Macbeth (38 page)

⁵⁴
Untimely
prematurely (Macduff was born by Caesarian section)  

⁵⁶
cowed
overawed, intimidated  

better … man
i.e. courage, manly spirit  

⁵⁷
juggling
deceiving/ equivocating  

⁵⁸
palter
equivocate  

⁵⁹
keep … hope
only fulfill their promises verbally rather than in the manner we expected  

⁶²
show … o’th’time
sideshow or public spectacle of the age  

⁶⁴
Painted … pole
(your picture) painted on a sign, as an advertisement for the attraction  

underwrit
written underneath  

⁶⁸
rabble
mob of commoners  

⁷⁰
opposed
facing me/hostile to me  

⁷¹
try the last
attempt the extreme/undergo the utmost  

⁷²
Lay on
set to, go about it  

⁷⁴
would
wish  

⁷⁵
go off
die  

these
i.e. those present  

⁷⁸
soldier’s debt
i.e. death  

⁸⁰
prowess
bravery  

⁸¹
unshrinking station
brave stand  

⁸⁷
before
on the front of his body (which would show that he had died fighting honorably, not running away)  

⁹⁰
hairs
puns on “heirs”  

⁹²
knolled
tolled  

⁹⁴
spend
expend (in tears)  

⁹⁶
score
bill, amount owed  

⁹⁸
stands
i.e. on a pole or lance  

⁹⁹
free
liberated from tyranny  

¹⁰⁰
compassed … pearl
i.e. surrounded by the finest nobles of Scotland (plays on the idea of being crowned)  

¹⁰¹
salutation
greeting  

¹⁰⁵
spend
waste/pay out  

¹⁰⁶
reckon
settle accounts  

¹⁰⁷
make … you
i.e. by rewarding the thanes’ loyalty  

¹¹⁰
planted … time
performed now as befits the beginning of a new age  

¹¹³
ministers
agents  

self and violent
her own violent  

¹¹⁵
by … life
i.e. committed suicide  

¹¹⁶
needful else
other necessary things  

¹¹⁷
grace of grace
i.e. grace of God (the essence of grace itself)  

¹¹⁸
measure
due proportion  

¹²
the count
the full number  

¹³
’noint
anoint (apply an oil, perhaps in ritual manner)  

¹⁵
dues
what is owed to him  

¹⁶
cull
embrace  

¹⁷
muse
wonder  

²³
furnished
prepared/equipped  

³¹
crystal
an alternative reading in the early musical sources is “
mistress’”
  

³⁴
sound
make noise/can be heard  

³⁶
breach
breaking (waves)  

³
keep … in
keep the gruel in the cauldron viscous  

¹⁰
bane
poison  

¹²
oil
venom  

¹³
madder
more potent, liable to provoke frenzy/red-colored (from the plant “madder” used in dyeing)  

¹⁴
rid
get rid of  

¹⁵
wench
girl/lass (
red-haired
people were sometimes associated with evil)