As where's that palace, whereinto foul things.
Sometin es intrude not who has a breast so pure,
But some uncleanly apprehensions

Keep lects, and law-days, and in session sit
With meditations lawful 1?

Oth. Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago,
If thou but think'st him wrong'd, and mak'st his
A stranger to thy thoughts.

[ea

lago. I do beseech you,
Though I-perchance, am vicious in my guess2,
(As, I confess, it is my nature's plague
To spy into abuses; and, oft, my jealousy
Shapes faults that are not) that your wisdom yet,
From one that so imperfectly conceits,
Would take no notice; nor build yourself a trouble
Out of his scattering and unsure observance :—
It were not for your quiet, nor your good,
Nor for my manhood, honesty or wisdom,
To let you know my thoughts.

Oth. What dost thou mean?

Iago. Good name, in man and woman, dear
my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something,
nothing;

'Twas mine,'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he, that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that, which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

Oth. By heaven, I'll know thy thought.
I go. You cannot, if my heart were in your
hand;

Nor shall not, whilst 'tis in my custody.

Cth. Ha!

Iago. O, beware, my lord, of jealousy ;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock'
The meat it feeds on: That cuckold lives in bliss,
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But,O,what damned minutes tells he o'er, [loves!
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly
Oth. O misery!

Iago. Poor,and content, is rich, and rich enough;
But riches, fineless, is as poor as winter,
To him that ever fears he shall be poor :-
Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend
From jealousy!

Oth. Why? why is this?

* i. e.

Think'st thou, I'd make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No; to be once in doubt,
Is-once to be resolv'd: Exchange me for a goat,
3 When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsuffolate and blown surmises',
Matching thy inference. 'Tis not to make me
jealous,

10

Tosay-my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well;
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous;
Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear, or doubt of her revolt;
For she had eyes, and chose me: No, Iago;
15'll see, before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;
And, on the proof, there is no more but this,-
Away at once with love, or jealousy. [reason
Iago. I am glad of this; for now I shall have
To shew the love and duty that I bear you
With franker spirit: therefore, as I am bound,
Receive it from me:-I speak not yet of proof.
Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio;
Wear your eye-thus, not jealous, nor secure :
I would not have your free and noble nature,
25 Out of self-bounty, be abus'd; look to't:
I know our country disposition well;
In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks
They dare not shew their husbands; their best

20

conscience

30 Is-not to leave undone, but keep unknown. Oth. Dost thou say so?

35

40

45

Jago. She did deceive her father, marrying you; And, whenshe seem'd toshake,and fear your looks, She lov'd them most'.

The poet's meaning is, "Who has a breast so little apt to form ill opinions of others, but that foul suspicions will sometimes mix with his fairest and most candid thoughts, and erect a court in his mind, to enquire of the offences apprehended?" i. e. am apt to put the worst construction on every thing. 'i. e. loaths that which nourishes and sustains it." This being a miserable state, Iago bids him beware of it. unbounded, endless, unnumbered treasures. "The allusion is to a bubble. 6 Self-bounty, for inherent generosity. 'Dr. Johnson observes, that "this and the following argument of lago ought to be deeply impressed on every reader. Deceit and falsehood, whatever conveniencies they may for a time promise or produce, are, in the sum of life, obstacles to happiness. Those who profit by the cheat, distrust the deceiver; and the act by which kindness was sought, puts an end to confidence. The same objection may be made with a lower degree of strength against the imprudent generosity of disproportionate marriages. When the first heat of passion is over, it is easily succeeded by suspicion, that the same violence of inclination, which caused one irregularity, may stimulate to another; and those who have shewn, that their passions are too powerful for their prudence, will, with very slight appearances against them, be censured, as not very likely to restrain them by their virtue." Close as oak, means, close as the grain of the oak: To seel is an expression taken from falconry.

3 Y 3

I am

Iago. Should you do so, my lord,

2

My speech should fall into such vile success
As my thoughts aim not at. Cassio 's my worthy
friend:

My lord, I see you are mov'd.

Oth. No, not much mov'd:

I do not think but Desdemona's honest.
Iago. Long live she so! and long live you to
think so!

Oth. And yet, how nature erring from itself,-
Jago. Ay, there's the point: As,-to be bold
with you,

Not to affect many proposed matches,

Of her own clime, complexion, and degree;
Whereto, we see, in all things nature tends:
Foh! one may smell, in such, a will most rank,
Foul disproportion, thoughts unnatural.-
But pardon me; I do not, in position,
Distinctly speak of her: though I may fear,
Her will, recoiling to her better judgement,
May fall to match you with her country forms,
And (happily) repent.

Oth. Farewell, farewell:

And knows all qualities, with a learned' spirit,
Of human dealings: If I do prove her haggard,
Though that her jesses' were my dear heart-strings,
I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,
5 To prey at fortune 10. Haply, for I am black;
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers " have: Or, for I am declin'd
Into the vale of years;-yet that's not much;—
She's gone; I am abus'd; and my relief
10 Must be to loath her. O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing I love,
15 For others' uses. Yet, 'tis the plague of great ones;
Prerogativ'd are they less than the base:
'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death;
Even then this forked plague " is fated to us,
When we do quicken. Desdemona comes:
Enter Desdemona and Emilia:

20

12

If she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself!-
I'll not believe it.

Des. How now, my dear Othello?
Your dinner, and the generous islanders 13
25 By you invited, do attend your presence.
Oth. I am to blame.

[Going. 30

If more thou dost perceive, let me know more;
Set on thy wife to observe: Leave me, Iago.
Iago. My lord, I take my leave.
Oth. Why did I marry?-This honest creature,
doubtless,
[folds.
Sees and knows more, much more, than he un-
Iago. My lord,-I would, I might entreat your

honour

To scan this thing no further; leave it to time:
And though it be fit that Cassio have his place,
(For, sure, he fills it up with great ability)
Yet, if you please to hold him off a while,
You shall by that perceive him and his means:
Note, if your lady strain his entertainment'
With any strong, or vehement importunity;
Much will be seen in that. In the mean time,
Let me be thought too busy in my fears,
(As worthy cause I have, to fear-I am)
And hold her free, I do beseech your honour.
Oth. Fear not my government".
Jago. I once more take my leave.
Oth. This fellow's of exceeding honesty,

2

[Exit.

[well?
Des. Why is your speech so faint? are you not
Oth. I have a pain upon my forehead here.
Des. Why, that's with watching; 'twill away

again:
Let me but bind it hard, within this hour
It will be well.

Oth. Your napkin 14 is too little;

[She drops her handkerchief. 35 Let it alone. Come, I'll go in with you. Des. I am very sorry that you are not well. [Exeunt Des. and Oth.

Emil. I am glad, I have found this napkin; This was her first remembrance from the Moor: 40 My wayward husband hath a hundred times Woo'd me to steal it; but she so loves the token, (For he conjur'd her, she should ever keep it) That she reserves it evermore about her,

To kiss and talk to. I'll have the work ta'en out, 45 And give it Iago:

What he'll do with it, heaven knows, not I;
I nothing but to please his phantasy.

Enter Iago.

Iago. How now? what do you here alone?

8

'Issues, for conclusions. Iago means, "Should you do so, my lord, my words would be attended by such infamous degree of success, as my thoughts do not even aim at." 3 A rank will, is self-will overgrown and exuberant. 4 i. e. You shall discover whether he thinks his best means, his most powerful interest, is by the solicitation of your lady. i. e. press hard his re-admission to his pay and office.-Entertainment was the military term for admission of soldiers. • i. e. do not distrust my ability to contain my passion. 'Learned, for experienced. A haggard hawk is a wild hawk, a hawk difficult to be reclaim'd.-It appears also, that haggard was a term of reproach sometimes applied to a wanton. 'Jesses are short straps of leather tied about the foot of a hawk, by which she is held on the fist. 10 Dr. Johnson observes, that the falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind; if she flies with the wind behind her, she seldom returns. If therefore a hawk was for any reason to be dismissed, she was let down the wind, and from that time shifted for herself, and prey'd at fortune. i. e. men of intrigue. 12 In allusion, according to Dr. Johnson, to a barbed or forked arrow, which, once infixed, cannot be extracted. Or, according to Dr. Percy, the forked plague may mean the cuckold's horns. "The generous islanders are the islanders of rank, distincyour pocket-handkerchief.

tion.

i. e.

Emil.

Iago. You have a thing for me?-It is a com-
Amil. Ha!

Iago. To have a foolish wife.

[now 5

Amil. O, is that all? what will you give me
For that same handkerchief?

Iago. What handkerchief?
Amil. What handkerchief?
Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona;
That which so often you did bid me steal.

Jago. Hast stolen it from her?

Amil. No; but she let it drop by negligence; And, to the advantage, I, being here, took it up'. Look, here it is.

Iago. A good wench; give it me.

Amil. What will you do with it, that you have been so earnest

To have me filch it?

Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner; and all quality,

Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!
And O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit,
Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone!

Iago. Is it possible?-My lord,

Oth. Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore; 10 Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof; [Catching hold on him.

15

Iago. Why, what is that to you? [Snatching it. 20 Amil. If it be not for some purpose of import, Give it me again: Poor lady! she'll run mad, When she shall lack it.

Iago. Be not you known on 't; I have use for it.
Go, leave me.
[Exit Amil.25

I will in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin,
And let him find it: Trifles, light as air,
Are, to the jealous, confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ. This may do something.
The Moor already changes with my poison:-
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons,
Which, at the first, are scarce found to distaste;}
But, with a little act upon the blood,
Burn like the mines of sulphur.-I did say so:-
Enter Othello.

Look, where he comes! Not poppy, nor man-
dragora',

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst' yesterday.

Oth. Ha! ha! false to me? to me?

Jago. Why, how now, general? no more of that. Oth. Avaunt! be gone! thou hast set me on the rack:

I swear, 'tis better to be much abus'd,

Than but to know 't a little.

Iago. How now, my lord?

30

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
prove it,

That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop,
To hang a doubt on: or, woe upon thy life!
Iago. My noble lord,-

Oth. If thou dost slander her, and torture me,
Never pray more: abandon all remorse
On horror's head horrors accumulate;

Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amaz'd;
For nothing canst thou to damnation add,
Greater than that.

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
To be direct and honest, is not safe. [world,
I thank you for this profit: and, from hence,
35I'll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.
Oth. Nay, stay:-Thou should'st be honest.
Jago. I should be wise; for honesty's a fool,
And loses that it works for.

Oth. By the world,

40I 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,
45 Poison, or fire, or suffocating streams,
I'll not endure it.-'Would, I were satisfied!
lago. I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion;
do repent me, that I put it to you.
You would be satisfied?

Oth. What sense had I of her stolen hours of lust?
I saw it not, thought it not, it harm'd not me:
I slept the next night well, was free, and merry;50
I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips:
He that is robb'd, not wanting what is stolen,
Let him not know it, and he 's not robb'd at all.
lago. I am sorry to hear this.

Oth. I had been happy, if the general camp,
Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body,
So I had nothing known: O now, for ever,
Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars,
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!

55

I

Iago. And may; But, how? how satisfied, my Would you, the supervisor, grossly gape on? Behold her tupp'd '?

Oth. Death and damnation! O!

Iago. It were a tedious difficulty, I think,
To bring 'em to that prospect: Damn them then,
If ever mortal eyes do see them bolster,
More than their own! What then? how then?
What shall I say? Where's satisfaction?

60It is impossible, you should see this,

* The mandragoras, or mandrake, has a soporific

i.e.

1i. e. I being opportunely here, took it up. quality, and the ancients used it when they wanted an opiate of the most powerful kind. possessedst, or hadst. i. e. pity. A ram, in Staffordshire and some other counties, is called

a tup.

Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys,
As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross
As ignorance made drunk. But yet, I say,
If imputation, and strong circumstances,—
Which lead directly to the door of truth,-
Will give you satisfaction, you might have it.
Oth. Give me a living reason that she's dis-
Iago. I do not like the office: [loyal.
But, sith I am enter'd in this cause so far,-
Prick'd to it by foolish honesty, and love,-
I will go on. I lay with Cassio lately;
And, being troubled with a raging tooth,
I could not sleep,

There are a kind of men so loose of soul,
That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs;
One of this kind is Cassio:

In sleep I heard him say,-Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves!

And then, sir, would he gripe, and wring my hand;
Cry,-O sweet creature! and then kiss me hard,
As if he pluck'd up kisses by the roots,
That grew upon my lips: then lay his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh, and kiss; and then
Cry,-Cursed fate! that gave thee to the Moor!
Öth. O monstrous! monstrous!
lago. Nay, this was but his dream.

Oth. But this denoted a foregone conclusion';
'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.
Tago. 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,

[Lago kneels. Witness, you ever-burning lights above! 10 You elements that clip us round about! Witness, that here lago doth give up

The execution of his wit, hands, heart,

To wrong'd Othello's service! Let him command,
And to obey shall be in me remorse,

15 What bloody work soever'.

Oth. I greet thy love,

[teous,

Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance boun-
And will upon the instant put thee to 't:
Within these three days let me hear thee say,
20 That Cassio 's not alive.

[quest: lago. My friend is dead; 'tis done at your reBut let her live.

Oth. Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!
Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw,
25 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. [Excunt.

30

1351

40

Clown. I dare not say, he lies any where.
Des. Why, man?

Clown. He's a soldier; and for me to say a soldier lies, is stabbing.

Des. Go to; Where lodges he?

Clown. To tell you where he lodges, is to tell you where I lie.

Des. Can any thing be made of this?

Clown. I know not where he lodges; and for me to devise a lodging, and say—he lies here, or 45 he lies there, were to lie in mine own throat.

Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!
Yield up, O love, thy crown, and hearted throne, 50
Totyrannous hate! swell, bosom, with thy fraught',
Fortis for aspicks' tongues!

lago. Pray, be content.
Oth. O, blood, Iago, blood!

[change.

Iago. Patience, I say; your mind, perhaps, may 55
Oth. Never, lago: Like to the Pontic sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels ret ring ebb, but keeps due on

Des. Can you enquire him out? and be edify'd by report?

Clown. I will catechize the world for him; that is, make questions, and make them answer.

Des. Seek him, bid him come hither: tell him, I have mov'd my lord in his behalf, and hope, all will be well.

Clown. To do this is within the compass of man's wit; and therefore I will attempt the doing of it. [Exit, Des. Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia? Emil. I know not, madam.

Prime is prompt, from the Celtic or British prim.

2 Living for speaking, manifest.

3 Coni. e. swell,

clusion, for fact, * Hearted throne, is the heart on which thou wast enthroned. because the draught is of poison. i. e. ample; capacious. 7 Mr. Tollet explains this passage thus: Let him command any bloody business, and to obey shall be in me an act of pity and com passion for wrong'd Othello.-Remorse frequently signifiès pity, mercy, compassion, or a tenderness of heart, unattended with the stings of a guilty conscience.

Des.

The thoughts of people; she told her, while she kept it,

eye

Des. A man that, all his time,

Hath founded his good fortunes on your love;
Shar'd dangers with you;-

Oth. The handkerchief.

Des. In sooth you are to blame.
Oth. Away!

Amil. Is not this man jealous?

Des. I ne'er saw this before.

[Exit Othello.

Sure there's some wonder in this handkerchief: 40I am most unhappy in the loss of it.

45

"Twould make her amiable, and subdue my father 50
Intirely to her love; but, if she lost it,
Or made a gift of it, my father's
Should hold her loathly, and his spirits should hunt
After new fancies: She, dying, gave it me;
And bid me, when my fate would have me wive,
To give it her. I did so: and take heed on 't,
Make it a darling like your precious eye;
To lose 't, or give 't away, were such perdition,
As nothing else could match.

Des. Is it possible?

Oth. 'Tis true; there's magic in the web of it:

55

Emil. 'Tis not a year or two shews us a man: They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; They eat us hungerly, and, when they are full, They belch us. Look you! Cassio, and my husband.

Enter Iago, and Cassio.

Iago. There is no other way; 'tis she must do't; And, lo, the happiness! go, and importune her. Des. How now, good Cassio? what's the news

with you?

Cas. Madam, my former suit: I do beseech you,
That, by your virtuous means, I may again
Exist, and be a member of his love,

Whom I, with all the duty of my heart,

Intirely honour; I would not be delayed:

If my offence be of such mortal kind,

That neither service past, nor present sorrows,
Nor purpos'd merit in futurity,

Can ransom me into his love again,

60 But to know so must be by benefit;
So shall I clothe me in a forc'd content,

A Portugueze coin (so called from the cross stamped upon it), in value three shillings sterling. ?i, e, a rheum obstinately troublesome. i. e. number'd the sun's courses. i. e. vehement, violent.

And