All 3 Uses of
knell
in
Macbeth
- Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.p. 53.9 *knell = the sound of a bell rung slowly (especially to announce death or a funeral)
- It cannot
Be called our mother, but our grave: where nothing,
But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile;
Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks, that rent the air,
Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems
A modern ecstasy; the dead man's knell
Is there scarce asked for who; and good men's lives
Expire before the flowers in their caps,
Dying or ere they sicken.†p. 151.4
- Had I as many sons as I have hairs,
I would not wish them to a fairer death:
And, so his knell is knolled.†p. 189.4
Definition:
the sound of a bell rung slowly -- especially to announce death or a funeral
or:
announcing the demise or end of something
or:
announcing the demise or end of something