For it hath cow'd my better part of man:
And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, 48
That palter with us in a double sense;
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee.
Macd. Then yield thee, coward, 52
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time:
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted upon a pole, and underwrit,
'Here may you see the tyrant.'
Macb. I will not yield, 56
To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,
And to be baited with the rabble's curse.
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou oppos'd, being of no woman born, 60
Yet I will try the last: before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'
Exeunt, fighting. Alarums.
Retreat, and flourish. Enter, with drum and colours, Malcolm, Siward, Ross, Thanes, and Soldiers.
Mal. I would the friends we miss were safe arriv'd. 64
Siw. Some must go off; and yet, by these I see,
So great a day as this is cheaply bought.
Mal. Macduff is missing, and your noble son.
Ross. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt: 68
He only liv'd but till he was a man;
47 my better part of man: most of my manhood
49 palter: play tricks
55 Painted upon a pole: with your picture mounted on a pole
58 baited: i.e., as a bear by dogs
63 S. d. Retreat: trumpet-signal to cease pursuit
65 go off: die
