Oh 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. lord ?

Des. Will you come to bed, my
Oth. Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona ?

Des.

Oth. If you bethink yourself of any crime, Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight.

Ay, my 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 forefend-I would not kill thy soul.
Des. Talk you of killing?

Oth.

Des.

Have mercy on me!

Oth.

Ay, I do.

Then, heaven

Amen, with all my heart!

Des. If you say so, I hope you will not kill me.

Oth. Humph!

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 loving.—

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?

but yet, I hope, I hope,] The 4tos. both omit the repetition of "I hope," which is necessary to the line: farther on, the folio omits "Yes" before "presently," equally necessary, and found in the 4tos.

Oth. That handkerchief, which I so lov'd, and gave thee,

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 lov'd 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's hand.
Oh perjur'd woman! thou dost stone my heart,

And mak'st me call what I intend to do

A murder, which I thought a sacrifice:

I saw the handkerchief.

Des.

He found it then:

I never gave it him.-Send for him hither;
Let him confess a truth.

Honest Iago 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 betray'd, and I undone.

Oth. Out, strumpet! Weep'st thou for him to my face? Des. Oh! banish me, my lord, but kill me not.

5 That he hath-US'D THEE.] So the folio, and the 4to, 1630: the 4to, 1622, "That he hath-ud's death!"

Oth. Down, strumpet!

Des. Kill me to-morrow; let me live to-night.
Oth. Nay, if you strive,-

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!

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

Oth.

Who's there?

Emil. [Within.] Oh, 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.
Oh, insupportable, oh heavy hour!

Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse

Of sun and moon, and that th' affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.

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

There is no pause.] This speech is not found in the 4to, 1622.

7 Oh Lord, Lord, Lord!] These exclamations are only in the 4to, 1622. Mr. Singer informs us that the form of exclamation in the 4to, 1622, is "God, God, God!" This is probably a mistake: it is "Oh Lord, Lord, Lord!" in every copy we happen to have seen.

8 So, so!] It has been supposed that with these words, Othello, after having stifled or smothered Desdemona, (for the stage-direction in the old copies is thus varied) stabs her, in order to put an end to her sufferings. This may be so, but the 4tos. and folios say nothing about it; and the argument of Steevens, that Desdemona was more likely to speak afterwards, when she had been stabbed as well as smothered, seems a little extraordinary.

The noise was HIGH.] Both the 4tos. have, "The noise was here." In the last line of the speech, they have "Should yawn" for "Did yawn " of the folio. The emendation is "Should yawn " in the corr. fo. 1632.

Oh, good my lord!

Oth. I had forgot thee. Oh! come in, Emilia.Soft,--by and by-let me the curtains draw.

Where art thou? What's the matter with thee now?

[Unlocking the door.

Enter EMILIA.

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

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 kill'd a young Venetian,
Call'd Roderigo.

Oth.

And Cassio kill'd?

Emil.

Roderigo kill'd!

No; Cassio is not kill'd.

Oth. Not Cassio kill'd ?-Then murder's out of tune,

And sweet revenge grows harsh.

Des. Oh, falsely, falsely, murder'd!

Emil.

Oth. That! what?

Alas! what cry is that?

Emil. Out, and alas! that was my lady's voice1:-
Help! help, ho! help!-Oh lady, speak again!
Sweet Desdemona! Oh, sweet mistress, speak!
Des. A guiltless death I die.

Emil.

This deed?

Des.

Oh! who hath done

[Dies.

Alas, who knows?

Nobody; I myself; farewell:
Commend me to my kind lord. Oh farewell!
Oth. Why, how should she be murder'd?
Emil.
Oth. You heard her say herself, it was not I.
Emil. She said so; I must needs report a truth.
Oth. She's like a liar gone to burning hell:
'Twas I that kill'd her.

Emil.

Oh! the more angel she, And you the blacker devil.

1

THAT was my lady's voice:] The 4to, 1622, only, "it is my lady's voice." Lower down, the folio has, "You hear her say," for "You heard her say;" and "the truth" for "a truth" of the 4tos.

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.
That she was false: oh! she was heavenly true.

Thou art rash as fire, to say

Oth. Cassio did top her; ask thy husband else.
Oh! 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?

Oth. Ay, with Cassio. Nay, had she been true 2, If heaven would make me such another world

Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,

I'd not have sold her for it.

Emil. My husband?

Oth.

Ay, 'twas he that told me first:

An honest man he is, and hates the slime

That sticks on filthy deeds.

Emil.

My husband?

Oth. What needs this iteration', woman? I say, thy

husband.

Emil. Oh mistress! villainy hath made mocks with love'.My husband say, that she was false?

Oth.
He, woman;
I say, thy husband: dost understand the word?
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.

Emil. If he say so, may his pernicious soul
Rot half a grain a day! he lies to the heart:
She was too fond of her most filthy bargain.
Oth. Ha!

[Threatening her3.

2 Ay, with Cassio. NAY, had she been true,] So the line stands in the 4tos, 1622 and 1630: the folio, to the injury of the metre, omits "Nay," and modern editors, deserting all the old impressions as regards the versification, have regulated the passage differently. In Othello's next speech, the folio reads, "that told me on her first," not so given in any other copy.

3 What needs this ITERATION,] The folio alone has iterance: no such word has been pointed out in any other author.

Oh mistress! villainy hath made mocks with love.] This, and the speech by Othello, which follows it, are not in the 4to, 1622, but in the folio, and in the 4to, 1630. The 4to, 1630, corrects the folio, by reading, "My husband say, that she was false."

5 Threatening her.] This stage-direction is from the margin of the corr. fo. 1632; but in what precise way Othello threatened Emilia does not appear.