She that was ever fair & never proud
Had tongue at will & yet was never loud:
Never lacked gold & yet went never gay
Fled from her wish & yet said now I may.
She that being angered, her revenge being nigh
Bade her wrong stay & her displeasure fly.
She that could think & not disclose her mind
See suitors following & not look behind.
By Iago,
in Othello (TLN923-932),
William Shakespeare
in Bodleian Library MS English miscellaneous c. 34, f. 60
Women’s Unknown Virtues
She, that was ever fair, & never proud;
Had Tongue at Will, & yet was never loud;
Never lacked Gold, & yet went never gay;
Fled from her Wish, yet said, Now I may:
She that being angered, & her Revenge being nigh,
bade her Wrong, Stay, & her Displeasure, Fly:
She, that in wisdom was never so frail to change the cod's head for the salmon's trail. She that could think, & never disclose her Mind;
See Suitors following, & not look behind:
She was a Wight, (if ever such Wights were)
By Iago,
in Othello (TLN923-933),
William Shakespeare
in Bodleian Library MS Sancroft 53, f.43
If it were now to die, | twere now to be most happy, for I fear | my soul hath her content so absolute, | that not another comfort like to this | succeeds in unknown fate.
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN967-971),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 83v
And what delight shall she have to look on the devil? When the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be a game to enflame it, and give satiety a fresh appetite
By Iago,
in Othello (TLN1009-1011),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
'Tis not to make me jealous, | to say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company, Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances; Where virtue is, these are more virtuous
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN1799-1802),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
Oh, curse of marriage, | that we can call these delicate creatures ours, | And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad And live upon the vapor of a dungeon | than keep a corner of a thing I love | for others' uses.
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN1899-1904),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, | but with a little act upon the blood|
burn like the mines of sulfur. I did say so. Look where he comes, Not poppy, nor mandragora, | Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world| shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep, | which thou owedst yesterday.
By Iago,
in Othello (TLN1966-1974),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart-- | Hot, hot, and moist. This hand of yours requires| a sequester from liberty: fasting and praying, | much castigation, exercise devout tis most veritable-he, tone,
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN2181-2184),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
Madam, my former suit: I do beseech you That by your virtuous means I may again, exist and be a member of his love, WhomI, with all the office of my heart,entirely honor with all the office of my heart.
By Cassio,
in Othello (TLN2265-2269),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
Is This the noble Moor whom our full senate Call all in all sufficient? Is this the nature | whom passion could not shake? Whose solid virtue, the shot of accident, nor dart of chance could neither graze nor nor pierce?
By Lodovico,
in Othello (TLN2663-2667),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84r
It is ye cause, it is ye cause my soul. | let me not name it to you, you choice stars: | it is ye cause . Yet I'll not shed her blood, | Nor scar yt 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 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 yt Promethean heat, | yt can thy light relume: When I have plucked thy rose/
I cannot giue it vital growth again, | It needs must wither: | I'll smell it on the tree. [He kisses her.]
O balmy breath, yt dost almost persuade | Justice to break her sword: one more, one more | bee thus
when thou art dead, and I will kill thee| and love thee after: one more, and that's ye last. | So
sweet was ne're so fatal: I must weep, | But they are cruel tears: This sorrows heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love.
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN3240-3262),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84v
Behold I have a weapon, | a better never did itself sustain | upon a soldiers thigh. I have seen
the day, | [that] [with] this little arm and this good sword, BR note ***: The c below in control is inverted. Not sure how to show that. | I have made my way through more impediments | Thank twenty times your stop . But--O vain boast!-- | who can control his fate? tis not so now. |
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN3559-3565),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84v
Be not afraid though you doe see me weaponed; | here is my journey's end, here is my butt, | and very seamark of my utmost sail. | Do you go back dismayed? tis a lost fear, |
man but a rush against Othello's breast, | and he retires. Where should Othello go ?| Now, how dost thou look now? O ill-starred wench, ,|pale as thy smock; when we shall meet at compt This the look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven, | and fiends will snatch at it: Cold, cold, my girl?Even like thy chastity. O cursèd, cursèd slave! Whip me, ye devils, from the possession of this heavenly sight, Blow me about in winds, roast me in sulfur, Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire --O Desdemon! Dead Desdemon! Dead--Oh, Oh!
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN3559-3581),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84v
I have done [the] state some service, and they know't: | No more of [that]: I pray you in your letters, | when
you shall these unlucky deeds relate; | Speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, | Nor set down aught in malice:
then you must speak, | of one [that] loved not wisely, but too well: | of one not easily jealous, but being
wrought, | perplexed in [the] extreme: of one whose hand, | like [the] base Indian threw a pearl away /
richer than all his tribe: of one whose subdued eyes | Albeit unused to [the] melting mood | Drops tears
as fast as [the] Arabian trees | their medicinable gum: Set you down this; | and say besides [that] in
Aleppo once, | where a malignant and a turbanedTurk | beat a Venetian, and traduced [the] state; | I took by th' throat [the] circumcised dog, | and smote him thus. [Othello stabs himself.]
By Othello,
in Othello (TLN3648-3668),
William Shakespeare
in British Library Additional MS 22608, f. 84v