Scene II
A bedchamber in the castle: DESDEMONA in bed asleep;
a light burning.
[Enter OTHELLO]
OTHELLO 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.
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light:
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me: but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have pluck'd the rose,
I cannot give it vital growth again.
It must needs wither: I'll smell it on the tree.
[Kissing her]
Ah 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.
DESDEMONA Who's there? Othello?
OTHELLO Ay. Desdemona.
DESDEMONA Will you come to bed, my lord?
OTHELLO Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona?
DESDEMONA Ay, my lord.
OTHELLO If you bethink yourself of any crime
Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.
DESDEMONA Alas, my lord, what do you mean by that?
OTHELLO 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.
DESDEMONA Talk you of killing?
OTHELLO Ay, I do.
DESDEMONA Then heaven
Have mercy on me!
OTHELLO Amen, with all my heart!
DESDEMONA If you say so, I hope you will not kill me.
OTHELLO Hum!
DESDEMONA 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.
OTHELLO Think on thy sins.
DESDEMONA They are loves I bear to you.
OTHELLO Ay, and for that thou diest.
DESDEMONA 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.
OTHELLO Peace, and be still!
DESDEMONA I will so. What's the matter?
OTHELLO That handkerchief which I so loved and gave thee
Thou gavest to Cassio.
DESDEMONA No, by my life and soul!
Send for the man, and ask him.
OTHELLO Sweet soul, take heed,
Take heed of perjury; thou art on thy deathbed.
DESDEMONA Ay, but not yet to die.
OTHELLO 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.
DESDEMONA Then Lord have mercy on me!
OTHELLO I say, amen.
DESDEMONA 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.
OTHELLO By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in's hand.
O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart,
And makest me call what I intend to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice:
I saw the handkerchief.
DESDEMONA He found it then;
I never gave it him: send for him hither;
Let him confess a truth.
OTHELLO He hath confess'd.
DESDEMONA What, my lord?
OTHELLO That he hath used thee.
DESDEMONA How? unlawfully?
OTHELLO Ay.
DESDEMONA He will not say so.
OTHELLO No, his mouth is stopp'd;
Honest Iago hath ta'en order for't.
DESDEMONA O ! my fear interprets: what, is he dead?
OTHELLO Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge
Had stomach for them all.
DESDEMONA Alas! he is betray'd and I undone.
OTHELLO Out, strumpet! weep'st thou for him to my face?
DESDEMONA O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not!
OTHELLO Down, strumpet!
DESDEMONA Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!
OTHELLO Nay, if you strive--
DESDEMONA But half an hour!
OTHELLO Being done, there is no pause.
DESDEMONA But while I say one prayer!
OTHELLO It is too late.
[He stifles her]
EMILIA[Within] My lord, my lord! what, ho! my lord, my lord!
OTHELLO 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.
EMILIA[Within] What, ho! my lord, my lord!
OTHELLO Who's there?
EMILIA[Within] O, good my lord, I would speak a word with you!
OTHELLO Yes: 'tis Emilia. By and by. She's dead.
'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death.--
The noise was here. Ha! no more moving?
Still as the grave. Shall she come in? were't good?--
I think she stirs again:--no. What's best to do?
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.
EMILIA[Within] I do beseech you
That I may speak with you, O, good my lord!
OTHELLO I had forgot thee: O, come in, Emilia;
Soft; by and by. Let me the curtains draw.
Where art thou?
[Unlocks the door]
[Enter EMILIA]
What's the matter with thee now?
EMILIA O, my good lord, yonder's foul murders done!
OTHELLOWhat, now?
EMILIA But now, my lord.
OTHELLO It is the very error of the moon;
She comes more nearer earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.
EMILIA Cassio, my lord, hath kill'd a young Venetian
Call'd Roderigo.
OTHELLO Roderigo kill'd!
And Cassio kill'd!
EMILIA No, Cassio is not kill'd.
OTHELLO Not Cassio kill'd! then murder's out of tune,
And sweet revenge grows harsh.
DESDEMONA O, falsely, falsely murder'd!
EMILIA Alas, what cry is that?
OTHELLO That! what?
EMILIA Out, and alas! that was my lady's voice.
Help! help, ho! help! O lady, speak again!
Sweet Desdemona! O sweet mistress, speak!
DESDEMONA A guiltless death I die.
EMILIA O, who hath done this deed?
DESDEMONA Nobody; I myself. Farewell
Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell!
[Dies]
OTHELLO Why, how should she be murder'd?
EMILIA Alas, who knows?
OTHELLO You heard her say herself, it was not I.
EMILIA She said so: I must needs report the truth.
OTHELLO She's, like a liar, gone to burning hell:
'Twas I that kill'd her.
EMILIA O, the more angel she,
And you the blacker devil!
OTHELLO She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore.
EMILIA Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil.
OTHELLO She was false as water.
EMILIA Thou art rash as fire, to say
That she was false: O, she was heavenly true!
OTHELLO Cassio did top her; ask thy husband else.
O, 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.
EMILIAMy husband!
OTHELLOThy husband.
EMILIAThat she was false to wedlock?
OTHELLOAy, with Cassio. Nay, had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and Perfect chrysolite,
I'ld not have sold her for it.
EMILIAMy husband!
OTHELLO Ay, 'twas he that told me first:
An honest man he is, and hates the slime
That sticks on filthy deeds.
EMILIA My husband!
OTHELLO What needs this iteration, woman? I say thy husband.
EMILIA O mistress, villany hath made mocks with love,
My husband say that she was false!
OTHELLO He, woman;
I say thy husband: dost understand the word?
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.
EMILIA 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.
OTHELL OHa!
EMILIA Do thy worst:
This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven
Than thou wast worthy her.
OTHELLO Peace, you were best.
EMILIA Thou hast not half that power to do me harm
As I have to be hurt. O gull! O dolt!
As ignorant as dirt! thou hast done a deed--
I care not for thy sword; I'll make thee known,
Though I lost twenty lives.--Help! help, ho! help!
The Moor hath kill'd my mistress! Murder! murder!
[Enter MONTANO, GRATIANO, IAGO, and others]
MONTANO What is the matter? How now, general!
EMILIA O, are you come, Iago? you have done well,
That men must lay their murders on your neck.
GRATIANO What is the matter?
EMILIA Disprove this villain, if thou be'st a man:
He says thou told'st him that his wife was false:
I know thou didst not, thou'rt not such a villain:
Speak, for my heart is full.
IAGO I told him what I thought, and told no more
Than what he found himself was apt and true.
EMILIA But did you ever tell him she was false?
IAGO I did.
EMILIA You told a lie, an odious, damned lie;
Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie.
She false with Cassio!--did you say with Cassio?