Lay on Macduff?

[belly_ttt]

Almost everyone knows the play MacBeth, so what do MacBeth means when he says:33I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
34 And damn'd be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!

What does it mean :Lay on?

 

[oregeezer]

Start the fight!

 

[vil]

Hi belly_ttt,

I suppose, I'm able to afford to interpolate into your very brief, consisting only of two lines Macbeth's quoting, another in my opinion very important lines, in order to ensure the success of your understanding of the present theme.To facilitate your insight into the point of the matter I supplemented
an concise, auxiliary Shakespeare-English Dictionary right after the cues of Macduff and Macbeth.

Macduff

Then yield thee, coward.
And live to be the show and gaze o’ tj’ time:
We’ll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Fainted upon a pole, and underwrit,
“Here may you see the tyrant”.

Macbeth

I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Malkolm’s feet,
And to be baited with the rabble’s curse.
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last: before my body
I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff;
And damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”

yield thee = give yourself up
the show and gaze o’ th’ time = the object of show and gaze of all the world (th’ time)
rarer monsters = stranger animals
painted upon a pole = pictures of strange animals and other things (e.g. the painted devil were painted on cloth or board and fixed for people to look at).
underwrit = (with title) written beneath
To kiss .. Malkolm’s feet” = to honor him as king of Scotland
And thou opposed .. women born = and (although) you, being of no women born, (are) opposed (to me)
Before my body .. warlike shield = I thrust (throw) my shield , ready for battle, in front of my body.
Lay on Macduff = come and fight, Macduff
Damned be him that = let him be damned who…
lay on = inflict blows; attack
Hold! = Stop!

Macbeth is at the beginning a loyal general who shows great personal courage in defence of his king and country. He has however a tragic flaw that is his undoing, and in the course of the play he becomes a shattered shadow of the man he once was. Facing the vengeful Macduff, who calls him a coward, Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time.
In the battle with Macduff, Macbeth showed his fortitude towards death.
“I will not yield…..

He shouts to Mucduff his last words
“Before my body, I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff! And damned be him that first cries “Hold enough!”.

Macbeth did regain a shred of his previous distinction when he faced his adversaries like a true warrior. Macbeth last words are those of a good man who faces his own problems. Macbeth has no lived well, but he dies well. Macbeth here is challenging Macduff to attack.

“Lay it on!” means speak or act with intensity, probably even with vehemence. It usually connotes that the intensity is excessive from the amusement to strongly impatient annoyance.

If Macbeth won’t fight, he’ll be taken to prison and paraded about for people to jeer at.
This is too much for Macbeth to take and he regains is courage. Knowing that Birnam wood has come to Dunsinane, knowing that Macduff is not of a woman born, knowing that he nas no chance, Macbeth determine to fight on saying “Lay on. Macduff! And damned be him that first cries “Hold enough.” They are Macbeth’s last words meaning “ go for it, Macduff! Let’s fight to the death!” before Macduff kills him in combat. I would say that Macbeth is a coward as a man and a hero as a soldier, whose dying words sound heroic.

I rather like the “damn be him that first cries “Hold enough”. I think it a fine irony to have the merciless Macbeth finals crying for mercy – and thus damned himself. The lack of mercy in Macduff is equally pleasing. He says before: ”As I grow older and more cynical, I see the play as completely cyclical”. Macduff replaces Macbeth at play’s end, and here we go again.

At the old saying goes: "The bigger they are, the harder - and further they fall."

Regards.

V.

 

[belly_ttt]

Hi belly_ttt,

I suppose, I'm able to afford to interpolate into your very brief, consisting only of two lines Macbeth's quoting, another in my opinion very important lines, in order to ensure the success of your understanding of the present theme.To facilitate your insight into the point of the matter I supplemented
an concise, auxiliary Shakespeare-English Dictionary right after the cues of Macduff and Macbeth.

Macduff

Then yield thee, coward.
And live to be the show and gaze o’ tj’ time:
We’ll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Fainted upon a pole, and underwrit,
“Here may you see the tyrant”.

Macbeth

I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Malkolm’s feet,
And to be baited with the rabble’s curse.
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last: before my body
I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff;
And damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”

yield thee = give yourself up
the show and gaze o’ th’ time = the object of show and gaze of all the world (th’ time)
rarer monsters = stranger animals
painted upon a pole = pictures of strange animals and other things (e.g. the painted devil were painted on cloth or board and fixed for people to look at).
underwrit = (with title) written beneath
To kiss .. Malkolm’s feet” = to honor him as king of Scotland
And thou opposed .. women born = and (although) you, being of no women born, (are) opposed (to me)
Before my body .. warlike shield = I thrust (throw) my shield , ready for battle, in front of my body.
Lay on Macduff = come and fight, Macduff
Damned be him that = let him be damned who…
lay on = inflict blows; attack
Hold! = Stop!

Macbeth is at the beginning a loyal general who shows great personal courage in defence of his king and country. He has however a tragic flaw that is his undoing, and in the course of the play he becomes a shattered shadow of the man he once was. Facing the vengeful Macduff, who calls him a coward, Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time.
In the battle with Macduff, Macbeth showed his fortitude towards death.
“I will not yield…..

He shouts to Mucduff his last words
“Before my body, I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff! And damned be him that first cries “Hold enough!”.

Macbeth did regain a shred of his previous distinction when he faced his adversaries like a true warrior. Macbeth last words are those of a good man who faces his own problems. Macbeth has no lived well, but he dies well. Macbeth here is challenging Macduff to attack.

“Lay it on!” means speak or act with intensity, probably even with vehemence. It usually connotes that the intensity is excessive from the amusement to strongly impatient annoyance.

If Macbeth won’t fight, he’ll be taken to prison and paraded about for people to jeer at.
This is too much for Macbeth to take and he regains is courage. Knowing that Birnam wood has come to Dunsinane, knowing that Macduff is not of a woman born, knowing that he nas no chance, Macbeth determine to fight on saying “Lay on. Macduff! And damned be him that first cries “Hold enough.” They are Macbeth’s last words meaning “ go for it, Macduff! Let’s fight to the death!” before Macduff kills him in combat. I would say that Macbeth is a coward as a man and a hero as a soldier, whose dying words sound heroic.

I rather like the “damn be him that first cries “Hold enough”. I think it a fine irony to have the merciless Macbeth finals crying for mercy – and thus damned himself. The lack of mercy in Macduff is equally pleasing. He says before: ”As I grow older and more cynical, I see the play as completely cyclical”. Macduff replaces Macbeth at play’s end, and here we go again.

At the old saying goes: "The bigger they are, the harder - and further they fall."

Regards.

V.

Wonderful explanation Vill. But could you explain to me some of the green words above?

 

[vil]

Hi belly_ttt,

stiffen = to make stiff or stiffer
to make or become tense

stiff = rigid or firm, strong, forceful, powerful, resolute, firm in purpose, unyielding

stiffen = make or become harder

live, lived = to be alive, exist etc.

Regards.

V.

 

[belly_ttt]

Hi,
but what I asked about here is not the meaning but the fuction of its, Vil

Facing the vengeful Macduff, who calls him a coward, Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time.

Stiffens you used here looks like a noun (with plural forms, resolve is a verb or a noun)

Macbeth has no lived well, but he dies well. Macbeth here is challenging Macduff to attack.

I think it would be better to use has not lived well, but I wonder if your usage is archaic

 

[vil]

Hi belly_ttt,

Well, I have plenty of time to explain to you the difference between a verb an a noun.

Even my little great child (6 years old) knows that resolve is a verb with the following meaning "to make a firm decision about" and "stiffens" is verb (do you know something about "the third person singular Present Indefinite Indicative?- he speaks ( not he speak).

The noun "stiffness" is very different from the your whimsical "stiffen" which is
a verb (please see its meaning in my previous post above). The properly meaning of the noun "stiffness" is " the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bent".

Macbeth has no lived well, but he dies well. Macbeth here is challenging Macduff to attack.

Everyone could drop a stitch by knitting.
Shakespeare is my favorite writer (maybe I am influenced of his manner of expression). I think, he (Shakespeare) sounds more contemporary than many writers of today, especially than the great number of small-minded, fastidious readers with double-dyed brains.

Regards.

V.

 

[belly_ttt]

Hi belly_ttt,

stiffen = to make stiff or stiffer
to make or become tense

stiff = rigid or firm, strong, forceful, powerful, resolute, firm in purpose, unyielding

stiffen = make or become harder

live, lived = to be alive, exist etc.

Regards.

V.

Hi Vil,

Even my little great child (6 years old) knows that resolve is a verb with the following meaning "to make a firm decision about" and "stiffens" is verb (do you know something about "the third person singular Present Indefinite Indicative?- he speaks ( not he speak).

Resolve is also a now,too it means resolution. Hm... I certainly never heard of that so-called Present Indefinite Indicative , but I do know the rule of adding s when the subject is aThird person

Facing the vengeful Macduff, who calls him a coward, Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time.

The noun "stiffness" is very different from the your whimsical "stiffen" which is
a verb (please see its meaning in my previous post above). The properly meaning of the noun "stiffness" is " the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bent".

Sorry but I did not write stiffen as a noun, but you did, Vil, you can look back to your first post in this topic to see it

Macbeth has no lived well, but he dies well. Macbeth here is challenging Macduff to attack.

Everyone could drop a stitch by knitting.

Would you be so kind as explain the meaning of "Everyone could drop a stitch by knitting" in this context?

Thanks for your posts,
Belly

 

[rewboss]

It's certainly true that there is no noun "stiffen". In the sentence:

"Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time."

the verb is "stiffen"; the subject is "Macbeth's former resolve".

Confusion is understandable here: the problem is that English uses the ending -s for many things: the plural of a noun, the possesive form of a noun (when it's written with an apostrophe) and the third-person singular of the present tense of a verb. If you're unfamiliar with English, this can make it very difficult to locate the verb in a sentence, since there are no obvious markers for verbs.

vil, may I ask you to be a little more careful with your language? Comparing somebody to your granddaughter might be seen as insulting.

 

[curmudgeon]

It's certainly true that there is no noun "stiffen". In the sentence:

"Macbeth’s former resolve stiffens in him one last time."

the verb is "stiffen"; the subject is "Macbeth's former resolve".

Confusion is understandable here: the problem is that English uses the ending -s for many things: the plural of a noun, the possesive form of a noun (when it's written with an apostrophe) and the third-person singular of the present tense of a verb. If you're unfamiliar with English, this can make it very difficult to locate the verb in a sentence, since there are no obvious markers for verbs.

vil, may I ask you to be a little more careful with your language? Comparing somebody to your granddaughter might be seen as insulting.

Hey, Rewboss...lighten up...

 

[belly_ttt]

Oh, thanks to rewboss, I now understand stiffens here.
In Vil's post, he mentioned that resolute is a verb, so I confused. Were him to mention it as a noun....Well, he didn't!
I also paid attention to:

I think, he (Shakespeare) sounds more contemporary than many writers of today, especially than the great number of small-minded, fastidious readers with double-dyed brains.

Hm.... Compare writers with readers here sounds Ok?

 

[vil]

Hi belly_ttt,

I will whisk past the beginning your last post in significant silence and focus my whole attention upon the intelligible explanation the meaning of the expression "Everyone could drops by knitting".

Every knitter drops stitches. You stop paying attention of a little while and suddenly you've got a loop that's slipped off the needle. If you didn't notice it fall, you might end knitting several rows before you see the tell-tale ladders of yarn filling the gap where the stitches was dropped.

A knitting work (for example a sweater) with many dropped stitches is wrong work, a faulty output. To err is human. It's a good horse that never stumbles.

The similar is when you dropped letters by writing a text (for example; Macbeth has no- lived well, but he dies well.)

With other words: Even Homer sometimes nods. or
A good marksman may miss. or
He that never climbed, never fell. or
A horse stumbles that has four legs.

You have to learn yourself to read the written text "between the lines", and to make a good guess referring the metaphorical sense if there should be really a hidden suggestion.

Have a good day.

Regards.

V.

 

[vil]

Hi curmudgeon,

Because I have made my first not quite sure of its strength steps in mastery of technique implementing of living interactive English communications for a few months, I made a great variety of mistakes and blunders, which attracted the attention as well as the magnanimous and righteous anger of few (really and truly you have to read few, not a few) supersensitive moderators, who incurred their's wrath upon me. To mark the occasion I allow me to remind an English proverb: "When anger blinds the mind, truth disappears."

In order to preclude any misunderstanding concerning the philosophical store your brief but eloquent post, I will try my hand at its developing in full.

Hey, Rewboss...lighten up...

I know that "lighten up" means "become or cause to become less serious or gloomy, and more cheerful.

I might make yourself clearer. I think I shan't be far out in saying:"Lighten up, Rewboss-it'll turn out all right"

This slangy expression transfers reducing a physical weight to a change of mood or attitude.

I beg your pardon if you see the things differently.

And yet we won't live in the Cromwell's time, will we?

Regards.

V.

 

[rewboss]

"Everyone could drops by knitting".

With other words: Even Homer sometimes nods. or
A good marksman may miss. or
He that never climbed, never fell. or
A horse stumbles that has four legs.

I've never heard any of these expressions in English. The one about Homer is completely meaningless to me. Have you simply translated them word for word from your own language?

Hey, Rewboss...lighten up...

I know that "lighten up" means "become or cause to become less serious or gloomy, and more cheerful.

I might make yourself clearer. I think I shan't be far out in saying:"Lighten up, Rewboss-it'll turn out all right"

This slangy expression transfers reducing a physical weight to a change of mood or attitude.

Just about. curmudgeon is saying that I probably overreacted, and that I shouldn't take things too seriously.

And yet we won't live in the Cromwell's time, will we?

I don't understand this phrase at all. Are you saying we shouldn't dwell on the past?

 

[curmudgeon]

Hi curmudgeon,

Because I have made my first not quite sure of its strength steps in mastery of technique implementing of living interactive English communications for a few months, I made a great variety of mistakes and blunders, which attracted the attention as well as the magnanimous and righteous anger of few (really and truly you have to read few, not a few) supersensitive moderators, who incurred their's wrath upon me. To mark the occasion I allow me to remind an English proverb: "When anger blinds the mind, truth disappears."

In order to preclude any misunderstanding concerning the philosophical store your brief but eloquent post, I will try my hand at its developing in full.

Hey, Rewboss...lighten up...

I know that "lighten up" means "become or cause to become less serious or gloomy, and more cheerful.

I might make yourself clearer. I think I shan't be far out in saying:"Lighten up, Rewboss-it'll turn out all right"

This slangy expression transfers reducing a physical weight to a change of mood or attitude.

I beg your pardon if you see the things differently.

And yet we won't live in the Cromwell's time, will we?

Regards.

V.

Do you know about acronyms? KISS http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=KISS

 

[vil]

Hi rewboss,

Quote:
Originally Posted by vil
"Everyone could drops by knitting".

With other words: Even Homer sometimes nods. or
A good marksman may miss. or
He that never climbed, never fell. or
A horse stumbles that has four legs.

I've never heard any of these expressions in English. The one about Homer is completely meaningless to me. Have you simply translated them word for word from your own language?

(an ironical and mocking, upstage expression, which shouldn't be a pattern to imitate)

My great excitement would not let me concentrate. You really overrated my powers. The following lines in the present post have to be clear indication which must disprove yours speculations above.

You have to know that the ignorance shouldn't be an argument nowadays.


The phrase "Homer sometimes nods" or "Even Homer nods" , means that even someone who is the best at what they do can turn in a subpar performance. Even the best folks sometimes make mistakes.
Nobody, even a poet as great as the Greek epic writer Homer, can be at his best or most alert all the time. Nods here means ‘becomes drowsy, falls asleep’; hence, ‘errs due to momentary lack of attention’. The source is [Horace Ars Poetica 359] indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus, I am indignant when worthy Homer nods. Here "nod" means 'to let your head fall forward when you are sleeping in a chair'

Because I was not sure if you know the meaning of the word "subpar" I allow me the luxury of explaining its meaning to you.


subpar = not measuring up to traditional standards of performance, value, or production.

If the expression "turn in a subpar performance" is too much trouble for you, I am ready to offer my services.



The following proverbs are from a quotation in an excerpt of a book "English Proverbs"



good dog deserves a good bone
A good example is the best sermon
A good face is a better sermon
A good marksman may miss
A good name is sooner lost than won

The paper has been withdrawn by the author, due to a fatal error. A horse stumbles that has four legs.

The proverbs belonging to this category are in fact those of unknown origin. If Medieval Latin, the international language of the Middle Ages is given as the only source, then it is evident that it is a secondary one. In this case the primary one is one of the West-European vernaculars, like English, French, German, Italian or Spanish. A more exact solution of the problem of origin is in most of these cases impossible, due to an absence of contemporary corresponding records. In some cases the language of the first recording may be the source. Forty proverbs were found with records in ML. Some examples: Four eyes see more than two (No. 16), All that glitters is not gold (No. 17) - A horse has four legs still it stumbles(No. 20) - New brooms sweep clean (No. 22) - All roads lead to Rome (No. 98) etc.

Do you know the proverbs "The higher they climb the harder they fall" or
"The bigger they come, the harder they fall." Close to these proverbs but with a opposite meaning is "He that never climbed, never fell."


Regards.

V.

 

[rewboss]

Well, vil, I am a native English speaker, and most of those phrases are new to me. Just because they are collected in a book doesn't mean they're all well-known.