But what ferve for the thunder??-Precious villain! Gra. The woman falls; fure, he has kill'd his wife. Emil. Ay, ay; O, lay me by my mistress' fide! Gra. He's gone, but his wife's kill'd.

Mon. 'Tis a notorious villain. Take you this weapon, Which I have here recover'd from the Moor:

Come, guard the door without; let him not pafs,
But kill him rather; I'll after that fame villain,
For 'tis a damned flave.

[Exeunt MoN. and GRA.

Oth. I am not valiant neither,
But every puny whipfter gets my fword :-
But why should honour out-live honesty?
Let it go all.

Emil. What did thy fong bode, lady?

Hark, can't thou hear me? I will play the fwan,
And die in mufick ;-Willow, willow, willow &

7 Are there no ftones in beaven,

But what ferve for the thunder ] Othello does not want a thunder. bolt for Iago. He only afks, if there are no leffer degrees of chaftifement more proportioned to the guilt of mortals, ready to drop down on fuch villains as lago, though Omnipotence withholds its thunder, as too noble an inftrument for the punishment of crimes like his ? The fame thought occurs in The Revenger's Tragedy, 1607: "Is here no thunder left? oris't kept up

"In ftock, for heavier vengeance ?"

Shakspeare might however mean, does heaven referve its thunder only to make a noife? has it no implements of mifchief to punish as well as terrify?

"quum fulmina torques,

"Necquicquam horremus? cæcique in nubibus ignes

"Terrificant animos, et inania murmura mifcent?" STEEV. The meaning, I think, is, Has not Heaven one fupernumerary bolt, to hurl directly at the head of this atrocious villain? Muft all the stores of its arfenal be referved for common and ordinary thunder, which, though fometimes deftructive, is in the ufual courfe of nature not fpecifically pointed at a particular object?

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Magne regnator deûm,

"Tam lentus audis fcelera? tam lentus vides?

"Ecquando fævâ fulmen emittes manu,

Si nunc ferenum eft ?

Cur dextra, divûm rector atque hominum, vacat "Tua, nec trifulcâ mundus ardefcit face?

"In bunc tones, bunc figas." MALONE.

8 And die in mufick, &c.] This, and the two former lines of the fpeech, are wanting in the first quarto. STEEVENS.

Moor,

Moor, fhe was chafte; fhe lov'd thee, cruel Moor:
So come my foul to blifs, as I fpeak true;
So fpeaking as I think, I die,-I die.

Oth. I have another weapon in this chamber,

It is a fword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper9 ;-
O, here it is-Uncle, I must come forth.

[dies,

Gra. [within.] If thou attempt it, it will coft thee dear; Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer. Oth. Look in upon me then, and speak with me, Or, naked as I am, I will affault thee.

Re-enter GRATIANO.

Gra. What is the matter?
Oth. Behold! I have a weapon:

9 the ice-brook's temper;] The quarto, 1622, has Ise brookes, which is only the old fpelling of Ice-brooke's, the reading of the folio. Sir William Blackftone doubts whether ice-brooks are ufual in the climate of Spain. How that fact may be, I know not; and I am confident Shakspeare did not inquire. MALONE.

I believe the old reading changed to ice-brock is right. Steel is hardened by being put red hot into very cold water. JOHNSON.

The particular name of the ice-brook may be determined by the fol lowing paffages in Martial. It was undoubtedly the brook or rivulet called Salo (now Xalon), near Bilbilis in Celtiberia. In this the Spaniards plunged all their fwords and other weapons while hot from the forge; and to the icy qualities of the waters, they were indebted for their stubborn temper:

Again:

Again:

Sævo Bilbilin optimam metallo

Et ferro Plateam fuo fonantem,
Quam flucu tenui fed inquieto
Armorum Salo temperator ambit.

Quibus remiffum corpus aftringes brevi,
Salone qui ferrum gelat.

Pugio, quem curvis fignat brevis orbita venis,
Stridentem gelidis hunc Salo tinxit aquis.

Again, in Juftin, 1. 44. "Præcipua his quidem ferri materia, fed aqua ipfa ferro violentior; quippe temperamento ejus ferrum acrius redditur; nec ullum apud eos telum probatur quod non aut in Bilbili fluvio aut Chalybe tingatur. Unde etiam Chalybes fluvii hujus finitimi appellati, ferroque cæteris præftare dicuntur." Thefe parts of Spain have been at all times famous for the temper of their arms.

STEEVENS.
A better

A better never did itself fuftain
Upon a foldier's thigh': I have feen the day,
That, with this little arm, and this good fword,
I have made my way through more impediments
Than twenty times your ftop:-But, Ổ vain boast!
Who can control his fate? 'tis not fo now.
Be not afraid, though you do fee me weapon'd2
Here is my journey's end, here is my butt,
And very fea-mark of my utmost fail.
Do you go back dismay'd? 'tis a loft fear;
Man but a rush against Othello's breast,
And he retires;-Where fhould Othello go?—

Now, how doft thou look now? O ill-ftarr'd wench 3!
Pale as thy fmock! when we fhall meet at compt,
This look of thine will hurl my foul from heaven,
And fiends will fnatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl?
Even like thy chastity.-

O curfed, curfed flave!-Whip me, ye devils,
From the poffeffion of this heavenly fight!
Blow me about in winds! roast me in fulphur!
Wath me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!-
O Desdemona! Defdemona! dead?

Dead? O! O! O!

A better never did itself fuftain

Upon a foldier's thigb :] So, in The Two Neble Kinfmen, 1634:

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On his thigh a fword

"Hung by a curious baldrick, when he frowns,

"To feal his will by; better, on my conscience,
"Never was foldier's friend."

2 - though you

MALONE.

do fee me Weapon'd;] This uncommon participle is ufed by Sidney in his Arcadia. MALONE.

3 -O ill-farr'd quench!] This, and the fix preceding lines, are omitted in the first quarto. Wench originally fignified only a young woman. Caffandra, in Whetstone's Promos, &c. 1578, fays of herself, "Oh wretched wench, where may I first complayne?"

Again:

"Therefore, fweet winche, helpe me to rue my woe." The word is ufed without any dishonourable meaning in the Bible. "And a wench told him," &c.

And again, by Gawin Douglas, in his verfion of the Æneid;

66

audetque viris concurrere virgo."

"This wenfche ftoutlye rencounter durft with men." STEEV.

Enter

Enter LODOVICO, MONTANO, CASSIO, carried in a chair, and Officers, with IAGO, prifoner.

Lod. Where is this rash and most unfortunate man?
Oth. That's he, that was Othello; here I am.

Lod. Where is that viper? bring the villain forth.
Oth. I look down towards his feet*;-but that's a

fable:

If that thou be'ft a devil, I cannot kill thee.

[Othello wounds Iago.

Lod. Wrench his fword from him.

Iago. I bleed, fir; but not kill'd.

Oth. I am not forry neither; I'd have thee live
For, in my fenfe, 'tis happiness to die 5.

Lod. O thou Othello, that waft once fo good,
Fall'n in the practice of a curfed slave,
What fhall be faid to thee?

Oth. Why, any thing:

An honourable murderer, if you will;

For nought I did in hate, but all in honour.
Lod. This wretch hath part confefs'd his villainy:
Did you
and he confent in Caffio's death?

Oth. Ay.

Caf. Dear general, I never gave you cause 7.
Oth. I do believe it, and I afk your pardon.
Will

I
you, pray, demand that demi-devil,

Why he hath thus enfnar'd my foul and body?

Iago. Demand me nothing: What you know, you

know:

From this time forth I never will speak word.

4-towards his feet ;-] To fee if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven. JOHNSON

5 For, in my fenfe, 'tis happiness to die.] The fame thought has alrea dy occurred in Antony and Cleopatra:

'Tis well thou'rt gone,

"If it be well to live." STEEVENS.

6 - in the practice-] In the fnare, by the fratagem. JOHNSON. See Vol. VIII. p. 564, n. 2. MALONE.

7 Dear general, I never gave you cause.] Our poet, probably without knowing it, has used the words of The Spanish tragedy, 1605:

"Hieronimo, I never gave thee caufe?" MALONE.

Lod.

Lod. What? not to pray?

Gra. Torments will ope your lips.

Oth. Well, thou dost best.

Lod. Sir, you fhall understand what hath befall'n,
Which, as I think, you know not: Here is a letter,
Found in the pocket of the flain Roderigo;
And here, another: the one of them imports
The death of Caffio to be undertook

By Roderigo.

Oth. O villain!

Caf. Moft heathenifh, and moft grofs!

Lod. Now here's another difcontented paper,
Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems,
Roderigo meant to have fent this damned villain;
But that, belike, Iago in the interim
Came in and fatisfied him.

Oth. G the pernicious caitiff!

How came you, Caffio, by that handkerchief
That was my wife's?

Caf. I found it in my chamber:

And he himself confefs'd, but even now*,
That there he dropp'd it, for a special purpose,
Which wrought to his defire.

Oth. O fool! fool! fool!

Caf. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter,-
How he upbraids Iago, that he made him
Brave me upon the watch; whereon it came
That I was caft: And even but now he fpake,
After long feeming dead,-lago hurt him,
Iago fet him on.

with us;

Lod. You muft forfake this room, and go Your power and your command is taken off, And Caffio rules in Cyprus. For this flave,If there be any cunning cruelty,

8-in the interim-] The first copy has in the nick. It was, I fuppofe, thought upon revifal, that nick was too familiar. JoHNSON. -confefs'd, but even now,] The quarto, 1622, reads-confefs'd it even now. The folio-confefs'd it, but even now, The word it was manifeftly caught by the compofitor's eye glancing on the fubfequent line. MALONE.

That