The firstlings of my hand.
And then, baulked in his guilty designs upon the husband, he straightway resolves to wreak his vengeance upon his family:
The castle of Macduff I will surprise;
Seize upon Fife; and give to the edge o’ the sword
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace him in his line.
Truly indeed and with prophetic vision had he said to his wife that he was “but young in deed,” and that his terror at Banquo’s ghost was only “the initiate fear that wants hard use.”
And yet, despite this full revelation of the man’s nature, who can fail to be moved by the splendid despair of his closing hours, when, with all the forces of heaven and earth arrayed against him, he struggles with dauntless courage to the end? His imagination, still informing his shattered spirit, lights up the ruin of his life, and presents to his wearied gaze the hated object that he has become in the sight of all men:
My way of life
Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf: