Page 1569 - Shakespeare - Vol. 3

OTHELLO

(Rising)
O, she was foul:
I scarce did know you, uncle, there lies your niece,

Whose breath indeed these hands have newly stopp’d;
I know this act shows terrible and grim.

GRATIANO
Poor Desdemona, I am glad thy father’s dead; [205]
Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief
Shore his old thread atwain: did he live now,

This sight would make him do a desperate turn,
Yea, curse his better angel from his side,
And fall to reprobation. [210]

OTHELLO
’Tis pitiful, but yet Iago knows

That she with Cassio hath the act of shame
A thousand times committed; Cassio confess’d it,
And she did gratify his amorous works,
With the recognizance and pledge of love, [215]
Which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand,

It was a handkerchief; an antique token
My father gave my mother.

EMILIA
O God, O heavenly God!

IAGO
Zounds, hold your peace.

EMILIA
’Twill out, it will: I hold my peace sir, no, [220]

I’ll be in speaking, liberal as the air,
Let heaven, and men, and devils, let ’em all,
All, all cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak.

IAGO