Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win... [thou'ldst have, great Glamis, That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it; And that which rather thou dost fear to do Than wishest should be undone.']1 Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crown'd withal.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Horovitz.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Macbeth, Act II, Scene 5 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
- by Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926), "Lady Macbeth", subtitle: "A Scena", 1970, Composer's note: The composer has selected the words from the speeches of Lady Macbeth. This selection is intended to portray the development of this character, from early aspirations to grandeur, to later power and finally to guilt and madness. The implication is that the Scena begins after Lady Macbeth has read the report of Macbeth's victory at the start of the play.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Carlo Rusconi) , no title, first published 1858
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 135
Sei Thane di Glamis e di Cawdor...... e ascenderai in breve all’altezza predetta. — Ma nondimeno io temo il tuo carattere, troppo informato alle umane debolezze, per estimarti atto ad imprendere la più breve via. Non iscevro d’ambizione, aspirerai alla grandezza; ma l’energia ti verrà meno nei triboli della strada. Il cammino degli onori è tutto lubrico di delitti; e guai a colui che vi s’addentra senza la forza di compierli! Nobile Glamis, tu intendi a possedere un bene, per cui t’è mestieri eseguire un’opera dalla quale non abbonisci, purchè non compita da te. — Vieni, affrettati; io ti tendo le braccia; fra queste braccia attignerai le forze necessarie all’impresa che un trono ti promette, e che messaggeri di un’altra natura vennero ad annunziarti
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: this is a prose text. The line breaks have been added to try to make it line up with the original English.
Text Authorship:
- by Carlo Rusconi (1819 - 1889), no title, first published 1858 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Macbeth, Act II, Scene 5
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 124