Macd. Then yield thee, coward, And live to be the show and gaze o'the time. Here may you see the tyrant. Macb. I'll not yield, To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff, Retreat. Flourish. Re-enter with drum and colours, Malcolm, Old Siward, Rosse, Lenox, Angus, Cathness, Menteth, and Soldiers. Mal. I would, the friends we miss were safe arriv'd. 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 liv'd but till he was a man ; The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd Siw. Then he is dead? Rosse. Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of sorrow Must not be measur'd by his worth, for then It hath no end. Siw. Had he his hurts before? Why then, God's soldier be he. Rosse. Ay, on the front. Siw. Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death: Mal. He's worth more sorrow, And that I'll spend for him. He's worth no more; 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: All. King of Scotland, hail! [Flourish. Mal. We shall not spend a large expence of time, Before we reckon with your several loves, And make us even with you. My thanes and kins men, Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen; Thy kingdom's wealth or ornament. This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fiction, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no nice discriminations of character; the events are too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents. The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said, in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that in Shakspeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions. The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall. JOHNSON. PERSONS REPRESENTED. King John : Prince Henry, his son; afterwards King Henry III. Arthur, duke of Bretagne, son of Geffrey, late duke of Bretagne, the elder brother of King John. William Mareshall, Earl of Pembroke. Geffrey Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex, chief Justiciary of England. William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury. Robert Bigot, Earl of Norfolk. Hubert de Burgh, Chamberlain to the King. Robert Faulconbridge, son of Sir Robert Faulconbridge: James Gurney, servant to Lady Faulconbridge. Peter of Pomfret, a prophet. Philip, King of France. Lewis, the dauphin. Archduke of Austria. Cardinal Pandulph, the pope's legate. Melun, a French lord. Chatillon, ambassador from France to King John. Elinor, the widow of King Henry II. and mother of King John. Cónstance, mother to Arthur. Blanch, daughter to Alphonso, King of Castile, and niece to King John. Lady Faulconbridge, mother to the bastard and Robert Faulconbridge. Lords, ladies, citizens of Angiers, sheriff, heralds, officers, soldiers, messengers, and other attendants. Scene, sometimes in England, and sometimes in France. |