"Now o'er the one half world / Nature seems dead"
Shakespeare spends the next seven lines wrapping Macbeth's speech in dark imagery. The verse in this part of the speech is all about tone, and the shift from emotional to rhetorical can be seen as signaling the change in Macbeth from trusted kinsman to murderer preparing himself for the deed. The term 'one half world' refers the division between night and day (in this case, Macbeth is referring to night). 'Nature seems dead' refers to the effect of night and darkness, the silence of the night; metaphorically, Macbeth might also be referring to human nature.
Shakespeare spends the next seven lines wrapping Macbeth's speech in dark imagery. The verse in this part of the speech is all about tone, and the shift from emotional to rhetorical can be seen as signaling the change in Macbeth from trusted kinsman to murderer preparing himself for the deed. The term 'one half world' refers the division between night and day (in this case, Macbeth is referring to night). 'Nature seems dead' refers to the effect of night and darkness, the silence of the night; metaphorically, Macbeth might also be referring to human nature.