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HENRY IRVING
own powers is the chief factor of his aes-
thetic judgments.
Mr. Irving's delivery of the text of Mac-
beth was often inadequate. The greatest
passages were generally the greatest suf-
ferers. The vast potencies of such lines as
the incomparable five which begin, —
" What hands are here ! ha ! they pluck out mine
eyes,"
were melted into commonplace under his
tongue. On the other hand, the meaner
side of the part was frequently made very
vivid; and some sombre descriptive lines
such as
" Ere the bat hath flown
His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night's yawning peal,"
and
' ' Light thickens ; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood :
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse
Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse,"
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