No Fear Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Get this No Fear to go!

Act 4, Scene 1, Page 5

Original Text

Modern Text


85



MACBETH
Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee?
But yet I’ll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live,
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,
And sleep in spite of thunder.
MACBETH
Then I don’t need to kill Macduff. I have no reason to fear him. But even so, I’ll make doubly sure. I’ll guarantee my own fate by having you killed, Macduff. That way I can conquer my own fear and sleep easy at night.
Thunder. THIRD APPARITION : a child crowned, with a tree in his hand
Thunder. The THIRD APPARITION appears, in the form of a child with a crown on his head and a tree in his hand.
90


What is this
That rises like the issue of a king,
And wears upon his baby-brow the round
And top of sovereignty?
What is this spirit that looks like the son of a king and wears a crown on his young head?

ALL
     Listen but speak not to ’t.
ALL
Listen but don’t speak to it.


95


THIRD APPARITION
Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.
Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.
THIRD APPARITION
Be brave like the lion and proud. Don’t even worry about who hates you, who resents you, and who conspires against you. Macbeth will never be defeated until Birnam Wood marches to fight you at Dunsinane Hill.
Descends
The THIRD APPARITION descends.



100




105

MACBETH
     That will never be.
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements! Good!
Rebellious dead, rise never till the wood
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing. Tell me, if your art
Can tell so much: shall Banquo’s issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?
MACBETH
That will never happen. Who can command the forest and make the trees pull their roots out of the earth? These were sweet omens! Good! My murders will never come back to threaten me until the forest of Birnam gets up and moves, and I will be king for my entire natural life. But my heart is still throbbing to know one thing. Tell me, if your dark powers can see this far: will Banquo’s sons ever reign in this kingdom?

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