Shakespearean English
Sergeant
Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald–
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him–from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show’d like a rebel’s whore: but all’s too weak:
For brave Macbeth–well he deserves that name–
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour’s minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix’d his head upon our battlements.
Modern English
Sergeant
I understand
the two of them are coming; together they will be here
The army are like swimmers who are attached to each other
The villainess Macdonwald have an army from Western Isles and he’s worthy to be a rebel
The rebels are weak
For Macbeth he deserve that name
He will chop him off with steel
He never say goodbye or never shake his hand
His body was sliced in half.
September 21, 2016 at 4:09 pm
Hi Samy,
There are some good facts here extracted from the original extract. A couple of issues too: MacDonwald is the leader of a army – so he would definitely not be a woman!