Your napkin is too little ;

[He puts the handkerchief from him; and it drops.

b

Let it alone. Come, I'll go in with you.
DES. I am very sorry that you are not well.
[Exeunt ОTH. and DES.
EMIL. I am glad I have found this napkin :
This was her first remembrance from the Moor:
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,
And give 't Iago; what he will do with it,
Heaven knows, not I;

I nothing, but to please his fantasy.

IAGO. [Snatching it.] Why, what's that to you?

EMIL. If it be not for some purpose of import, Giv 't me again; poor lady! she'll run mad When she shall lack it.

IAGO. Be not acknown on 't: I have use for it. Go, leave me. [Exit EMILIA. 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 :Look, where he comes! Not poppy, nor mandragora,(2)

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,

Shall ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday.

* Why do you speak so faintly?] The quarto reads,—“Why is your speech so faint?"

bremembrance-] That is, memorial or forget-me-not. e-I'll have the work ta'en out,-] Taken out means copied. Thus in the preface to Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny, 1610: "Nicophanes (a famous painter) gave his mind wholly to antique pictures, partly to exemplifie and take out their patterns,' &c. So also in Middleton's play of "Women beware of Women," Act I. Sc. 1,

I swear 'tis better to be much abus'd Than but to know't a little.

I saw 't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me:
I slept the next night well, was free and merry ;"
I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips:
He that is robb'd, not wanting what is stol'n,
Let him not know 't, and he's not robb'd at all.
IAGO. I am sorry to hear this.

OTн. I had been happy, if the general camp,

(*) First folio, in.

eBe not acknown on 't:-] The quarto 1622 has," Be not you known on 't." "Acknown" is a word far from unusual with our early authors. See the notes ad l. in the Variorum, 1821.

f

The Moor already changes with my poison :-
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons,-]

The repetition of poison here is so inelegant that we may well suspect the word in one line was caught by the compositor's eye from the other, but it is hard to say in which the corruption lies. g I slept the next night well, was free and merry;] So both the quartos. The folio reads,

"I slept the next night well, fed well, was free and merrie."

me?" &c.

Pioners 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 troops, and the big wars,
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!
Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,(3)
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 't possible?-My lord,

Отн. Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,―

Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof;
[Seizing him by the throat.
Or, by the worth of man's" eternal soul,
Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
Than answer my wak'd wrath!
IAGO.
Is 't come to this?
Отн. Make me to see 't; 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,—

Отн. 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 forgive me!
Are you a man? have you a soul or sense?-
God be wi' you; take mine office.-0, 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, sith love breeds such offence.
Отн. Nay, stay :-thou shouldst be honest.
IAGO. I should be wise; for honesty's a fool,
And loses that it works for.

Pioners-] The "pioners" or pioneers were of old the degraded soldiers. So in "The Laws and Ordinances of War," 1640, quoted by Grose, -"If a trooper shall loose his horse or hackney, or a footman any part of his arms, by negligence or lewdnesse, by dice or cardes; he or they shall remain in qualitie of pioners, or scavengers, till they be furnished with as good as were lost, at their own charge."

b of man's eternal soul,-] The folio reads, with much

Отн.

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't.

Oтн. Give me a living reason she's disloyal.
IAGO. I do not like the office :

But, sith I'm enter'd in this cause so far,-
Prick'd to't 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
Cried,** Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!
Отн. O, monstrous! monstrous !

IAGO.
Nay, this was but his dream.
Отн. But this denoted a foregone conclusion,
"T is a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.
IAGO. And this may help to thicken other
proofs,
That do demonstrate thinly.
Отн.

(*) First folio omits, sir. (1) Old text, top'd and topt. () First folio omits, then.

less force,

I'll tear her all to pieces.

(+) First folio, supervision. (§) First folio omits, and. (4) First folio, sigh and kiss.

(**) First folio, Cry.

"of mine eternal soul," &c.

c — abandon all remorse ;] All pity, all tenderness of feeling.

Отн. O, blood, blood, blood! IAGO. Patience, I say; your mind perhaps* may change.

Огн. Never, Iago. Like to the Pontic sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne'er feelst retiring ebb, but keeps due on To the Propontic 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 and wide revenge Swallow them up.-Now, by yond marble heaven, In the due reverence of a sacred vow I here engage my words. IAGO.

[Kneels.

Do not rise yet.—

[Kneels.

Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
You elements that clip us round about,
Witness, that here Iago 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,
What bloody business ever!

OTH.

I greet thy love,

Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance

CLO. I dare not say he lies any

DES. Why, man?

where.

CLO. He is a soldier; and for one* to say a soldier lies, ist stabbing.

DES. Go to: where lodges he?

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

DES. Can anything be made of this?

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

DES. Can you inquire him out, and be edified by report?

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

DES. Seek him, bid him come hither; tell him I have moved my lord on his behalf, and hope all will be well.

CLO. To do this is within the compass of man's wit; and therefore I will attempt the doing it.

[Exit.

Drew all such humours from him..

DES. I will not leave him now, till Cassio Be call'd to him.

Enter OTHELLO.

How is 't with you, my lord?
Oтн. Well, my good lady ;-Aside.] O, hard-
ness to dissemble!—
How do you, Desdemona ?

DES.
Well, my good lord.
Oтн. Give me your hand: this hand is moist,

my lady.

DES. It yet§ has felt no age nor known no

sorrow.

Oтn. This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart::

Hot, hot, and moist: this hand of yours requires A sequester from liberty, fasting and prayer, Much castigation, exercise devout;

(+) First folio, 't is. (§) First folio omits, yet.

(*) First folio, me. (1) First folio, the. followed, have," — thy hollow cell!"

IAGO. There is no other way: 't is she must do't:

And, lo, the happiness! go and impórtune 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 office of my heart, Entirely honour. I would not be delay'd: If my offence be of such mortal kind, That nor my service past, nor present sorrows, Nor purpos'd merit in futurity, Can ransom me into his love again, But to know so must be my benefit; So shall I clothe me in a forc'd content, And shut myself up in some other course, To fortune's alms.

DES.

Alas, thrice-gentle Cassio! My advocation is not now in tune;

(*) First folio, loathed.

(†) First folio, Heaven. (1) First folio omits, Heaven.

(*) First folio omits, sir.

b

a charmer,-] An enchantress; one who worked by spells and charms.

DES. I pray, talk me of Cassio. Отн. The handkerchief!] These two speeches are omitted in the folio.