<h2><SPAN name="A5S1"><br/>ACT V</SPAN></h2>
</center>
<br/>
<h3>SCENE I. Cyprus. A Street.</h3>
<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Iago and Roderigo.]</i></blockquote>
IAGO<br/>
Here, stand behind this bulk; straight will he come:<br/>
Wear thy good rapier bare, and put it home:<br/>
Quick, quick; fear nothing; I'll be at thy elbow:<br/>
It makes us, or it mars us; think on that,<br/>
And fix most firm thy resolution.<br/>
<br/>
RODERIGO<br/>
Be near at hand; I may miscarry in't.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Here, at thy hand: be bold, and take thy stand.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Retires to a little distance.]</i></blockquote>
RODERIGO<br/>
I have no great devotion to the deed;<br/>
And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons:—<br/>
'Tis but a man gone.—Forth, my sword; he dies.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Goes to his stand.]</i></blockquote>
IAGO<br/>
I have rubb'd this young quat almost to the sense,<br/>
And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio,<br/>
Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,<br/>
Every way makes my gain: live Roderigo,<br/>
He calls me to a restitution large<br/>
Of gold and jewels that I bobb'd from him,<br/>
As gifts to Desdemona;<br/>
It must not be: if Cassio do remain,<br/>
He hath a daily beauty in his life<br/>
That makes me ugly; and besides, the Moor<br/>
May unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril;<br/>
No, he must die.—But, so, I hear him coming.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Cassio.]</i></blockquote>
RODERIGO<br/>
I know his gait; 'tis he.—Villain, thou diest!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Rushes out, and makes a pass at Cassio.]</i></blockquote>
CASSIO<br/>
That thrust had been mine enemy indeed,<br/>
But that my coat is better than thou know'st:<br/>
I will make proof of thine.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Draws, and wounds Roderigo.]</i></blockquote>
RODERIGO<br/>
O, I am slain!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Iago rushes from his post, cuts Cassio behind
in the leg, and exit.]</i></blockquote>
CASSIO<br/>
I am maim'd forever.—Help, ho! murder! murder!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Falls.]</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Othello at a distance.]</i></blockquote>
OTHELLO<br/>
The voice of Cassio: Iago keeps his word.<br/>
<br/>
RODERIGO<br/>
O, villain that I am!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
It is even so.<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
O, help, ho! light! a surgeon!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
'Tis he:—O brave Iago, honest and just,<br/>
That hast such noble sense of thy friend's wrong!<br/>
Thou teachest me,—minion, your dear lies dead,<br/>
And your unbless'd fate hies. Strumpet, I come!<br/>
Forth of my heart those charms, thine eyes, are blotted;<br/>
Thy bed, lust-stain'd, shall with lust's blood be spotted.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Exit.]</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Lodovico and Gratiano at a distance.]</i></blockquote>
CASSIO<br/>
What, ho! no watch? no passage? murder! murder!<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
'Tis some mischance; the cry is very direful.<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
O, help!<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Hark!<br/>
<br/>
RODERIGO<br/>
O wretched villain!<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Two or three groan:—it is a heavy night:<br/>
These may be counterfeits: let's think't unsafe<br/>
To come in to the cry without more help.<br/>
<br/>
RODERIGO<br/>
Nobody come? then shall I bleed to death.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Hark!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Re-enter Iago, with a light.]</i></blockquote>
GRATIANO<br/>
Here's one comes in his shirt, with light and weapons.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Who's there? whose noise is this that cries on murder?<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
We do not know.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Did not you hear a cry?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
Here, here! for heaven's sake, help me!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
What's the matter?<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
This is Othello's ancient, as I take it.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
The same indeed; a very valiant fellow.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
What are you here that cry so grievously?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
Iago? O, I am spoil'd, undone by villains!<br/>
Give me some help.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
O me, lieutenant! what villains have done this?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
I think that one of them is hereabout,<br/>
And cannot make away.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
O treacherous villains!—<br/>
<i>[To Lodovico and Gratiano.]</i> What are you there?<br/>
Come in and give some help.<br/>
<br/>
RODERIGO<br/>
O, help me here!<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
That's one of them.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
O murderous slave! O villain!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Stabs Roderigo.]</i></blockquote>
RODERIGO<br/>
O damn'd Iago! O inhuman dog!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Kill men i' the dark!—Where be these bloody thieves?—<br/>
How silent is this town!—Ho! murder! murder!—<br/>
What may you be? are you of good or evil?<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
As you shall prove us, praise us.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Signior Lodovico?<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
He, sir.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
I cry you mercy. Here's Cassio hurt by villains.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
Cassio!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
How is't, brother?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
My leg is cut in two.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Marry, heaven forbid!—<br/>
Light, gentlemen:—I'll bind it with my shirt.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Bianca.]</i></blockquote>
BIANCA<br/>
What is the matter, ho? who is't that cried?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Who is't that cried!<br/>
<br/>
BIANCA<br/>
O my dear Cassio, my sweet Cassio! O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
O notable strumpet!—Cassio, may you suspect<br/>
Who they should be that have thus mangled you?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
No.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
I am sorry to find you thus: I have been to seek you.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Lend me a garter:—so.—O, for a chair,<br/>
To bear him easily hence!<br/>
<br/>
BIANCA<br/>
Alas, he faints!—O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Gentlemen all, I do suspect this trash<br/>
To be a party in this injury.—<br/>
Patience awhile, good Cassio.—Come, come;<br/>
Lend me a light.—Know we this face or no?<br/>
Alas, my friend and my dear countryman<br/>
Roderigo? no:—yes, sure; O heaven! Roderigo.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
What, of Venice?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Even he, sir: did you know him?<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
Know him! ay.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Signior Gratiano? I cry you gentle pardon;<br/>
These bloody accidents must excuse my manners,<br/>
That so neglected you.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
I am glad to see you.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
How do you, Cassio?—O, a chair, a chair!<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
Roderigo!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
He, he, 'tis he.— <i>[A chair brought in.]</i>
O, that's well said; —the chair:—<br/>
Some good man bear him carefully from hence;<br/>
I'll fetch the general's surgeon. <i>[To Bianca]</i>
For you, mistress,<br/>
Save you your labour.—He that lies slain here, Cassio,<br/>
Was my dear friend: what malice was between you?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
None in the world; nor do I know the man.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
<i>[To Bianca.]</i> What, look you pale?—O, bear him
out o' the air.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Cassio and Roderigo are borne off.]</i></blockquote>
Stay you, good gentlemen.—Look you pale, mistress?—<br/>
Do you perceive the gastness of her eye?—<br/>
Nay, if you stare, we shall hear more anon.—<br/>
Behold her well; I pray you, look upon her:<br/>
Do you see, gentlemen? nay, guiltiness will speak<br/>
Though tongues were out of use.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Emilia.]</i></blockquote>
EMILIA<br/>
'Las, what's the matter? what's the matter, husband?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Cassio hath here been set on in the dark<br/>
By Roderigo, and fellows that are 'scap'd:<br/>
He's almost slain, and Roderigo dead.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Alas, good gentleman! alas, good Cassio!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
This is the fruit of whoring.—Pr'ythee, Emilia,<br/>
Go know of Cassio where he supp'd to-night.—<br/>
What, do you shake at that?<br/>
<br/>
BIANCA<br/>
He supp'd at my house; but I therefore shake not.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
O, did he so? I charge you, go with me.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Fie, fie upon thee, strumpet!<br/>
<br/>
BIANCA<br/>
I am no strumpet, but of life as honest<br/>
As you that thus abuse me.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
As I! foh! fie upon thee!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Kind gentlemen, let's go see poor Cassio dress'd.—<br/>
Come, mistress, you must tell's another tale.—<br/>
Emilia, run you to the citadel,<br/>
And tell my lord and lady what hath happ'd.—<br/>
Will you go on afore? <i>[Aside.]</i> This is the night<br/>
That either makes me or fordoes me quite.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Exeunt.]</i></blockquote>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<h3><SPAN name="A5S2"><br/>SCENE II. Cyprus. A Bedchamber in the castle: Desdemona in bed asleep; a light burning.</SPAN></h3>
<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Othello.]</i></blockquote>
OTHELLO<br/>
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,—<br/>
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!—<br/>
It is the cause.—Yet I'll not shed her blood;<br/>
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,<br/>
And smooth as monumental alabaster.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Takes off his sword.]</i></blockquote>
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.<br/>
Put out the light, and then put out the light:<br/>
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,<br/>
I can again thy former light restore,<br/>
Should I repent me:—but once put out thy light,<br/>
Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature,<br/>
I know not where is that Promethean heat<br/>
That can thy light relume. When I have pluck'd thy rose,<br/>
I cannot give it vital growth again,<br/>
It must needs wither:—I'll smell it on the tree.—<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Kissing her.]</i></blockquote>
O, balmy breath, that dost almost persuade<br/>
Justice to break her sword!—One more, one more;—<br/>
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,<br/>
And love thee after.—One more, and this the last;<br/>
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,<br/>
But they are cruel tears: this sorrow's heavenly;<br/>
It strikes where it doth love.—She wakes.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Who's there? Othello?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay, Desdemona.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Will you come to bed, my lord?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona?<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Ay, my lord.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
If you bethink yourself of any crime<br/>
Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace,<br/>
Solicit for it straight.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Alack, my lord, what may you mean by that?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by.<br/>
I would not kill thy unpreparèd spirit;<br/>
No,—heaven forfend!—I would not kill thy soul.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Talk you of killing?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay, I do.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Then heaven have mercy on me!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Amen, with all my heart!<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
If you say so, I hope you will not kill me.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Hum!<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
And yet I fear you; for you are fatal then<br/>
When your eyes roll so: why I should fear I know not,<br/>
Since guiltiness I know not; but yet I feel I fear.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Think on thy sins.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
They are loves I bear to you.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay, and for that thou diest.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
That death's unnatural that kills for loving.—<br/>
Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?<br/>
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame:<br/>
These are portents; but yet I hope, I hope,<br/>
They do not point on me.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Peace, and be still!<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
I will so. What's the matter?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
That handkerchief which I so loved and gave thee<br/>
Thou gav'st to Cassio.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
No, by my life and soul!<br/>
Send for the man, and ask him.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Sweet soul, take heed,<br/>
Take heed of perjury; thou'rt on thy death-bed.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Ay, but not yet to die.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Yes, presently:<br/>
Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin;<br/>
For to deny each article with oath<br/>
Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception<br/>
That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Then, Lord have mercy on me!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I say, amen.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
And have you mercy too!—I never did<br/>
Offend you in my life; never lov'd Cassio<br/>
But with such general warranty of heaven<br/>
As I might love: I never gave him token.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in 's hand.<br/>
O perjur'd woman! thou dost stone my heart,<br/>
And mak'st me call what I intend to do<br/>
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice:<br/>
I saw the handkerchief.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
He found it then;<br/>
I never gave it him:—send for him hither;<br/>
Let him confess a truth.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
He hath confess'd.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
What, my lord?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
That he hath us'd thee.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
How? unlawfully?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
He will not say so.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
No, his mouth is stopp'd;<br/>
Honest Iago hath ta'en order for't.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
O, my fear interprets!—What, is he dead?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge<br/>
Had stomach for them all.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Alas, he is betray'd, and I undone!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Out, strumpet! Weep'st thou for him to my face?<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Down, strumpet!<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Kill me to-morrow; let me live to-night!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Nay, if you strive,—<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
But half an hour!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Being done, there is no pause.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
But while I say one prayer!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
It is too late.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Smothers her.]</i></blockquote>
EMILIA<br/>
<i>[Within.]</i> My lord, my lord! what, ho! my lord, my lord!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
What noise is this?—Not dead? not yet quite dead?<br/>
I that am cruel am yet merciful;<br/>
I would not have thee linger in thy pain:—<br/>
So, so.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
<i>[Within.]</i> What, ho! my lord, my lord!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Who's there?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
<i>[Within.]</i> O, good my lord, I would speak a word with you!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Yes:—'tis Emilia:—by and by.—She's dead.—<br/>
'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death;<br/>
The noise was high.—Ha! no more moving?<br/>
Still as the grave.—Shall she come in?—Were't good?—<br/>
I think she stirs again:—no.—What's best to do?<br/>
If she come in, she'll sure speak to my wife:<br/>
My wife! my wife! what wife? I have no wife.<br/>
O, insupportable! O heavy hour!<br/>
Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse<br/>
Of sun and moon, and that the affrighted globe<br/>
Should yawn at alteration.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
<i>[Within.]</i>
I do beseech you<br/>
That I may speak with you, O, good my lord!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I had forgot thee: O, come in, Emilia:—<br/>
Soft,—by and by:—let me the curtains draw.—<br/>
Where art thou?<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Unlocks the door.]</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Emilia.]</i></blockquote>
What's the matter with thee now?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O, my good lord, yonder's foul murders done!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
What, now?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
But now, my lord.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
It is the very error of the moon;<br/>
She comes more nearer earth than she was wont<br/>
And makes men mad.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Cassio, my lord, hath kill'd a young Venetian<br/>
Call'd Roderigo.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Roderigo kill'd?<br/>
And Cassio kill'd?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
No, Cassio is not kill'd.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Not Cassio kill'd! then murder's out of tune,<br/>
And sweet revenge grows harsh.<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
O, falsely, falsely murder'd!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Alas, what cry is that?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
That! what?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Out, and alas! That was my lady's voice.—<br/>
Help! help, ho! help!—O lady, speak again!<br/>
Sweet Desdemona! O sweet mistress, speak!<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
A guiltless death I die.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O, who hath done this deed?<br/>
<br/>
DESDEMONA<br/>
Nobody; I myself. Farewell:<br/>
Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Dies.]</i></blockquote>
OTHELLO<br/>
Why, how should she be murder'd?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Alas, who knows?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
You heard her say herself it was not I.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
She said so: I must needs report the truth.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
She's like a liar, gone to burning hell:<br/>
'Twas I that kill'd her.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O, the more angel she,<br/>
And you the blacker devil!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
She was false as water.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Thou art rash as fire, to say<br/>
That she was false: O, she was heavenly true!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Cassio did tup her; ask thy husband else.<br/>
O, I were damn'd beneath all depth in hell,<br/>
But that I did proceed upon just grounds<br/>
To this extremity. Thy husband knew it all.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
My husband!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Thy husband.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
That she was false to wedlock?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay, with Cassio. Nay, had she been true,<br/>
If heaven would make me such another world<br/>
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,<br/>
I'd not have sold her for it.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
My husband!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay, 'twas he that told me first:<br/>
An honest man he is, and hates the slime<br/>
That sticks on filthy deeds.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
My husband!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
What needs this iterance, woman? I say thy husband.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O mistress, villainy hath made mocks with love!—<br/>
My husband say that she was false!<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
He, woman;<br/>
I say thy husband: dost understand the word?<br/>
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
If he say so, may his pernicious soul<br/>
Rot half a grain a day! he lies to the heart:<br/>
She was too fond of her most filthy bargain.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ha!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Do thy worst:<br/>
This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven<br/>
Than thou wast worthy her.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Peace, you were best.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Thou hast not half that power to do me harm<br/>
As I have to be hurt. O gull! O dolt!<br/>
As ignorant as dirt! thou hast done a deed,—<br/>
I care not for thy sword; I'll make thee known,<br/>
Though I lost twenty lives.—Help! help, ho! help!<br/>
The Moor hath kill'd my mistress! murder, murder!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Montano, Gratiano, and Iago.]</i></blockquote>
MONTANO<br/>
What is the matter?—How now, general!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O, are you come, Iago? you have done well,<br/>
That men must lay their murders on your neck.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
What is the matter?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Disprove this villain, if thou be'st a man:<br/>
He says thou told'st him that his wife was false:<br/>
I know thou didst not, thou'rt not such a villain:<br/>
Speak, for my heart is full.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
I told him what I thought; and told no more<br/>
Than what he found himself was apt and true.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
But did you ever tell him she was false?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
I did.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
You told a lie; an odious, damnèd lie;<br/>
Upon my soul, a lie; a wicked lie:—<br/>
She false with Cassio!—Did you say with Cassio?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
With Cassio, mistress. Go to, charm your tongue.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak:<br/>
My mistress here lies murder'd in her bed,—<br/>
<br/>
ALL<br/>
O heavens forfend!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
And your reports have set the murder on.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Nay, stare not, masters: it is true, indeed.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
'Tis a strange truth.<br/>
<br/>
MONTANO<br/>
O monstrous act!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Villany, villany, villany!<br/>
I think upon't,—I think,—I smell't;—O villany!—<br/>
I thought so then;—I'll kill myself for grief:—<br/>
O villany, villany!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
What, are you mad? I charge you, get you home.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak:<br/>
'Tis proper I obey him, but not now.—<br/>
Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
O! O! O!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Hanging over his wife.]</i></blockquote>
EMILIA<br/>
Nay, lay thee down and roar;<br/>
For thou hast kill'd the sweetest innocent<br/>
That e'er did lift up eye.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
<i>[Rising.]</i>
O, she was foul!—<br/>
I scarce did know you, uncle; there lies your niece,<br/>
Whose breath, indeed, these hands have newly stopp'd:<br/>
I know this act shows horrible and grim.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
Poor Desdemona! I am glad thy father's dead:<br/>
Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief<br/>
Shore his old thread in twain: did he live now,<br/>
This sight would make him do a desperate turn,<br/>
Yea, curse his better angel from his side,<br/>
And fall to reprobance.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
'Tis pitiful; but yet Iago knows<br/>
That she with Cassio hath the act of shame<br/>
A thousand times committed; Cassio confess'd it:<br/>
And she did gratify his amorous works<br/>
With that recognizance and pledge of love<br/>
Which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand:<br/>
It was a handkerchief, an antique token<br/>
My father gave my mother.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O heaven! O heavenly powers!<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Come, hold your peace.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
'Twill out, 'twill out:—I peace!<br/>
No, I will speak as liberal as the north:<br/>
Let heaven and men and devils, let them all,<br/>
All, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Be wise, and get you home.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
I will not.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Iago offers to stab his wife.]</i></blockquote>
GRATIANO<br/>
Fie!<br/>
Your sword upon a woman?<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
O thou dull Moor! that handkerchief thou speak'st of<br/>
I found by fortune and did give my husband;<br/>
For often with a solemn earnestness,—<br/>
More than, indeed, belong'd to such a trifle,—<br/>
He begg'd of me to steal it.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Villanous whore!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
She give it Cassio! no, alas, I found it,<br/>
And I did give't my husband.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Filth, thou liest!<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
By heaven, I do not, I do not, gentlemen.—<br/>
O murderous coxcomb! What should such a fool<br/>
Do with so good a wife?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Are there not stones in heaven<br/>
But what serve for thunder?—Precious villain!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Iago stabs Emilia, and then runs out.]</i></blockquote>
GRATIANO<br/>
The woman falls; sure, he hath kill'd his wife.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
Ay, ay:—O, lay me by my mistress' side.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
He's gone, but his wife's kill'd.<br/>
<br/>
MONTANO<br/>
'Tis a notorious villain. Take you this weapon,<br/>
Which I have here recover'd from the Moor:<br/>
Come, guard the door without; let him not pass,<br/>
But kill him rather. I'll after that same villain,<br/>
For 'tis a damnèd slave.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Exit Montano and Gratiano.]</i></blockquote>
OTHELLO<br/>
I am not valiant neither,<br/>
But every puny whipster gets my sword:—<br/>
But why should honour outlive honesty?<br/>
Let it go all.<br/>
<br/>
EMILIA<br/>
What did thy song bode, lady?<br/>
Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan,<br/>
And die in music:—<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Sings.]</i><br/>
<br/>
"Willow, willow, willow."<br/>
</blockquote>
Moor, she was chaste; she lov'd thee, cruel Moor;<br/>
So come my soul to bliss, as I speak true;<br/>
So speaking as I think, I die,—I die.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Dies.]</i></blockquote>
OTHELLO<br/>
I have another weapon in this chamber;<br/>
It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper:—<br/>
O, here it is.—Uncle, I must come forth.<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
<i>[Within.]</i> If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear:<br/>
Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Look in upon me then, and speak with me,<br/>
Or, naked as I am, I will assault thee.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Re-enter Gratiano.]</i></blockquote>
GRATIANO<br/>
What is the matter?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Behold, I have a weapon;<br/>
A better never did itself sustain<br/>
Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day<br/>
That with this little arm and this good sword<br/>
I have made my way through more impediments<br/>
Than twenty times your stop:—but, O vain boast!<br/>
Who can control his fate? 'tis not so now.—<br/>
Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd;<br/>
Here is my journey's end, here is my butt,<br/>
And very sea-mark of my utmost sail.<br/>
Do you go back dismay'd? 'tis a lost fear;<br/>
Man but a rush against Othello's breast,<br/>
And he retires:—where should Othello go?—<br/>
Now, how dost thou look now? O ill-starr'd wench!<br/>
Pale as thy smock! When we shall meet at compt,<br/>
This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,<br/>
And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl!<br/>
Even like thy chastity.—<br/>
O cursèd, cursèd slave!—Whip me, ye devils,<br/>
From the possession of this heavenly sight!<br/>
Blow me about in winds! roast me in sulphur!<br/>
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!—<br/>
O Desdemon! dead, Desdemon! dead! O!<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Enter Lodovico, Montano, Cassio carried in a
chair, and Officers with Iago prisoner.]</i></blockquote>
LODOVICO<br/>
Where is this rash and most unfortunate man?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
That's he that was Othello;—here I am.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Where is that viper? bring the villain forth.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I look down towards his feet;—but that's a fable.—<br/>
If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Wounds Iago.]</i></blockquote>
LODOVICO<br/>
Wrench his sword from him.<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
I bleed, sir, but not kill'd.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I am not sorry neither: I'd have thee live;<br/>
For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
O thou Othello, that wert once so good,<br/>
Fall'n in the practice of a damnèd slave,<br/>
What shall be said to thee?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Why, anything;<br/>
An honourable murderer, if you will;<br/>
For naught did I in hate, but all in honour.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
This wretch hath part confess'd his villany:<br/>
Did you and he consent in Cassio's death?<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Ay.<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
Dear general, I never gave you cause.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I do believe it, and I ask your pardon.<br/>
Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil<br/>
Why he hath thus ensnar'd my soul and body?<br/>
<br/>
IAGO<br/>
Demand me nothing: what you know, you know:<br/>
From this time forth I never will speak word.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
What, not to pray?<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
Torments will ope your lips.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Well, thou dost best.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Sir, you shall understand what hath befall'n,<br/>
Which, as I think, you know not. Here is a letter<br/>
Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo,<br/>
And here another: the one of them imports<br/>
The death of Cassio to be undertook<br/>
By Roderigo.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
O villain!<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
Most heathenish and most gross!<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
Now here's another discontented paper,<br/>
Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems,<br/>
Roderigo meant to have sent this damnèd villain;<br/>
But that, belike, Iago in the interim<br/>
Came in and satisfied him.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
O the pernicious caitiff!—<br/>
How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief<br/>
That was my wife's?<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
I found it in my chamber;<br/>
And he himself confess'd but even now<br/>
That there he dropp'd it for a special purpose<br/>
Which wrought to his desire.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
O fool! fool! fool!<br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
There is besides in Roderigo's letter,—<br/>
How he upbraids Iago, that he made him<br/>
Brave me upon the watch; whereon it came<br/>
That I was cast: and even but now he spake,<br/>
After long seeming dead,—Iago hurt him,<br/>
Iago set him on.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
You must forsake this room, and go with us:<br/>
Your power and your command is taken off,<br/>
And Cassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,—<br/>
If there be any cunning cruelty<br/>
That can torment him much and hold him long,<br/>
It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,<br/>
Till that the nature of your fault be known<br/>
To the Venetian state.—Come, bring away.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
Soft you; a word or two before you go.<br/>
I have done the state some service, and they know't.—<br/>
No more of that.—I pray you, in your letters,<br/>
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,<br/>
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,<br/>
Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak<br/>
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well;<br/>
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,<br/>
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,<br/>
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away<br/>
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdu'd eyes,<br/>
Albeit unusèd to the melting mood,<br/>
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees<br/>
Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;<br/>
And say besides,—that in Aleppo once,<br/>
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk<br/>
Beat a Venetian and traduc'd the state,<br/>
I took by the throat the circumcisèd dog<br/>
And smote him—thus.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Stabs himself.]</i></blockquote>
LODOVICO<br/>
O bloody period!<br/>
<br/>
GRATIANO<br/>
All that's spoke is marr'd.<br/>
<br/>
OTHELLO<br/>
I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee:—no way but this,<br/>
Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.
<i>[Falling upon Desdemona.]</i><br/>
<br/>
CASSIO<br/>
This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon;<br/>
For he was great of heart.<br/>
<br/>
LODOVICO<br/>
<i>[To Iago.]</i>
O Spartan dog,<br/>
More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea!<br/>
Look on the tragic loading of this bed;<br/>
This is thy work:—the object poisons sight;<br/>
Let it be hid.—Gratiano, keep the house,<br/>
And seize upon the fortunes of the Moor,<br/>
For they succeed on you.—To you, lord governor,<br/>
Remains the censure of this hellish villain;<br/>
The time, the place, the torture,—O, enforce it!<br/>
Myself will straight aboard; and to the state<br/>
This heavy act with heavy heart relate.<br/>
<blockquote><i>[Exeunt.]</i></blockquote>
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