lago. Kind gentlemen, let's go see poor Cassio

dressed.

Come, mistress, you must tell us another tale.-
Emilia, run you to the citadel,

And tell my lord and lady what has happened.-
Will you go on, I pray?-This is the night,
That either makes me, or foredoes 1 me quite.

1

[Aside.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. A Bedchamber: DESDEMONA in bed asleep. A light burning.

Enter OTHEllo.

2

Oth. It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!
It is the cause.-Yet I'll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.

[Takes off his sword.
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then-Put out the light!3
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,

I can again thy former light restore,

Should I repent me ;-but once put out thine,1

1 To foredo is to undo, to ruin, to destroy.

4

2 Othello, full of horror at the cruel action which he is about to perpetrate, seems at this instant to be seeking his justification, from representing to himself the cause, i. e. the greatness of the provocation he had received.

3 The old copy gives this line thus:

“Put out the light, and then put out the light.”

The present regulation of the passage, by which so much beauty and spirit is added to it, was proposed by Mr. Upton, but it is to be found in Ayres's Life of Pope; it may, therefore, have originated with Warburton, who thus explains it:-"The meaning is, I will put out the light, and then proceed to the execution of my purpose. But the expression of putting out the light bringing to mind the effects of the extinction of the light of life, he breaks short, and questions himself about the effects of this metaphorical extinction, introduced by a repetition of his first words, as much as to say,-But hold, let me first weigh the reflection which this expression naturally excites."

4 Thus the quarto. The folio reads, put out thy light. Steevens adopted the present reading for the sake of the measure, and to avoid the useless repetition of the word light.

Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature,

I know not where is that Promethean heat,
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked

thy rose,

1

I cannot give it vital growth again ;

It needs must wither.-I'll smell it on the tree.

[Kissing her.

O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword!-One more, one more.-
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,
And love thee after.-One more, and this the last;
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly;
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes-
Des. Who's there? Othello?
Oth

Ay, Desdemona.

Des. Will you come to bed, my lord?
Oth. Have you prayed to-night, Desdemona?
Des.

Ay, my

Oth. If you bethink yourself of any crime,
Unreconciled as yet to Heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.

lord

Des. Alas, my lord, what may you mean by that?
Oth. Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by.

I would not kill thy unprepared spirit;

No,-Heaven forfend!-I would not kill thy soul.
Des. Talk you of killing?

Oth.

Des.

Have mercy on me!

Oth.

Des. If you say so,

Oth. Humph!

Ay, I do.

Then, Heaven

Des. And yet I fear you; for you are fatal then, When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear, I know

not,

Since guiltiness I know not; but yet I feel I fear.

Oth. Think on thy sins.

Des.

They are loves I bear to you.

Oth. Ay, and for that thou diest.

Des. That death's unnatural, that kills for lov

ing.

Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?

Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.
These are portents; but yet, I hope, I hope

They do not point on me.

Oth.

Peace, and be still! Des. I will so. What's the matter?

Oth. That handkerchief, which I so loved, and gave

Take heed of perjury; thou'rt on thy death-bed.
Des. Ay, but not yet to die.

Oth.

Yes, presently.

'Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin;

For to deny each article with oath,

Cannot remove, nor choke the strong conception,
That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.

Des. Then, Lord have mercy on me!

Oth.

I

say, amen.

Des. And have you mercy too! I never did
Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio,
But with such general warranty of Heaven
As I might love. I never gave him token.

Oth. By Heaven, I saw my handkerchief in his hand.
O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart,
And mak'st me call, what I intend to do,

A murder, which I thought a sacrifice: 1

I saw the handkerchief.

1 "This line is difficult. Thou hast hardened my heart, and makest me kill thee with the rage of a murderer, when I thought to have sacrificed thee to justice with the calmness of a priest striking a victim.' I am glad that I have ended this dreadful scene; it is not to be endured.'-Johnson.

Des. He found it, then;

I never gave it him.-Send for him hither,
And let him confess a truth.

No, his mouth is stopped;

Honest lago hath ta'en order for't.

Des. My fear interprets, then,-What, is he dead? Oth. Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge Had stomach for them all.

Des. Alas! he is betrayed, and I undone.

Oth. Out, strumpet! weep'st thou for him to my

face?

Des. O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not.
Oth. Down, strumpet!

Des. Kill me to-morrow; let me live to-night.

Oth. Nay, if you strive,

But half an hour.

Being done,

[He smothers her.

But while I say one prayer.

Emil. [Within.] My lord, my lord! what, ho! my

lord! my lord!

Oth. What noise is this?—Not dead? not yet quite dead?

I, that am cruel, am yet merciful;

I would not have thee linger in thy pain.

So, so.1

1 The quarto 1622 reads:-

"That he hath -uds death."

2 The first quarto omits this speech.

3 After this speech of Othello, the elder quarto adds an invocation from Desdemona, consisting only of the sacred name thrice repeated.

4 It is supposed that some theatrical direction has been omitted, and

Emil. [Within.] What, ho! my lord, my lord!

Oth.

Who's there? Emil. [Within.] O good my lord, I would speak a

word with you.

Oth. Yes;-'tis Emilia ;-by and by.-She's dead. 'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death. The noise was high.-Ha! no more moving?

Still as the grave. Shall she come in? Were't good?
I think she stirs again.-No.-What's the best?
If she come in, she'll sure speak to my wife.

My wife! my wife! what wife?--I have no wife.
O, insupportable! O, heavy hour!

Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse

Of sun and moon; and that the affrighted globe.
Should yawn at alteration.

Emil. [Within.] I do beseech you I may speak with

you,

O good my lord!

Oth. I had forgot thee. O, come in, Emilia.Soft,-by and by.-Let me the curtains draw.Where art thou? What's the matter with thee now? [Unlocks the door.

Enter EMILIA.

Emil. O good my lord, yonder's foul murder done. Oth. What? now?

Emil.

But now, my lord!

Oth. It is the very error of the moon :

She comes more near the earth than she was wont;
And makes men mad.

Emil. Cassio, my lord, has killed a young Venetian, Called-Roderigo.

Oth.

And Cassio killed ?

Emil.

Roderigo killed!

No, Cassio is not killed.

that, when Othello says, " So, so," he renews his attempt to smother her.Steevens thinks it is here intended that he should stab her.