by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Yet here's a spot
Language: English
[Lady Macbeth Yet here's a spot.]1 [Doctor Hark, she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. Lady Macbeth]2 Out, damned spot! out, I say! -- One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? [Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?]1 [Doctor Do you mark that? Lady Macbeth]2 [The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean?]1 No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that; you mar all with this starting. [Doctor Go to, go to. You have known what you should not. Gentlewoman She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that. Heaven knows what she has known. Lady Macbeth]2 Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! [Doctor What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. Gentlewoman I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. Doctor Well, well, well. Gentlewoman Pray God it be, sir. Doctor This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep, who have died holily in their beds. Lady Macbeth]2 Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he cannot come out on's grave. [Doctor Even so? Lady Macbeth]2 To bed, to bed. There's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Folger Shakespeare Library.
1 omitted by Horovitz.2 omitted by Bauld, Horovitz
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Macbeth, Act V, Scene 1 [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):
- by Alison Bauld (b. 1944), "Banquo's Buried", 1982 [ soprano and piano ], Novello & Co Ltd
Publisher: Wise Music Classical [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- 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
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-09
Line count: 55
Word count: 320