That make ambition virtue! O, farewell! Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war! Iago. Is it possible?-My lord,————— Oth. Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore; Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof; [Taking him by the Throat. Or, by the worth of mine eternal soul,: Thou hadst been better have been born a dog, Than answer my wak'd wrath. Iago. Is it come to this? Oth. Make me to see it; or (at the least) so That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop, Oth. If thou dost slander her, and torture me, Never pray more: abandon all remorse; On horror's head horrors accumulate: 5 Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amaz'd, Iago, O grace! O heaven defend me! Are you a man? have you a soul, or sense?God be wi' you; take mine office.-O wretched fool, That liv'st to make thine honesty a vice! O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world, I thank you for this profit; and, from hence, abandon all remorse;] All tenderness of nature, all pity; in which sense the word was frequently used in Shakspeare's time. Oth. Nay, stay :-Thou should'st be honest. Iago. I should be wise; for honesty's a fool, And loses that it works for. Oth. By the world, I think my wife be honest, and think she is not; I think that thou art just, and think thou art not; I'll have some proof: Her name, that was as fresh As Dian's visage, is now begrim'd and black As mine own face.-If there be cords, or knives, Poison, or fire, or suffocating streams, I'll not endure it.-Would, I were satisfied! Iago. I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion: I do repent me, that I put it to you. You would be satisfied? Oth. Would? nay, I will. Iago. And may: But, how? how satisfied, my lord? Would you, the supervisor, grossly gape on? Oth. Death and damnation! O! Iago. It were a tedious difficulty, I think, To bring them to that prospect: Damn them then, It is impossible, you should see this, 6 Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, Were they as prime as goats,] Prime is prompt. 7 Give me a living reason-] Living, for speaking, manifest, actual proof. Iago. I do not like the office: But, sith I am enter'd in this cause so far,- There are a kind of men so loose of soul, In sleep I heard him say,-Sweet Desdemona, And then, sir, would he gripe, and wring my hand, Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then 8 Iago. Nay, this was but his dream. Oth. But this denoted a foregone conclusion; 'Tis a shrew'd doubt, though it be but a dream. Iago, And this may help to thicken other proofs, That do demonstrate thinly. Oth. I'll tear her all to pieces. Iago. Nay, but be wise: yet we see nothing done; She may be honest yet. Tell me but this, Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief, Spotted with strawberries, in your wife's hand? Oth. I gave her such a one; 'twas my first gift. Iago. I know not that: but such a handkerchief, (I am sure it was your wife's,) did I to-day See Cassio wipe his beard with. Oth. If it be that, Iago. If it be that, or any that was her's, • a foregone conclusion;] A conclusion in Shakspeare's time meant an experiment or trial. It speaks against her with the other proofs. Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell! Iago. Pray, be content, Oth. O, blood, Iago, blood! Iago. Patience, I say; your mind, perhaps, may change. Oth. Never, Iago. Like to the Pontick sea, Swallow them up.-Now, by yond' marble heaven, [Kneels. Do not rise yet.— [Kneels. Witness, you ever-burning lights above! 9 hearted throne,] Hearted throne, is the heart on which thou wast enthroned. 1 poison. 1 swell, bosom, &c.] i. e. swell, because the fraught is of 2- a capable-] Capable perhaps signifies ample, capacious. 3 The execution—] i. e. employment or exercise. And to obey shall be in me remorse, Oth. I greet thy love, Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounte ous, And will upon the instant put thee to't: say, Iago. My friend is dead; 'tis done, at your request: But let her live. Oth. Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her! Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw, To furnish me with some swift means of death For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant. Iago. I am your own for ever. SCENE IV. The same. [Exeunt. Enter DESDEMONA, EMILIA, and Clown. Des. Do you know, sirrah, where lieutenant Cassio lies? Clo. I dare not say, he lies any where. Des. Why, man? Clo. He is a soldier; and for me to say a soldier lies, is stabbing. Des. Go to; Where lodges he? Clo. To tell you where he lodges, is to tell you where I lie. — let him command, And to obey shall be in me remorse, What bloody work soever.] Iago devotes himself to wronged Othello, and says, Let him command whatever bloody business, and in me it shall be an act, not of cruelty, but of tenderness, to obey him; not of malice to others, but of tenderness for him. |