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[43]

disappearance, to the melting of breath into the element; still, Banquo—this carelessly-curious Banquo!—is not less moved. The utterance of his wonder at their strange evanescence, is dictated by a most striking thought; he resembles them to fancied bubbles of the earth, insubstantial as those that float on the surface of the water:—

The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them! Whither are they vanish'd?[1]

To which strong expressions of astonishment Macbeth replies:—

  1. Macbeth, Act i. Sc. 3.