MACBETH
So shall I, love; and so, I pray, be you:
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo;
Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue:
Unsafe the while, that we
Must lave our honours in these flattering streams,
And make our faces vizards to our hearts,
Disguising what they are.
LADY MACBETH
You must leave this.
MACBETH
O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.
LADY MACBETH
But in them nature's copy's not eterne.
MACBETH
There's comfort yet; they are assailable;
Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown
His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.
LADY MACBETH
What's to be done?
MACBETH
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood:
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night's black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still;
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.
Exeunt
NOTES:
Scorpions
The only species of scorpion to be found in the British Isles, the intrepid yellow-tailed scorpion, only arrived in the 1800s, with increased trade on ships travelling from elsewhere in the world. It is highly unlikely that Macbeth or indeed Shakespeare himself would ever have encountered one by accident. Perhaps a witch or a London apothecary might have procured one - probably dead - but certainly the chances of scorpions in Scotland or Stratford are exceptionally low. Of course, Scorpio is a constellation in the stars, and a sign of the zodiac, so the image and idea of the creature was certainly recognisable. Scorpions only appear in Henry VI part ii "(“seek not a scorpion’s nest!” and Cymbeline (“Your daughter, whom she bore in hand to love with such integrity, she did confess was as a scorpion to her sight…”)
Beetles
There has been some argument as to whether this scene’s beetle is shard-borne (borne on wings) or shard-born (born in dung). Worry not, mind you, as there’s a whole article on the subject that you can find here.
Hecate
Hecate was an ancient Greek goddess associated with witchcraft and the blackest hours of the night.
Chuck
This is a term of endearment, but as mentioned in the episode, it’s always said by a higher-status character to a lower. In the old-fashioned patriarchal world of Shakespeare’s plays, this sadly includes a husband speaking to his wife.
Seeling
This was the practice of closing the eyes of a hawk. The details are quite grim, and the more I read the less I wanted to share. But it’s a bleak and violent image for Macbeth to call on night to seel the eye of pitiful day.