Of my whole courfe of love; what drugs, what Wherein I spake of most difastrous chances,

charms,

What conjuration, and what mighty magic,

(For fuch proceeding I am charg'd withal) I won his daughter with.

Bra. A maiden never bold;

Of spirit fo ftill and quiet, that her motion
Blush'd at herself; And the,--in fpite of nature,
Of years, of country, credit, every thing,-
To fall in love with what the fear'd to look on?
It is a judgment maim'd, and most imperfect,
That will confefs-perfection so could err
Against all rules of nature; and must be driven
To find out practices of cunning hell,
Why this fhould be. I therefore vouch again,
That with fome mixtures powerful o'er the blood,
Or with fome dram conjur'd to this effect,
He wrought upon her.

Duke. To vouch this, is no proof;
Without more certain and more overt test 1,
Than these thin habits, and poor likelihoods
Of modem feeming, do prefer against him.
1 Sen. But, Othello, speak ;-
Did you by indirect and forced courfes
Subdue and poifon this young maid's affections?
Or came it by request, and such fair question
As foul to foul affordeth?

Oth. I do befeech you,

Send for the lady to the Sagittary 2,

And let her fpeak of me before her father:
If you do find me foul in her report,
The truft, the office, I do hold of you,
Not only take away, but let your fentence
Even fall upon my life.

Duke. Fetch Desdemona hither.
[Exeunt Two or Three.
Oth. Ancient, conduct them; you best know
the place.
[Exit Iago.
And, 'till the come, as truly as to heaven
I do confefs the vices of my blood,
So juftly to your grave ears I'll prefent
How did I thrive in this fair lady's love,
And the in mine.

Duke. Say it, Othello.

Oth. Her father lov'd me; oft invited me;
Still queftion'd me the story of my life,
From year to year, the battles, fieges, fortunes,
That I have pafs'd :

I ran it through, even from my boyith days,
To the very moment that he bade me tell it.

Of moving accidents, by flood and field ;

Of hair-breadth fcapes i' the imminent deadly breach;
Of being taken by the infolent foe,

And fold to flavery; of my redemption thence,
And portance in my travel's history:

Wherein of antres 3 vaft, and defarts idle 4,
Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch
heaven,

It was my hint to speak, fuch was the process ;
And of the Cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whofe heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders 5. These things
to hear,

Would Defdemona feriously incline:

But still the house affairs would draw her thence;
Which ever as she could with hafte dispatch,
She'd come again, and with a greedy ear
Devour up my difcourfe: Which I obferving,
Took once a pliant hour; and found good means
To draw from her a prayer of earneft heart,
That I would all my pilgrimage dilate,
Whereof by parcels the had something heard,
But not intentively; I did confent;
And often did beguile her of her tears,
When I did fpeak of some distressful stroke
That my youth fuffer'd. My story being done,
She gave me for my pains a world of fighs:
She fwore,-In faith, 'twas ftrange, 'twas paffing
ftrange;

'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:

She wifh'd, the had not heard it; yet the wifh'd
That heaven had made her fuch a man the
thank'd me;

And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her,
I fhould but teach him how to tell my story,
And that would woo her. Upon this hint, I fpake :
She lov'd me for the dangers I had paft ;
And I lov'd her, that the did pity them.
This only is the witchcraft I have us'd;
Here comes the lady, let her witness it.

Enter Defdemona, Iags, and Attendants.
Duke. I think, this tale would win my daughter

too.

Good Brabantio,

Take up this mangled matter at the best:
Men do their broken weapons rather ufe,
Than their bare hands.

Bra. I pray you, hear her speak;

If the confefs, that the was half the wooer,

1 i. e. open proofs, external evidence. 9 This means the fign of the fictitious creature f called, i. e. an animal compounded of man and horfe, and armed with a bow and quiver. 31. e. caves, dons. Dr. Warburton remarks, that "Difcourfes of this nature made the fubject of the politest converfations, when voyages into, and difcoveries of, the new world were all in vogue. So when the Bastard Faulconbridge, in King John, defcribes the behaviour of upftart greatnefs, he makes one of the effential circumftances of it to be this kind of table-talk. The fashion then running altogether in this way, it is no wonder a young lady of quality fhould be ftruck with the hiftory of an adventurer.” Dr. Johnson adds, that "Whoever ridicules this account of the progrefs of love, fhews his ignorance, not only of hiftory, but of nature and manners. It is no wonder that, in any age, or in any nation, a lady, reclufe, timorous, and delicate, should defire to hear of events and fcenes which the could never fee, and fhould admire the man who had endured dangers, and performed actions, which, however great, were yet magnified by her timidity." 4 i. e. wild, ufclefs, uncultivated. 5 Dr. Johnon fays, "Of these men there is an account in the interpolated travels of Mandeville, a book of that time. 6 Intention and attention were once fynonymous.

Destruction

T

Destruction on my head, if my bad blame
Light on the man!-Come hither, gentle miftrefs;
Do you perceive in all this noble company,
Where moft you owe obedience ?

Def. My noble father,

I do perceive here a divided duty:

Το

you I am bound for life, and education; My life, and education, both do learn me

How to refpect you; you are the lord of duty,

I am hitherto your daughter: But here's my
hufband;

And fo much duty as my mother shew'd
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much 1 challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor, my lord.

Bra. God be with you!-I have done :-
Please it your grace, on to the ftate affairs;
I had rather to adopt a child, than get it.-
Come hither, Moor:

I here do give thee that with all my heart,
Which, but thou haft already, with all my heart
I would keep from thee.-For your fake, jewel,
I am glad at foul I have no other child;
For thy efcape would teach me tyranny,
To hang clogs on them.-I have done, my lord.
Duke. Let me fpeak like yourfelf; and lay a
fentence,

Which, as a grife, or step, may help thefe lovers
Into your favour.

When remedies are paft, the griefs are ended,
By feeing the worst, which late on hopes depended.
To mourn a mischief that is paft and gone,
Is the next way to draw new mischief on.
What cannot be preferv'd when fortune takes,
Patience her injury a mockery makes.

the place is best known to you: - And though we
have there a fubftitute of most allow'd fufficiency,
yet opinion, a fovereign mistress of effects, throws
a more fafe voice on you: you muit therefore be
content to flubber 4 the glofs of your new fortunes,
with this more flubborn and boisterous expedition.
Oth. The tyrant custom, most grave fenators,
Hath made the flinty and fteel couch of war
My thrice-driven 5 bed of down: I do agnize
A natural and prompt alacrity,

I find in hardness; and do undertake
This prefent war againft the Ottomites.
Moft humbly therefore bending to your state,
I crave fit difpofition for my wife;
Due reference of place 7, and exhibition ;
With fuch accommodation, and befort,
As levels with her breeding.

Duke. If you please,

Be 't at her father's.

Bra. I will not have it fo.
Oth. Nor I.

Def. Nor I; I would not there refide,
To put my father in impatient thoughts,
By being in his eye. Moft gracious duke,
To my unfolding lend a gracious ear;
And let me find a charter in your voice,
To affift my fimpleness.

Duke. What would you, Defdemona ?

Def. That I did love the Moor to live with him,
My down-right violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world; my heart's fubdu'd
Even to the very quality of my lord:

I faw Othello's vifage in his mind 10;
And to his honours, and his valiant parts,
Did I my foul and fortunes confecrate.

The robb'd, that fmiles, Iteals fomething from the So that, dear lords, if I be left behind,

thief;

He robs himself, that fpends a bootlefs grief.
Bra. So let the Turk, of Cyprus us beguile;
We lofe it not, fo long as we can fmile.
He bears the fentence well, that nothing bears
But the free comfort which from thence he hears 2:
But he bears both the fentence and the forrow,
That to pay grief, muft of poor patience borrow.
These fentences, to fugar, or to gall,
Being strong on both fides, are equivocal :
But words are words: I never yet did hear,
That the bruis'd heart was pierced through the ear 3.
I humbly beseech you, proceed to the affairs of

ftate.

A moth of peace, and he go to the war,
The rites, for which I love him, are bereft me,
And I a heavy interim fhall fupport
By his dear abfence: Let me go with him.

Oth. Your voices, lords:-1 do beseech you, let
Her will have a free way.

Vouch with me, heaven, I therefore beg it not,
To pleafe the palate of my appetite;

Nor to comply with heat, (the young affects,
In me defunct) and proper fatisfaction;
But to be free and bounteous to her mind :

And heaven defend 12 your good fouls, that you think I will your ferious and great business fcant, For the is with me; No, when light-wing'd toys Duke. The Turk with a moft mighty prepara- Of feather'd Cupid feel with wanton dulnefs tion makes for Cyprus :-Othello, the fortitude of My fpeculative and active inftruments 13,

avow. revenue.

6 i.e. acknowledge, confess,

1 Grize, from degrees. A grife is a step. 2 Meaning, the moral precepts of confolation, which are libe3 Dr. Johnfon obferves, that the confequence of a bruise rally beltowed on occafion of the fentence. is fometimes matter collected, and this can no way be cured without piercing, or letting it out. 5 A driven bed, is a beditor which the feathers are telected, 4 To flubber here means to obfcure. by driving with a fan, which feparates the light from the heavy. 8 Exhibition is allowance, and here implies 7 i. e. precedency fuitable to her rank. 10 i. e. The greatnefs of his character re9 i. c. Let your favour privilege me. Affects stands in this paffage not for love, but for paffions, for that by conciled me to his form. which any thing is affected. If it not, fays Othello, to please appetite, or fatisfy woofe defires, the paffions of youth which I have now outlived, or for any particular gratification of myself, but merely that 12 To defend, is to forbid, from defendre, Fr. I may indulge the wifkes of my wife. thefe words mean no more than this: When the pleasures and idle toys of love make me unfit either for er for the ready performance of them. Seeing the duties of my office,

13 All

That

That my difports corrupt and taint my business,
Let housewives make a skillet of my helm,
And all indign and base adverfities
Make head against my estimation!

Duke. Be it as you fhall privately determine,
Either for her stay, or going: the affair cries-hafte,
And speed muft answer it; you must hence to-night.
Def. To-night, my lord?
Duke. This night.

Oth. With all my heart.

fhame to be fo fond; but it is not in my virtue ts

amend it.

Iago. Virtue? a fig! 'tis in ourselves, that we are thus, or thus. Our bodies are our gardens; to the which, our wills are gardeners: fo that if we will plant nettles, or fow lettuce; fet hyffop, and weed up thyme; fupply it with one gender of herbs, or diftract it with many; either have it steril with idleness, or manur'd with industry; why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our

Duke. At nine i'the morning here we'll meet again. wills. If the balance of our lives had not one fcaleOthello, leave fome officer behind,

of reafon to poife another of fenfuality, the blood
and bafenefs of our natures would conduct us to
most prepofterous conclufions: But we have rea-
fon, to cool our raging motions, our carnal ftings,
our unbitted lufts; whereof I take this, that you
call-love, to be a fećt 4 or scyon.

If virtue no delighted beauty lack,
Your fon-in-law is far more fair than black.
Sen. Adieu, brave Moor! use Desdemona well.feat
Bra. Look to her, Moor; have a quick eye
to fee;

She has deceiv'd her father, and may thee.

[Exeunt Duke, and Senators.
Oth. My life upon her faith.-Honest lago,
My Desdemona muft I leave to thee:
I pr'ythee, let thy wife attend on her;
And bring them after in the best advantage 2.-
Come, Desdemona; I have but an hour
Of love, of worldly matter and direction,
To spend with thee: we must obey the time.
[Exeunt Othello, and Defdemona.

Red. It cannot be.

Iago. It is merely a luft of the blood, and a
permiffion of the will. Come, be a man: Drown
thyfelf? drown cats, and blind puppies. I have
profefs'd me thy friend, and I confefs me knit to
thy deferving with cables of perdurable toughness;
I could never better ftead thee than now. Put
money in thy purfe: follow thou these wars; de-
thy favour with an ufurped beard: I fay,
put money in thy purfe. It cannot be, that Def-
demona fhould long continue her love to the Moor,
-put money in thy purfe ;-nor he his to her : it
was a violent commencement in her, and tho
fhalt fee an answerable fequeftration ;-put but
money in thy purse.-These Moors are changeable
in their wills;-fill thy purfe with money: the
food that to him now is as lufcious as locufts 7, fhall
be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida.
muft change for youth: when he is fated with
his body, the will find the error of her choice.-
She must have change, fhe muft: therefore put
money in thy purfe.-If thou wilt needs dama
thyfelf, do it a more delicate way than drowning.
Make all the money thou canit: If fanctimony
and a frail vow, betwixt an erring Barbarian and a
fuper-fubtle Venetian, be not too hard for my wits,

She

Iago. Well, if thou doft, I shall never love thee and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her; after it. Why, thou filly gentleman!

therefore make money. A pox of drowning thy

Rod. It is fillinefs to live, when to live is a tor-felf! it is clean out of the way: feek thou rather ment and then have we a prefcription to die to be hang'd in compaffing thy joy, than to be when death is our physician. drown'd and go without her.

Rod. Wilt thou be faft to my hopes, if I depend

Iago. O villainous! I have look'd upon the world for four times feven years: and fince I could on the iffue? diftinguish betwixt a benefit and an injury, I never

Lago. Thou art fure of me ;-Go, make money: found man that knew how to love himself. Ere I-I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again would fay, I would drown myself for the love of and again, I hate the Moor: My cause is hearted; a Guinea hen 3, I would change my humanity thine hath no less reason: Let us be conjunctive with a baboon. in our revenge against him: if thou canft cuckold

Rad. What should I do? I confefs, it is my him, thou doft thyself a pleasure, and me a fport.

1 Delighted, for delighting, or delightful. Shakspeare often uses the active and paffive participles indifcriminately. 2 i. e. faireft opportunity. 3 A Guinea-hen was anciently the cant term for a prostitute. 4 A fell is what the more modern gardeners call a cutting. 5 Todefeat, is to undo, to change. 6 The poet probably here uses fequeftration for fequel. Sequeftration, however, may mean no more than feparation. 7 The fruit of the locuft-tree is a long black pod, which contains the reeds, among which there is a very sweet luscious juice of much the fame confiftency as fresh honey.

There are many events in the womb, of time, (He has done my office; I know not, if 't be true; which will be delivered. Traverie; go; provide But I for mere fufpicion in that kind,

thy money. We will have more of this to-mor-Will do, as if for furety. He holds me well;

1

АСТ II.

Be not infhelter'd, and embay'd, they are drown'd; That fo approve the Moor; O let the heavens It is impoflible they bear it out.

2 By a Veronese a fhip of Verona is denoted. 3 Expert and approv'd allowance is put for allow'd and approv'd expertness. 4 The meaning, Mr. Steevens thinks, is, Therefore, my hopes, not being deftroyed by their own excefs, but being reasonable and moderate, are likely to be fulfilled.

Iago. Sir, would she give you so much of hef
lips,

As of her tongue the oft bestows on me,
You'd have enough.

Def. Alas, the has no fpeech.
Iago. In faith, too much;

I find it ftill, when I have lift to fleep;
Marry, before your ladyship, I grant,
She puts her tongue a little in her heart,
And chides with thinking.

Emil. You have little caufe to fay fo.

Iago. Come on, come on; you are pictures out
of doors,

Bells in your parlours, wild cats in your kitchens,
Saints in your injuries, devils being offended,

Does bear all excellency -How now? who has Players in your housewifery, and housewives in put in ?

Re-enter Gentleman.

Caf. She that I fpake of, our great captain's
Left in the conduct of the bold Lago;
Whofe footing here anticipates our thoughts,
A fe'nnight's speed.—Great Jove, Othello guard,
And fwell his fail with thine own powerful breath;
That he may biefs this bay with his tall fhip,
Make love's quick pants in Defdemona's arms,
Give renew'd fire to our extincted fpirits,
And bring all Cyprus comfort !— -O, behold,

Enter Difdemona, lago, Roderigo, and Emilia.
The riches of the fhip is come on fhore !---
Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees:
Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round!

Def. I thank you, valiant Caffio.
What tidings can you tell me of my lord?

Caf. He is not yet arriv'd; nor know I aught
But that he's well, and will be shortly here.

Def. O, but I fear;-How loft you company?
Caf. The great contention of the fea and skies
Parted our fellowship: But, hark! a fail.
Within. A fail, a fail!

[Guns beard. Gent. They give this greeting to the citadel; This likewife is a friend.

Caf. See for the news.- [An attendant goes out.
-Welcome,
Good ancient, you are welcome ;——
miftrefs.
[To Emilia.
Let it not gall your patience, good Iago,
That I extend my manners; 'tis my breeding
That gives me this bold fhew of courtesy.

your beds.

Def. O, fie upon thee, flanderer!

Iago. Nay, it is true, or elfe I am Turk; You rife to play, and go to bed to work. Emil. You fhall not write my praife.

Def. I am not merry; but I do beguile
The thing I am, by feeming otherwise.-
Come, how wouldst thou praise me ?

Lago. I am about it; but, indeed, my invention
Comes from my pate, as bird-lime does from frize,
It plucks out brains and all: But my mufe labours,
And thus fhe is deliver'd.

If the be fair and wife,-fairnefs, and wit,
The one's for ufe, the other ufeth it.

Def. Well prais'd! How if the be black and
witty?

Iago. If the be black, and thereto have a wit, She'll find a white that fhall her blacknefs fit.

Def. Worfe and worse.

Emil. How, if fair and foolish?

Iago. She never yet was foolish that was fair; For even her folly help'd her to an heir. Def. Thefe are old fond paradoxes, to make fools laugh i'the alehoufe. What miferable praise haft thou for her that's foul and foolish ?

Iago. There's none fo foul, and foolish thereunto, But does foul pranks which fair and wife ones do.'

Def. O heavy ignorance!-thou praifeft the worst beft. But what praife couldst thou bestow on a deferving woman indeed ? one, that, in the authority of her merit, did justly put on the vouch [Kiffes ber. of very malice itfelf 3?

That is, She excels the praifes of invention, and in real (the author feeming to ufe effential for real) qualities, with which creation has invefted her; bears all excellency. 2 That is, cenforious. 3 Dr. Johnfon fays, To put on the vouch of malice, is to allume a character vouched by the teftimony of

malice itself.

lags.