Oth. Are you sure of that ? will” Lod. He did not call; he's busy in the paper. Is there division 'twixt my lord and Cassio ? Des. A most unhappy one: I would do much T' atone them,” for the love I bear to Cassio. Oth. Fire and brimstone! angry ? Des. By my troth, I am glad on't. [Striking her. Des. I have not deserv'd this. Lod. My lord, this would not be believ'd in Venice, Though I should swear I saw't: 'T'is very much; Make her amends, she weeps. Oth. O devil, devil! If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile." Out of my sight! 18 17 That is, make them one, reconcile them. See Antony and Cleopatra, Act ii. sc. 2, note 13. 18 “ If women's tears could impregnate the earth.” By the doctrine of equivocal generation new animals were supposed producible by new combinations of matter. Shakespeare here alludes to the fabulous accounts whicb make the crocodile the most deceitful of animals. “ It is written that he will weep over a man's head Des. [Going.) I will not stay to offend you. Lod. Truly, an obedient lady. Oth. Mistress! My lord ? What would you with her, sir ! turn : you in your tears. Concerning this, sir, -0, well-painted passion ! I am commanded home. - Get you away ; I'll send for you anon. — Sir, I obey the mandate, And will return to Venice. Hence! avaunt! [Exit DESDEMONA. Cassio shall have my place. And, - Sir, to-night, I do entreat that we may sup together : You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. — Goats, and mon [Exit. Lod. Is this the noble Moor whom our full senate Call all-in-all sufficient ? this the noble nature keys ! 19 20 100." when he hath devoured the body, and will then eat up the head Wherefore in Latin there is a proverb, “ Crocodili lachrymæ, crocodiles teares, to signifie such teares as are feigned, and spent only with intent to deceive or do harm." Bullokar's Expositor, 1616. 19 In this exclamation Shakespeare has shown great art. lago in Act iii. sc. 3, being urged to give some evident proof of the guilt of Cassio and Desdemona, tells the Moor it were impossible to have ocular demonstration of it, though they should be as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys. These words, we may suppose, still ring in the ears of Othello, who, being now fully convinced of his wife's infidelity, rushes out with this emphatic exclamation. 20 Thus boih the quartos : the folio omits noble before nature. Mr. Dyce is sure it ought to be omitted, and we are not sure but H. he is right. Whom passion could not shake? whose solid virtue He is much chang’d. Lod. Are his wits safe? is he not light of brain ? Iago. He's that he is : I may not breathe my cen sure. What he might be, — if, what he might, he is not, What! strike his wife ? Iago. 'Faith, that was not so well; yet would I knew That stroke would prove the worst. Lod. Is it his use? Or did the letters work upon bis blood, And new-create this fault ? Iago. Alas, alas! It is not honesty in me, to speak What I have seen and known. You shall observe him ; And his own courses will denote him so, [Exeunt. SCENE II. A Room in the Castle. Enter OTHELLO and EMILIA. Oth. You have seen nothing, then ? Emil. Nor ever heard ; nor ever did suspect. Oth. Yes, you have seen Cassio and her together. Emil. But then I saw no harm; and then I heard Each syllable that breath made up between them. Oth. What! did they never whisper? Emil. Never, my lord. nothing? Emil. I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest, Lay down my soul at stake : if you think other, Remove your thought ; it doth abuse your bosom. If any wretch hath put this in your head, Let Heaven requite it with the serpent's curse ! For, if she be not honest, chaste, and true, There's no man happy ; the purest of their wives Is foul as slander. Oth. Bid her come hither : go. [Erit EMILIA. She says enough ;- yet she's a simple bawd, That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore, A closet-lock-and-key of villainous secrets : And yet she'll kneel, and pray; I have seen her do't. Re-enter EMILIA, with DESDEMONA. Pray, chuck, come hither. Let me see your eyes : Look in my face. Des. What horrible fancy's this? tress : [Erit EMILIA. Des. Upon my knees, what doth your speech im port? Oth. Why, what art thou ? Your wife, my lord ; your true Come, swear it, damn thyself; Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves Should fear to seize thee : therefore be double damn'd; Swear thou art honest. Des. Heaven doth truly know it. Oth. Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell. Des. To whom, my lord ? with whom ? How am I false? Des. Alas, the heavy day!- Why do you weep? Had it pleas'd Heaven To try me with affliction; had He rain'd All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head; Steep'd me in poverty to the very lips ; Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes ; I should have found in some part of my soul A drop of patience : but, alas ! to make me A fixed figure, for the time of scorn | So both quartos; the hemistich is not in the folio. 2 The folio has motive instead of occusion, the reading of both quartos. And in the last line of this speech, Why is wanting in the folio. H. |