19 Like valor's minion carved out his passage 20 Till he faced the slave; Which ne'er shook hands nor bade farewell to him
22 Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chaps And fixed his head upon our battlements.
KING DUNCAN
O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!
CAPTAIN
As whence the sun gins his reflection
Shipwracking storms and direful thunders,
So from that spring whence comfort seemed to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland, mark.
No sooner justice had, with valor armed,
Compelled these skipping kerns to trust their heels30
But the Norwegian lord, surveying vantage,31
With furbished arms and new supplies of men,
Began a fresh assault.
KING DUNCAN Dismayed not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
CAPTAIN Yes,
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks,37
So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe.
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,39
Or memorize another Golgotha,40
I cannot tell—
But I am faint; my gashes cry for help.
KING DUNCAN
So well thy words become thee as thy wounds,
They smack of honor both. Go get him surgeons.
[Exit Captain, attended.]
Enter Ross and Angus.