Would you the supervision' grossly gape on? Oth. 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? It is impossible you should see this, Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, But, sith I am enter'd in this cause so far, 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, And then, sir, would he gripe, and wring my hand, 1 Would you the SUPERVISION-] The quarto, 1622, has "the supervisor,” the two other authorities "the supervision." 2 — you may have it.] The folio alone, “you might have it.” 3 Let us be WARY,] So the folio and the quarto, 1630: the quarto, 1622, "Let us be merry.” 4 - then, LAID his leg] Thus all old copies: but some modern editors, following no ancient text, and giving no notice of the change they introduced, print Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then Iago. Nay, this was but his dream. Oth. But this denoted a foregone conclusion: Oth. I'll tear her all to pieces. Iago. Nay, but be wise: yet we see nothing done; She may be honest yet. Tell me but this: Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief, Spotted with strawberries, in your wife's hand? Oth. I gave her such a one: 'twas my first gift. Iago. I know not that; but such a handkerchief, (I am sure it was your wife's) did I to-day See Cassio wipe his beard with. Oth. If it be that, Iago. If it be that, or any that was hers, It speaks against her with the other proofs. Now do I see 'tis true'.-Look here, Iago; "lay his leg," as if to accommodate those words to the corrupt reading of the folio, which prints the passage as follows: "Laid his leg o'er my thigh, And sigh, and kiss; and then cry, 'Cursed fate, The folio also omits "then" before "laid his leg," and "and" two lines earlier, in both instances without regard to the measure. 5 "Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.] The commentators have disputed whether this line belong to Iago or Othello, as in the quarto, 1622, it is given to the former, and in the folio to the latter. In such cases a third contemporary authority is of much value, but nobody seems to have thought of referring to the quarto, 1630, or they would have found that it confirms the distribution of the folio. 6 — or or any THAT was hers,] The folio and the two quartos read, “it was hers,” and Malone altered it to "that was her's:" no doubt in the manuscript "that" was written yt, a common abbreviation, which the compositor misread yt: it was then often spelt yt. The editor of the second folio printed "if 'twas her's," and Steevens admitted that Malone's correction was better than the alteration in the second folio. 7 Now do I see 'tis TRUE.] The quarto, 1622, alone reads "time" for "true." All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven: 'tis gone. Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cells! Yield up, O Love! thy crown, and hearted throne, Iago. Pray, be content. Oth. O, blood, Iago, blood! Iago. Patience, I say; your mind, perhaps, may change. Oth. Never', Iago. Like to the Pontick sea, Ne'er feels retiring ebb2, but keeps due on Swallow them up.-Now, by yond' marble heaven, I here engage my words. [Kneeling. Iago. To wrong'd Othello's service. Let him command, 8 from thy hollow cell!] The two quartos concur in this reading; the folio "from the hollow hell." 9 PRAY, be content.] The folio alone reads, " Yet be content;" and in the next speech of Iago it omits "perhaps," required by the measure, and found in the two quartos. 1 Never,] What follows, to the words "Now by yond' marble heaven,” inclusive, is in the folio, and in the quarto, 1630; but not in the quarto, 1622. 2 Ne'er FEELS retiring ebb,] The folio (where alone, Malone tells us, this passage is found, never having examined the quarto, 1630) has it, “Ne'er keeps retiring ebb." Pope altered keeps to "feels." This conjecture was a happy one, as is proved by the quarto, 1630, which has exactly the same word, “Ne'er feels retiring ebb." The later folios all repeat "keeps," but Southern altered the word, in his copy of the edition of 1685, to knows. 3 The EXECUTION,] The quarto, 1622, alone reads, "The excellency," What bloody work soe'er1. Oth. I greet thy love, Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous, And will upon the instant put thee to't. Within these three days let me hear thee say, That Cassio's not alive. Iago. My friend is dead: 'tis done at your request; But let her live. Oth. Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her! Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw, To furnish me with some swift means of death [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The Same. Enter DESDEMONA, EMILIA, and Clown. Des. Do you know, sirrah, where the lieutenant Cassio lies? Clo. I dare not say, he lies Des. Why, man? Clo. He is a soldiers; and for one to say a soldier lies, is stabbing. Clo. To tell you where he lodges, is to tell you where I lie. Des. Can any thing be made of this? Clo. I know not where he lodges; and for me to What bloody WORK soe'er.] The folio, regardless of the measure, reads "What bloody business ever," and lower down it repeats damn her, to the injury of the line, but, perhaps, with greater emphasis. 5 He is a soldier; &c.] In the quarto, 1622, this speech is made part of Desdemona's question. 6 Can any thing be made of this?] This and the preceding speech are not in the quarto, 1622. VOL. VII. P p 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 in 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. [Erit. Des. Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia? Emil. I know not, madam. Des. Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse Full of cruzadoes; and but my noble Moor Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness To put him to ill thinking. Emil. Is he not jealous? Des. Who? he! I think the sun, where he was born, Drew all such humours from him. Emil. Look, where he comes. Enter OTHELLO. Des. I will not leave him now, till Cassio Be call'd to him.-How is't with you, my lord? Oth. Well, my good lady.-[Aside.] O, hardness to dissemble! How do you, Desdemona? Des. Well, my good lord. Oth. Give me your hand. This hand is moist, my lady. 7 - he lies here, or] These words are only in the folio: there are other smaller variations in this part of the scene. 8 - cruzadoes ;] A Portuguese coin, so called from the cross stamped upon it. Our text of the preceding line is that of the folio: the quartos have it, "Believe me, I had rather lose my purse." |