Macbeth, Act II. Sc. I
Duncan the King,--Heaven rest his bier!--Had a diamond icy-clear;Clear as ice and fierce as flame,--I wot not whence he had the same.Its fellow was not in the land.It shot keen shafts of every hueOn the old king’s trembling handWhere the veins were large and blue.A jewel of price was that indeed,Fit to buy a prince’s life;A royal gift for the lady wifeOf a kinsman bold and trueWho had served the king at need.Who was he, but the Red MacbethThat wrought the false Macdonwald’s death,And drave the sea-wolf in dismay,Sweyn the king of Norroway?Being guest to that great thane,Ere his limbs on couch had lain,Duncan sent that frozen flameTo Lady Gruach, the gracious dame.(Clear as ice was the lady’s fame,A flawless jewel indeed!)
Duncan the king at Colmkill sleeps,So sound he will not turn or moan;His slumber-draught was deep, I ween,Bitter-spiced with daggers keen.It is the Red Macbeth that keepsStern state upon the throne,With Gruach, his kind queen.(“Most kind,” the old King Duncan said,Before he lay in his last bed.)
The Lady Gruach wears the crown,She wears the glistering golden gown,But yet she has not worn the ringThat was the guerdon of the king.In the dark the diamond lies,Seen of no vassal’s eyes.
Nor any vassal’s tongue can tellHow,--when the spying Day is spedAnd sleeps with the safe dead;When Gruach loosens her long hairMidnight-black on her shoulders bare,And sinks to the comfort of despair;At the witches’ hour, when the shadows swellAs the swinging cressets flare,And the small swart crickets harp and harpOn the tune remembered, torturing-sharp,And the sobbing owlets wake,--The diamond in the darkDraws, draws her, like the sparkIn the head of a deadly snake.Then will she sit, and dully stareOn the cold diamond’s serpent-glare;Her lip is fallen, she does not stir,Her life is sucked into the gem;It is as though the Powers malignHad made with mystery in the mineA thing to be like the soul of her:It was a jest to them!All the light upgathered theyThat might have been a sunshine day,Broadcast blessing and heavenly boon,Peace of even and power of noon;Seized the rays with a spell unknown,Forced them into a core of fireLike the glede of a covetous desire,Shut them fast in the heart of a stone.And hard, and harder than the sword,They made the crystal, fiery-cored;On steel that oft had steel withstoodMight it grave the word it would.A gem of beauty and of bale,A prisoned force in narrow pale,Evil-perfect, pure of good!--So will she sit, till naked MornPeers at the world with visage whiteLike a sleeper roused in fright,Aghast and most forlorn.
What of the end? since end must be.She knows a skilled artificer,And he shall set in a dagger’s haftThe thing that is like the soul of her.When first she thought thereon, she laughed,And then she shuddered fearfully.Ah, what if Heaven no end will grant,Resolved in any heats of wrath,To that which for its symbol hathThe unsubduable adamant?Ah, what if like a falling jewelThe soul whose light was mocking-cruel,Through gulfs of loss unplummetedShould fall, and fall, forevermore,Fire of torment at its core?Oh, horrible and leaden dread!The grace of God blot out our sins!--The women knock at the chamber door,The queen starts up, the day begins.
Words in this poem 24
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
- kinsman n.
- A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
- drave
- , old imp. of Drive.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- flawless a.
- Free from flaws. Boyle.
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- dully adv.
- In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- broadcast n.
- A casting or throwing seed in all directions, as from the hand in sowing.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- glede n.
- The common European kite (Milvus ictinus). This name is also sometimes applied to the buzzard. [Written also glead, gled, gleed, glade, and glide.] [AS. glida, akin to Icel. gle,, Sw. glada. Cf. Glide, v. i.]
- covetous a.
- Very desirous; eager to obtain; -- used in a good sense. [OF. coveitos, F. convoiteux. See Covet, v. t.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- sleeper n.
- One who sleeps; a slumberer; hence, a drone, or lazy person.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- haft n.
- A handle; that part of an instrument or vessel taken into the hand, and by which it is held and used; -- said chiefly of a knife, sword, or dagger; the hilt. [AS. hæft; akin to D. & G. heft, Icel. hepti, and to E. Heave, or have. Cf. Heft.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- fearfully adv.
- In a fearful manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Macbeth, Act II. Sc. I is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, Macbeth, Act II. Sc. I, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/macbeth-act-ii-sc-i.html, id L22077.
Form and metre
Macbeth, Act II. Sc. I is 98 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCDCDEFFDEGGHHIIBBBE bierA · clearA · flameB · sameB · landC · hueD · handC · blueD · indeedE · lifeF · wifeF · trueD · needE · macbethG · deathG · dismayH · norrowayH · thaneI · lainI · flameB · dameB · fameB · indeedE
- 2 ABCCABCDD sleepsA · moanB · weenC · keenC · keepsA · throneB · queenC · saidD · bedD
- 3 AABBCC crownA · gownA · ringB · kingB · liesC · eyesC
- 4 -AABBB-BCCDEEDFFGHIIGHJJKKLMMLNNOOPPOQRRQ tell · spedA · deadA · hairB · bareB · despairB · swell · flareB · harpC · sharpC · wakeD · darkE · sparkE · snakeD · stareF · glareF · stirG · gemH · malignI · mineI · herG · themH · theyJ · dayJ · boonK · noonK · unknownL · fireM · desireM · stoneL · swordN · coredN · withstoodO · wouldO · baleP · paleP · goodO · mornQ · whiteR · frightR · forlornQ
- 5 --A-A-BCCBDD-EE-FEF be · artificer · haftA · her · laughedA · fearfully · grantB · wrathC · hathC · adamantB · jewelD · cruelD · unplummeted · forevermoreE · coreE · dread · sinsF · doorE · beginsF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Duncan the King,--Heaven rest his bier!-- | 8 | /˘··/··· |
| Had a diamond icy-clear; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Clear as ice and fierce as flame,-- | 7 | ······· |
| I wot not whence he had the same. | 8 | ········ |
| Its fellow was not in the land. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It shot keen shafts of every hue | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On the old king’s trembling hand | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Where the veins were large and blue. | 7 | ······· |
| A jewel of price was that indeed, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Fit to buy a prince’s life; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A royal gift for the lady wife | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Of a kinsman bold and true | 7 | ··/···· |
| Who had served the king at need. | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Who was he, but the Red Macbeth | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That wrought the false Macdonwald’s death, | 8 | ········ |
| And drave the sea-wolf in dismay, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Sweyn the king of Norroway? | 7 | ······· |
| Being guest to that great thane, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ere his limbs on couch had lain, | 7 | ······· |
| Duncan sent that frozen flame | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| To Lady Gruach, the gracious dame. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| (Clear as ice was the lady’s fame, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A flawless jewel indeed!) | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘/ |
| Duncan the king at Colmkill sleeps, | 8 | /˘······ |
| So sound he will not turn or moan; | 8 | ········ |
| His slumber-draught was deep, I ween, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bitter-spiced with daggers keen. | 8 | /˘·˘·/˘· |
| It is the Red Macbeth that keeps | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Stern state upon the throne, | 6 | ······ |
| With Gruach, his kind queen. | 5 | ····· |
| (“Most kind,” the old King Duncan said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Before he lay in his last bed.) | 8 | ········ |
| The Lady Gruach wears the crown, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| She wears the glistering golden gown, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But yet she has not worn the ring | 8 | ········ |
| That was the guerdon of the king. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the dark the diamond lies, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Seen of no vassal’s eyes. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor any vassal’s tongue can tell | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| How,--when the spying Day is sped | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And sleeps with the safe dead; | 6 | ······ |
| When Gruach loosens her long hair | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Midnight-black on her shoulders bare, | 8 | /····/˘· |
| And sinks to the comfort of despair; | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| At the witches’ hour, when the shadows swell | 10 | ··/˘/··/·· |
| As the swinging cressets flare, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the small swart crickets harp and harp | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| On the tune remembered, torturing-sharp, | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| And the sobbing owlets wake,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The diamond in the dark | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Draws, draws her, like the spark | 6 | ······ |
| In the head of a deadly snake. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then will she sit, and dully stare | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On the cold diamond’s serpent-glare; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her lip is fallen, she does not stir, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Her life is sucked into the gem; | 8 | ········ |
| It is as though the Powers malign | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Had made with mystery in the mine | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A thing to be like the soul of her: | 9 | ········· |
| It was a jest to them! | 6 | ······ |
| All the light upgathered they | 8 | ······˘· |
| That might have been a sunshine day, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Broadcast blessing and heavenly boon, | 8 | /·/˘·/˘· |
| Peace of even and power of noon; | 8 | ··/·/˘·· |
| Seized the rays with a spell unknown, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Forced them into a core of fire | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Like the glede of a covetous desire, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Shut them fast in the heart of a stone. | 9 | ········· |
| And hard, and harder than the sword, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They made the crystal, fiery-cored; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| On steel that oft had steel withstood | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Might it grave the word it would. | 7 | ······· |
| A gem of beauty and of bale, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A prisoned force in narrow pale, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Evil-perfect, pure of good! | 7 | /˘/···· |
| --So will she sit, till naked Morn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Peers at the world with visage white | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like a sleeper roused in fright, | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| Aghast and most forlorn. | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| What of the end? since end must be. | 8 | ········ |
| She knows a skilled artificer, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| And he shall set in a dagger’s haft | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The thing that is like the soul of her. | 9 | ········· |
| When first she thought thereon, she laughed, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And then she shuddered fearfully. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Ah, what if Heaven no end will grant, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Resolved in any heats of wrath, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| To that which for its symbol hath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The unsubduable adamant? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Ah, what if like a falling jewel | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The soul whose light was mocking-cruel, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Through gulfs of loss unplummeted | 8 | ········ |
| Should fall, and fall, forevermore, | 8 | ········ |
| Fire of torment at its core? | 8 | /˘·˘/··· |
| Oh, horrible and leaden dread! | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| The grace of God blot out our sins! | 8 | ······/· |
| --The women knock at the chamber door, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| The queen starts up, the day begins. | 8 | ······˘/ |
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