"Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight?"
The regularity of the iambic rhythm and the enjambment of the lines through "heat-oppressèd brain" work together to quicken the tempo from the heavier phrasing and punctuation in the beginning. The alliterative repetition of ‘F’ and ‘S’ sounds give the impression of evil lurking beneath Macbeth's words.The answer to Macbeth's rhetorical question is, of course, "no" since he's already tried to clutch the dagger and failed. However, the potent combination of language and Macbeth addressing this dagger as if it were a character onstage forces the audience to visualize that dagger hovering in front of him. Fatal is being used ambiguously, meaning both ‘deadly’, because it is a murderous tool like the one which will kill Duncan, and referencing fate. Sensible means perceived by the senses, although it could also be in reference to the Macbeth's doubt and confusion as to what the dagger is.
The regularity of the iambic rhythm and the enjambment of the lines through "heat-oppressèd brain" work together to quicken the tempo from the heavier phrasing and punctuation in the beginning. The alliterative repetition of ‘F’ and ‘S’ sounds give the impression of evil lurking beneath Macbeth's words.The answer to Macbeth's rhetorical question is, of course, "no" since he's already tried to clutch the dagger and failed. However, the potent combination of language and Macbeth addressing this dagger as if it were a character onstage forces the audience to visualize that dagger hovering in front of him. Fatal is being used ambiguously, meaning both ‘deadly’, because it is a murderous tool like the one which will kill Duncan, and referencing fate. Sensible means perceived by the senses, although it could also be in reference to the Macbeth's doubt and confusion as to what the dagger is.