HECATE Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vap’rous drop profound.
I’ll catch it ere it come to ground;
And that, distilled by magic sleights,
Shall raise such artificial sprites
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him on to his confusion.
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and fear;
And, you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.
Music [within]
Hark, I am called. My little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud and stays for me. [Exit]
(Sing within. ‘Come away, come away, etc.’)
FIRST WITCHCome, let’s make haste; she’ll soon be back again.
Exeunt (3.5.23-36)
It’s the most vivid line in the scene, Hecate’s imagining of the vap’rous drop profound hanging upon the corner of the moon, like a pendulous dewdrop, suspended from the point of a crescent moon, on the point of splashing down to earth. In classical writing about witchcraft, the moon was believed to exude a kind of magical foam, so the drop is vap’rous, foamy, something between liquid and gas. And Hecate is going to catch it as it falls, as a powerful ingredient for the charms which they are planning for Macbeth. It will be distilled, purified, by magic sleights, tricks and techniques, and it’s this magical substance which will enable the raising of apparitions, artificial sprites, which will be so convincing, so strong in their illusion, that they will confound Macbeth, bewitch him utterly, and draw him on to his confusion, both confusing him, deceiving him, and leading him to his damnation, his utter ruination. He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and fear. This anticipates the terms of the apparitions, which will give Macbeth a false sense of invincibility, temporarily calming his fears, giving him a reckless confidence and courage, so that he will have no regard for his own safety, his own life. And, you all know, security is mortals’ chiefest enemy. He’ll think that he’s safe, and it’s that which will be his downfall. Despite the lameness of the scene, its psychology is sound, both generally and in relation to Macbeth in particular.
The scene now gets very Middleton again, with a song from Middleton’s play The Witch sometimes interpolated (I am not going to add it here). But there’s music heard (oboes, hautboys are often associated with enchantment, so perhaps they’re part of the mix), Hecate’s cue to depart; she gestures at her little spirit—maybe a CAT!—which sits in a foggy cloud and stays for me. And she perhaps flies off, as the additional spirits or witches sing. Exeunt other witches: let’s make haste; she’ll soon be back again. We’d better do what we’ve been told, go and get ready. Shopping to be done, write a list.
An opportunity for spectacle (staging, effects, song and dance), catering to the tastes of a slightly later audience, and perhaps also allowing even more time for the readying of any effects needed for the next scene but one, with the witches again and potentially elaborate apparitions, and also to give Macbeth plenty of time, if needed, for a costume change. But almost never performed, probably not by Shakespeare, and no great loss.
