The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day. / Now spurs the lated traveller apace, / To gain the timely inn; and near approaches / The subject of our watch.
Act III, Scene 3
Context
The First Murderer speaks as he and two others wait in ambush for Banquo at dusk, observing the fading daylight and anticipating their victim's arrival at the palace gate.
Analysis
The phrase "lated traveller" compresses time and urgency into a single adjective—someone who is late, hurrying against the dying light. This syntactic economy mirrors the murderers' own compressed timeline: they must strike before full darkness, yet the "glimmers" and "streaks" suggest the light is already failing. The imagery positions Banquo not as a noble lord but as just another vulnerable traveler racing nightfall, stripping him of agency and foreshadowing his helplessness in the attack moments later.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shakespeare's natural imagery does tactical work—by casting Banquo as merely a "lated traveller," the scene depersonalizes him into a target, showing how Macbeth's murderous logic reduces people to obstacles that must be "watched" and eliminated.