DUNCAN Welcome hither: I have begun to plant thee, and will labour To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo, That hast no less deserved, nor must be known No less to have done so, let me enfold thee And hold thee to my heart.
BANQUO There if I grow, The harvest is your own.
DUNCAN My plenteous joys, Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow.
Having established Macbeth's claim to praise and promotion, Duncan moves from the language of a social order to a natural one through the metaphor of agriculture. Duncan here is the farmer, "plant[ing]" Macbeth as the seed, a crop he will tend as he aims to cultivate him and make him "full of growing". This is a public declaration of favour and recognition, cementing Macbeth's reputation and position within the court. There is something about the metaphor of sowing the seeds of greatness which seems to also ask us to recall the witches' prophecies, which have sown the seeds of ambition, and we are asked to consider the opposite pulls on Macbeth's growth. It also suggests the cyclical nature of political favour: it is sowed and reaped, grown and faded, rather than a constant. Duncan then turns to "noble Banquo", who (with the same nobility and worthiness Duncan has admired in Macbeth) has "no less deserved" praise - though his praise is less tangible and he must settle for a metaphorical hug - "enfold thee and hold thee to my heart" (he is "not so happy" as Macbeth, as the witches predicted...). Banquo responds by extending the metaphor Duncan has introduced and his response is tentative and polite: "if I grow / The harvest is your own". The product of his growth will belong to and is because of the King, rather than his own agency. He is either politely deferential, engaging in the rhetoric of political flattery, or shows his passivity in comparison with Macbeth's active determination to make the prophecies come true. Duncan is gratefully thankful for Banquo's loyalty and his "joys" are "wanton", unrestrained, showing his intimate connection with his subjects. The metaphorical description of tears as "drops of sorrow" connects to the metaphor of harvest; water cultivates plants, as Duncan's tears water is subjects, but these sorrows are merely "drops", small compared to the triumph and growth he desires to see.
- Kate and Ella