Macbeth — Act 5, Scene 3in modern English, side by side
Dunsinane. A Room in the Castle · Macbeth, Servant, Seyton, Doctor
Malcolm's army is approaching and Macbeth's own thanes are deserting him, but Macbeth clings to the witches' prophecies: he cannot be harmed until Birnam Wood moves, and no man born of woman can defeat him. Meanwhile the doctor reports on Lady Macbeth's worsening condition.
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Enter Macbeth, Doctor and Attendants
Macbeth
Bring me no more reports; let them fly all:
Bring me no more reports — let the thanes all desert me.
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane
I cannot taint with fear.
Until Birnam Wood marches to Dunsinane, fear cannot touch me.
What’s the boy Malcolm?
What is this boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman?
Wasn't he born of a woman?
The spirits that know
All mortal consequences have pronounc’d me thus:5
The spirits who know every human destiny told me this:
“Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman
Shall e’er have power upon thee.”—
'Fear not, Macbeth. No man born of woman shall ever have power over you.'
Then fly, false thanes,
And mingle with the English epicures:
So run, you traitor thanes, and go join the soft, pampered English.
The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear,
Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.10
The mind that rules me and the heart I carry will never sag with doubt or shake with fear.
Enter a Servant
Macbeth
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac’d loon!
The devil damn you black, you cream-faced idiot!
Where gott’st thou that goose look?
Where did you get that scared-goose look?
Servant
There is ten thousand—
There are ten thousand—
Macbeth
Geese, villain?
Ten thousand geese, you wretch?
Servant
Soldiers, sir.15
Soldiers, sir.
Macbeth
Go prick thy face and over-red thy fear,
Thou lily-liver’d boy.
Go stick a pin in your face and use the blood to paint over that fear, you lily-livered boy.
What soldiers, patch?
What soldiers, you fool?
Death of thy soul!
Death take your soul!
those linen cheeks of thine
Are counsellors to fear.
Those linen-white cheeks of yours will teach everyone else to be afraid.
What soldiers, whey-face?
What soldiers, whey-face?
Servant
The English force, so please you.20
The English force, if it please you.
Macbeth
Take thy face hence.
Get your face out of here.
_Exit Servant._
Macbeth
Seyton!—
Seyton!
I am sick at heart,
When I behold—
— I'm sick at heart when I see —
Seyton, I say!—
Seyton, I say! —
This push
Will cheer me ever or disseat me now.
This assault will either secure my throne forever or knock me off it now.
I have liv’d long enough:25
I have lived long enough.
my way of life25
Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf;
My life has withered into the dry, yellow leaf of autumn,
And that which should accompany old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have;
and the things that should come with old age — honor, love, obedience, crowds of friends — I cannot hope to have.
but, in their stead,
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,30
Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.
In their place I get curses, quiet but deep, and mouth-honor: words of respect that people's poor hearts would gladly refuse me, but don't dare.
Seyton!—
Seyton!
Enter Seyton
Seyton
What’s your gracious pleasure?
What is your gracious wish?
Macbeth
What news more?
What further news?
Seyton
All is confirm’d, my lord, which was reported.35
Everything that was reported has been confirmed, my lord.
Macbeth
I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack’d.
I'll fight until the flesh is hacked from my bones.
Give me my armour.
Give me my armor.
Seyton
’Tis not needed yet.
You don't need it yet.
Macbeth
I’ll put it on.
I'll put it on anyway.
Send out more horses,40
Send out more riders.
skirr the country round;40
Hang those that talk of fear.
Scour the whole countryside, and hang anyone who talks of fear.
Give me mine armour.—
Give me my armor.
How does your patient, doctor?
— How is your patient, doctor?
Doctor
Not so sick, my lord,
As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies,
That keep her from her rest.45
Not so much sick, my lord, as troubled by crowding hallucinations that keep her from resting.
Macbeth
Cure her of that:
Then cure her of that.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d,
Can't you treat a diseased mind?
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote50
Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
Pull a rooted sorrow out of the memory, erase the troubles written on the brain, and, with some sweet antidote of forgetfulness, clear the clogged chest of the poisonous matter that presses on the heart?
Doctor
Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.
In that kind of illness, the patient must be their own doctor.
Macbeth
Throw physic to the dogs, I’ll none of it.55
Then throw medicine to the dogs — I'll have none of it.
Come, put mine armour on;
Come, put my armor on me.
give me my staff:
Give me my commander's baton.
Seyton, send out.—
Seyton, send out the riders.
Doctor, the Thanes fly from me.—
— Doctor, the thanes are deserting me.
Come, sir, despatch.—
— Come on, sir, hurry.
If thou couldst, doctor, cast
The water of my land, find her disease,
And purge it to a sound and pristine health,60
I would applaud thee to the very echo,
That should applaud again.—
— Doctor, if you could examine my country's urine, diagnose her disease, and purge her back to sound, perfect health, I would applaud you until the applause came echoing back again.
Pull’t off, I say.—
— Pull it off, I say.
What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug,
Would scour these English hence?
— What rhubarb, senna, or other purgative drug would flush these English out of here?
Hear’st thou of them?
Have you heard about them?
Doctor
Ay, my good lord.65
Yes, my good lord.
Your royal preparation65
Makes us hear something.
Your royal war preparations make it impossible for us not to hear something.
Macbeth
Bring it after me.—
Bring it along after me.
I will not be afraid of death and bane,
Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.
— I will not be afraid of death and destruction until Birnam Forest comes to Dunsinane.
_Exeunt all except Doctor._
Doctor
Were I from Dunsinane away and clear,70
Profit again should hardly draw me here.
If I were away from Dunsinane and safely clear of it, no amount of money would easily bring me back.
_Exit._
Famous lines in this scene
“my way of life / Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf” line 25
Macbeth compares his life to a tree in late autumn — withered, dry, its leaves yellow. Everything that makes old age worth reaching, like honor, love, and loyal friends, is now beyond him; he has earned only curses and empty flattery. It is his bleakest self-assessment before the final battle.
“Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d” line 47
Macbeth asks whether medicine can heal a sick mind — pluck sorrow from the memory and erase troubles written on the brain. He is asking about his wife, but plainly about himself too. The doctor's reply, that such patients must heal themselves, delivers the play's verdict on guilt: no outside cure exists.
“Throw physic to the dogs, I’ll none of it.” line 55
'Physic' means medicine. Told that a troubled mind must cure itself, Macbeth dismisses all medicine in disgust. The outburst captures his desperation: he wants a drug that could purge guilt, or purge the English from Scotland, and is furious that neither his doctor nor anything else can provide one.
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