Oth. She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore. Emil. Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil.

Oth. She was false as water. Emil. Thou art rash as fire, to say That she was false: O, she was heavenly true! Oth. Cassio did top her; ask thy husband else. O, I were damn'd beneath all depth in hell, But that I did proceed upon just grounds To this extremity. Thy husband knew it all. Emil. My husband!

Oth. Thy husband.

Emil. That she was false to wedlock?

140

This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven 160
Than thou wast worthy her.

Oth.
Peace, you were best.
Emil. Thou hast not half that power to do
me harm

As I have to be hurt. O gull! O dolt!
As ignorant as dirt! thou hast done a deed-
I care not for thy sword; I'll make thee known,
Though I lost twenty lives.-Help! help, ho!
help!

The Moor hath kill'd my mistress! Murder! murder!

Enter MONTANO, Gratiano, IagO, and others. Mon. What is the matter? How now, general!

Emil. O, are you come, Iago? you have done well, That men must lay their murders on your neck. Gra. What is the matter?

171

Emil. I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak:

My mistress here lies murder'd in her bed,—
All. O heavens forfend!

Emil. And your reports have set the murder on.
Oth. Nay, stare not, masters: it is true, indeed.
Gra. 'Tis a strange truth.
Mon. O monstrous act!

Emil.
Villany, villany, villany! 190
I think upon't, I think: I smell't: O villany!-
I thought so then :-I'll kill myself for grief:—
O villany, villany!

Iago. What, are you mad? I charge you, get you home.

Emil. Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak:

'Tis proper I obey him, but not now.
Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home.
Oth. O! O! O! [He falls on the bed.
Emil.
Nay, lay thee down and roar;
For thou hast kill'd the sweetest innocent
That e'er did lift up eye.

Oth.

[Rising] O, she was foul ! 200 I scarce did know you, uncle: there lies your niece,

Whose breath, indeed, these hands have newly stopp'd:

I know this act shows horrible and grim.

Gra. Poor Desdemona! I am glad thy father's

dead:

Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief
Shore his old thread in twain: did he live now,
This sight would make him do a desperate turn,
Yea, curse his better angel from his side,
And fall to reprobation.

210

Oth. 'Tis pitiful; but yet Iago knows
That she with Cassio hath the act of shame
A thousand times committed; Cassio confess'd it:
And she did gratify his amorous works
With that recognizance and pledge of love
Which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand :
It was a handkerchief, an antique token
My father gave my mother.

Emil. Ŏ heaven! O heavenly powers!
Iago. Come, hold your peace.

Emil.

220

"Twill out, 'twill out: I peace! No, I will speak as liberal as the north: Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, All, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak. Iago. Be wise, and get you home.

Emil.

I will not. [lago offers to stab Emilia. Gra. Fie! Your sword upon a woman?

Emil. O thou dull Moor! that handkerchief thou speak'st of

I found by fortune and did give my husband;
For often, with a solemn earnestness,
More than indeed belong'd to such a trifle,
He begg'd of me to steal it.
Iago.
Villanous whore ! 229
Emil. She give it Cassio! no, alas! I found it,
And I did give't my husband.
Iago.

Filth, thou liest! Emil. By heaven, I do not, I do not, gentle

men.

O murderous coxcomb! what should such a fool
Do with so good a woman?
Oth.

Are there no stones in heaven

But what serve for the thunder?-Precious villain! [He runs at Iago: Iago, from behind, stabs Emilia, and exit.

Gra. The woman falls; sure, he hath kill'd his wife.

Emil. Ay, ay: O, lay me by my mistress' side.

Gra. He's gone, but his wife's kill'd.

Mon. 'Tis a notorious villain. Take you this weapon,

Which I have here recover'd from the Moor: 240 Come, guard the door without; let him not pass, But kill him rather. I'll after that same villain, For 'tis a damned slave.

[Exeunt Montano and Gratiano. Oth. I am not valiant neither, But every puny whipster gets my sword: But why should honour outlive honesty? Let it go all.

Emil. What did thy song bode, lady? Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan, And die in music. [Singing] Willow, willow, willow.

Moor, she was chaste; she loved thee, cruel
Moor;

So come my soul to bliss, as I speak true;
So speaking as I think, I die, I die.

250 [Dies. Oth. I have another weapon in this chamber; It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper :O, here it is. Uncle, I must come forth.

Gra. [Within] If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear:

Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer. Oth. Look in upon me then and speak with me, Or, naked as I am, I will assault thee.

Re-enter GRATIANO.

260

Gra. What is the matter? Oth. Behold, I have a weapon; A better never did itself sustain Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day, That, with this little arm and this good sword, I have made my way through more impediments Than twenty times your stop: but, O vain boast! Who can control his fate? 'tis not so now. Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd; Here is my journey's end, here is my butt, And very sea-mark of my utmost sail. Do you go back dismay'd? 'tis a lost fear; Man but a rush against Othello's breast, And he retires. Where should Othello go? Now, how dost thou look now?

wench!

270

ill-starr'd

Oth. That's he that was Othello: here I am. Lod. Where is that viper? bring the villain forth.

Oth. I look down towards his feet; but that's a fable.

If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. [Wounds Iago.

Lod. Wrench his sword from him.

Iago.

I bleed, sir; but not kill'd. Oth. I am not sorry neither: I'ld have thee live;

290

For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die.
Lod. O thou Othello, that wert once so good,
Fall'n in the practice of a damned slave,
What shall be said to thee?
Oth.
Why, any thing:
An honourable murderer, if you will;
For nought I did in hate, but all in honour.
Lod. This wretch hath part confess'd his
villany:

Did you and he consent in Cassio's death?
Oth. Ay.

Cas. Dear general, I never gave you cause.
Oth. I do believe it, and I ask you pardon.
Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil
Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?
Iago. Demand me nothing: what you know,

you know:

From this time forth I never will speak word.
Lod. What, not to pray?
Gra.

301

Torments will ope your lips. Oth. Well, thou dost best.

Lod. Sir, you shall understand what hath befall'n,

Which, as I think, you know not. Here is a letter
Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo;
And here another: the one of them imports 310
The death of Cassio to be undertook
By Roderigo.

O villain !

Oth. Cas. Most heathenish and most gross! Lod. Now here's another discontented paper, Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems, Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain; But that belike Iago in the interim Came in and satisfied him.

Oth. O the pernicious caitiff! How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief That was my wife's?

Cas. I found it in my chamber: 320 And he himself confess'd but even now That there he dropp'd it for a special purpose Which wrought to his desire.

Oth.

O fool! fool! fool! Cas. There is besides in Roderigo's letter, How he upbraids Iago, that he made him Brave me upon the watch; whereon it came That I was cast: and even but now he spake, After long seeming dead, Iago hurt him, Iago set him on.

Lod. You must forsake this room, and go with us: 330

Your power and your command is taken off,
And Ĉassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,
If there be any cunning cruelty

That can torment him much and hold him long,
It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,
Till that the nature of your fault be known
To the Venetian state. Come, bring him away.

The office and devotion of their view
Upon a tawny front: his captain's heart,
Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst
The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper,
And is become the bellows and the fan
To cool a gipsy's lust.

Flourish. Enter ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, her
Ladies, the Train, with Eunuchs fanning her.
Look, where they come: 10
Take but good note, and you shall see in him
The triple pillar of the world transform'd
Into a strumpet's fool: behold and see.

Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much. Ant. There's beggary in the love that can be reckon❜d.

Cleo. I'll set a bourn how far to be beloved. Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.

DIOMEDES,

A Clown.

patra.

CLEOPATRA, queen of Egypt.

OCTAVIA, sister to Cæsar and wife to Antony. CHARMIAN,

IRAS, } attendants on Cleopatra.

Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants.

SCENE: In several parts of the Roman empire.

Perform't, or else we damn thee.'

Ant. How, my love! Cleo. Perchance! nay, and most like: You must not stay here longer, your dismission Is come from Cæsar; therefore hear it, Antony. Where's Fulvia's process? Caesar's I would say? both?

Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt's queen, Thou blushest, Antony; and that blood of thine Is Cæsar's homager: else so thy cheek pays shame

31

When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers!

Ant. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch

Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
Kingdoms are clay: our dungy earth alike
Feeds beast as man: the nobleness of life
Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair

[Embracing.

And such a twain can do't, in which I bind, On pain of punishment, the world to weet We stand up peerless.

Cleo. Excellent falsehood! Why did he marry Fulvia, and not love her? I'll seem the fool I am not; Antony Will be himself. Ant.

40

But stirr'd by Cleopatra. Now, for the love of Love and her soft hours, Let's not confound the time with conference

harsh:

There's not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport to-night? Cleo. Hear the ambassadors.

Ant. Fie, wrangling queen! Whom every thing becomes, to chide, to laugh, To weep; whose every passion fully strives To make itself, in thee, fair and admired! No messenger, but thine; and all alone

50

50

Iras. Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.

Char. Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. Prithee, tell her but a worky-day fortune.

Sooth. Your fortunes are alike.

Iras. But how, but how? give me particulars. Sooth. I have said.

Iras. Am I not an inch of fortune better than she? 60 Char. Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it? Iras. Not in my husband's nose.

Char. Our worser thoughts heavens mend! Alexas,-come, his fortune, his fortune! O, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee! and let her die too, and give him a worse! and let worse follow worse, till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fifty-fold a cuckold! Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight; good Isis, I beseech thee!

Iras. Amen. Dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people! for, as it is a heart-breaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded: therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly!

Char. Amen.

79

Alex. Lo, now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores, but they 'ld do't!

Eno. Hush! here comes Antony.
Char.

Not he; the queen.

21

A

Cleo. He was disposed to mirth; but on the sudden

Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus! Eno. Madam?

Cleo. Seek him, and bring him hither. Where's Alexas?

Alex. Here, at your service. My lord approaches.

Cleo.

90

We will not look upon him: go with us. [Exeunt. Enter ANTONY with a Messenger and Attendants. Mess. Fulvia thy wife first came into the field. Ant. Against my brother Lucius? Mess. Ay:

But soon that war had end, and the time 's state Made friends of them, jointing their force 'gainst Cæsar;

Whose better issue in the war, from Italy,