by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
He is about it
Language: English
He is about it: The doors are open; and the surfeited grooms Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd their possets, That death and nature do contend about them, Whether they live or die... [...] I laid their daggers ready; He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't... [...] Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go carry them; and smear The sleepy grooms with blood... [...] Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal; For it must seem their guilt.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Macbeth, excerpts from Lady Macbeth's speeches, Act II, Scene 2 [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, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-09
Line count: 21
Word count: 129