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

prove it,

That the probation

To hang a doubt

lago. ly nob

Oth. If thou ‹ Never pray mor On horror's hea Do deeds to ma

For nothing can

Greater than rh.

lago.

ir no hinge, nor loop,

w upon thy life !

nder her, and torture me, andon all remorse; 2

rors accumulate:

eaven weep, all earth amaz'd, thou to damnation add,

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,
To be direct and honest, is not safe.—

I thank you for this profit; and, from hence,
I'll love no friend, since love breeds such offence.
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.

2 All tenderness, all pity.

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?

Behold her tupp'd?.

Oth.

Death and damnation! O!

Iago. It were a tedious difficulty, I think,

To bring them 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?

It is impossible, you should see this,

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 may have it.
Oth. Give me a living3 reason she's disloyal.
Iago. I do not like the office:

But, sith 4 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 laid his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then
Cry'd,-Cursed fate! that gave thee to the Moor!
Oth. O monstrous! monstrous !

Iago.
Nay, this was but his dream.
Oth. But this denoted a foregone conclusion;
'Tis a shrewd 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 hers, It speaks against her with the other proofs.

Oth. O, that the slave had forty thousand lives;
One is too poor, too weak for my revenge!
Now do I see 'tis true.-Look here, Iago;

All

my

fond love thus I do blow to heaven:

'Tis gone.

Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!
Yield up, O love, thy crown, and hearted throne,
To tyrannous hate! swell, bosom, with thy fraught,"
For 'tis of aspick's tongues!

Iago. Pray, be content.

Oth.

O, blood, Iago, blood!

Iago. Patience, I say; your mind, perhaps, may

change.

Oth. Never, lago. Like to the Pontick sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontick, and the Hellespont;
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable 7 and wide revenge

Swallow them up.-Now, by yond' marble heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred vow

I here engage my words.

[Kneels.

Iago.
Witness, you ever-burning lights above!
You elements that clip 8 us round about!
Witness, that here Iago doth give up

Do not rise yet.-[Kneels.

The execution of his wit, hands, heart,

To wrong'd Othello's service! let him command,

5 The heart on which thou wast enthroned.

Freight, load.

7 Capacious.

8 Embrace,

And to obey shall be in me remorse,9
What bloody work soever.

Oth.

I greet thy love,

Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance boun

teous,

And will upon the instant put thee to't:

Within these three days let me hear thee say,
That Cassio's not alive.

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

Iago. I am your own for ever.

SCENE IV.

The same.

my lieutenant.

[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.

9 Not of malice to others, but of tenderness for him.