
[Exit Sergeant, attended]
Who comes here?
[Enter ROSS]
Malcolm. The worthy thane of Ross.
Lennox. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look 70
That seems to speak things strange.
Ross. God save the king!
Duncan. Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
Ross. From Fife, great king;
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky 75
And fan our people cold. Norway
