Friday 9 September 2011

Lincoln's Favourite Play.


MACBETH:
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly. If the' assassination
Could trammel up the consequence and catch
With his surcease success, that but this blow
Might be the be-all and end-all, here;
But here upon this bank and shoal of time,
We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgement here, that we but teach
Bloody instructions which, being taught, return
To plague th'inventor. This even-handed justice
Commends th'ingredience of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips. He's here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued against
The deep damnation of his taking-off,
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself
And falls on th'other. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

how many time i do not do what i want to do but do what i dont want to do

Lizza said...

I don't know anything about what Lincoln did. Was he a Macbeth in his day?

Unknown said...

Abraham Lincoln loved Macbeth which reflects his own awareness of the huge weight of responsibility he had to bare for the American Civil War. Keep in mind Macbeth is about the guilt of the King who murdered his predecessor. Lincoln had to bare responsibility for the suspension of habeas corpus, let alone the bloodbath in which over 630,000 Americans died and 3 million were injured. This brief excerpt feeds into my other article in which Lincoln is one of a few examples:

http://livinginphilistia.blogspot.com/2011/08/myth-of-beautiful-soul.html