A Seaport in Cyprus. An open place near the Quay.
 Enter MONTANO and two GENTLEMEN.

Montano	What from the cape can you discern at sea?

1st Gentleman	Nothing at all; it is a high-wrought flood.
	I cannot 'twixt the heaven and the main
	Descry a sail.

Montano	Methinks the wind hath spoke aloud at land;
	A fuller blast ne'er shook our battlements.
	If it hath ruffianed so upon the sea,
	What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them,
	Can hold the mortise? What shall we hear of this?

2nd Gentleman	A segregation of the Turkish fleet;
	For do but stand upon the foaming shore,
	The chidden billow seems to pelt the clouds;
	The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane,
	Seems to cast water on the burning Bear,
	And quench the guards of th' ever-fixd Pole.
	I never did like molestation view
	On the enchafd flood.

Montano								If that the Turkish fleet
	Be not ensheltered and embayed, they are drowned.
	It is impossible they bear it out.

                         Enter a third GENTLEMAN.

3rd Gentleman	News, lads! Our wars are done.
	The desperate tempest hath so banged the Turks
	That their designment halts. A noble ship of Venice
	Hath seen a grievous wrack and sufferance
	On most part of the fleet.

Montano	How! Is this true?

3rd Gentleman							The ship is here put in,
	A Veronesa. Michael Cassio,
	Lieutenant to the warlike Moor Othello,
	Is come on shore; the Moor himself at sea,
	And is in full commission here for Cyprus.

Montano	I am glad on't; 'tis a worthy governor.

3rd Gentleman	But this same Cassio, though he speak of comfort
	Touching the Turkish loss, yet he looks sadly,
	And prays the Moor be safe; for they were parted,
	With foul and violent tempest.

Montano									Pray heaven he be;
	For I have served him, and the man commands
	Like a full soldier. Let's to the seaside, ho!
	As well to see the vessel that's come in,
	As to throw out our eyes for brave Othello,
	Even till we make the main and th' aerial blue
	An indistinct regard.

3rd Gentleman							Come, let's do so;
	For every minute is expectancy
	Of more arrivance.

                              Enter CASSIO.

Cassio	Thanks you, the valiant of this warlike isle
	That so approve the Moor. O, let the heavens
	Give him defence against the elements,
	For I have lost him on a dangerous sea.

Montano	Is he well shipped?

Cassio	His bark is stoutly timbered, and his pilot
	Of very expert and approved allowance;
	Therefore my hopes, not surfeited to death,
	Stand in bold cure.

Shout within	"A sail, a sail, a sail!"

                            Enter a MESSENGER.

Cassio	What noise?

Messenger	The town is empty; on the brow o'th' sea
	Stand ranks of people, and they cry "A sail!"

Cassio	My hopes do shape him for the governor.
												[A shot within.
2nd Gentleman	They do discharge their shot of courtesy:
	Our friends at least.

Cassio							I pray you, sir, go forth,
	And give us truth who 'tis that is arrived.

2nd Gentleman	I shall.
												[Exit.
Montano	But, good lieutenant, is your general wived?

Cassio	Most fortunately. He hath achieved a maid
	That paragons description and wild fame;
	One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens,
	And in th' essential vesture of creation
	Does tire the ingener.

                         Re-enter 2nd GENTLEMAN.

							How now, who has put in?

2nd Gentleman	'Tis one Iago, ensign to the general.

Cassio	He's had most favourable and happy speed.
	Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds,
	The guttered rocks and congregated sands,
	Traitors ensteeped to clog the guiltless keel,
	As having sense of beauty do omit
	Their common natures, letting go safely by
	The divine Desdemona.

Montano							What is she?

Cassio	She that I spake of: our great captain's captain,
	Left in the conduct of the bold Iago,
	Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts
	A sennight's speed. Great Jove, Othello guard,
	And swell his sail with thine own powerful breath
	That he may bless this bay with his tall ship,
	Make love's quick pants in Desdemona's arms,
	Give renewed fire to our extincted spirits,
	And bring all Cyprus comfort.

               Enter DESDEMONA, IAGO, EMILIA, and RODERIGO.

									O, behold,
	The riches of the ship is come on shore!
	Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees.
	Hail to thee, lady! And the grace of heaven,
	Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
	Enwheel thee round!

Desdemona						I thank you, valiant Cassio.
	What tidings can you tell me of my lord?

Cassio	He is not yet arrived, nor know I aught
	But that he's well, and will be shortly here.

Desdemona	O, but I fear - how lost you company?

Cassio	The great contention of the sea and skies
	Parted our fellowship.

Shout Within	"A sail, a sail!'"
							But hark, a sail.
												[Shot within.
2nd Gentleman	They give their greeting to the citadel:
	This likewise is a friend.

Cassio									See for the news!
												[Exit 2nd GENTLEMAN.
	Good ensign, you are welcome.
						[To EMILIA.] Welcome, mistress.
	Let it not gall your patience, good Iago,
	That I extend my manners; 'tis my breeding
	That gives me this bold show of courtesy.
												[Kisses her.
Iago	Sir, would she give you so much of her lips
	As of her tongue she oft bestows on me,
	You would have enough.

Desdemona	Alas, she has no speech.

Iago							In faith, too much:
	I find it still when I have leave to sleep.
	Marry, before your ladyship, I grant
	She puts her tongue a little in her heart,
	And chides with thinking.

Emilia							You have little cause to say so.

Iago	Come on, come on; you are pictures out a-doors, bells in 
	your parlours, wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your 
	injuries, devils being offended, players in your 
	housewifery, and housewives in your beds.

Desdemona	O fie upon thee, slanderer!

Iago	Nay, it is true, or else I am a Turk.
	You rise to play, and go to bed to work.

Emilia	You shall not write my praise.

Iago									No, let me not.

Desdemona	What wouldst thou write of me if thou shouldst praise me?

Iago	O gentle lady, do not put me to't,
	For I am nothing if not critical.

Desdemona	Come on, assay. There's one gone to the harbour?

Iago	Ay, madam.

Desdemona	[Aside.] I am not merry, but I do beguile
	The thing I am by seeming otherwise.
	- Come, how wouldst thou praise me?

Iago	I am about it, but indeed my invention
	Comes from my pate as birdlime does from frieze:
	It plucks out brains and all. But my Muse labours,
	And thus she is delivered:
		If she be fair and wise, fairness and wit,
		The one's for use, the other useth it.

Desdemona	Well praised. How if she be black and witty?

Iago		If she be black, and thereto have a wit,
		She'll find a white that shall her blackness fit.

Desdemona	Worse and worse.

Emilia					How if fair and foolish?

Iago		She never yet was foolish, that was fair,
		For even her folly helped her to an heir.

Desdemona	These are old fond paradoxes to make fools laugh i'th' 
	alehouse. What miserable praise hast thou for her that's 
	foul and foolish?

Iago		There's none so foul and foolish thereunto,
		But does foul pranks which fair and wise ones do.

Desdemona	O heavy ignorance! Thou praisest the worst best. But what 
	praise couldst thou bestow on a deserving woman indeed? One 
	that in the authority of her merit did justly put on the 
	vouch of very malice itself?

Iago		She that was ever fair and never proud,
		Had tongue at will, and yet was never loud;
		Never lacked gold, and yet went never gay;
		Fled from her wish, and yet said "Now I may";
		She that being angered, her revenge being nigh,
		Bade her wrong stay, and her displeasure fly;
		She that in wisdom never was so frail
		To change the cod's head for the salmon's tail;
		She that could think, and ne'er disclose her mind;
		See suitors following, and not look behind:
		She was a wight, if ever such wights were-

Desdemona	To do what?

Iago		To suckle fools, and chronicle small beer.

Desdemona	O most lame and impotent conclusion! Do not learn of him, 
	Emilia, though he be thy husband. How say you, Cassio, is 
	he not a most profane and liberal counsellor?

Cassio	He speaks home, madam; you may relish him more in the 
	soldier than in the scholar.

Iago	[Aside.] He takes her by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper. 
	With as little a web as this will ensnare as great a fly as 
	Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do. I will gyve thee in thine 
	own courtship. You say true, 'tis so indeed. If such tricks 
	as these strip you out of your lieutenantry, it had been 
	better you had not kissed your three fingers so oft, which 
	now again you are most apt to play the sir in. Very good, 
	well kissed, and excellent courtesy! - 'tis so, indeed. Yet 
	again your fingers to your lips? Would they were clyster-
	pipes for your sake!
												[Trumpets within.
	The Moor! I know his trumpet.

Cassio										'Tis truly so.

Desdemona	Let's meet him, and receive him.

                      Enter OTHELLO and ATTENDANTS.

Cassio									Lo, where he comes!

Othello	O my fair warrior!

Desdemona							My dear Othello!

Othello	It gives me wonder great as my content
	To see you here before me. O my soul's joy!
	If after every tempest come such calms,
	May the winds blow till they have wakened death,
	And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas
	Olympus-high, and duck again as low
	As hell's from heaven. 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.

Desdemona									The heavens forbid
	But that our loves and comforts should increase
	Even as our days do grow.

Othello								Amen to that, sweet powers!
	I cannot speak enough of this content;
	It stops me here - it is too much of joy.
	[Kissing her.] And this, and this, the greatest discords be
	That e'er our hearts shall make!

Iago						[Aside.] O, you are well tuned now;
	But I'll set down the pegs that make this music,
	As honest as I am.

Othello						Come, let us to the castle.
	News, friends: our wars are done, the Turks are drowned.
	How does my old acquaintance of this isle?
	Honey, you shall be well desired in Cyprus;
	I have found great love amongst them. O my sweet,
	I prattle out of fashion, and I dote
	In mine own comforts. I prithee, good Iago,
	Go to the bay and disembark my coffers;
	Bring thou the master to the citadel;
	He is a good one, and his worthiness
	Does challenge much respect. Come, Desdemona,
	Once more, well met at Cyprus.
							  [Exeunt all but IAGO and RODERIGO.

Iago	[To an exiting ATTENDANT.] Do thou meet me presently at the 
	harbour. [To RODERIGO.] Come hither. If thou be'st valiant 
	- as they say base men being in love have then a nobility 
	in their natures more than is native to them - list me. The 
	lieutenant tonight watches on the court of guard. First, I 
	must tell thee this: Desdemona is directly in love with 
	him.

Roderigo	With him? Why, 'tis not possible.

Iago	Lay thy finger thus, and let thy soul be instructed. Mark 
	me with what violence she first loved the Moor, but for 
	bragging and telling her fantastical lies. To love him 
	still for prating? - let not thy discreet heart think it. 
	Her eye must be fed, 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 - again to inflame it and give 
	satiety a fresh appetite - loveliness in favour, sympathy 
	in years, manners and beauties: all which the Moor is 
	defective in. Now, for want of these required conveniences, 
	her delicate tenderness will find itself abused, begin to 
	heave the gorge, disrelish and abhor the Moor; very nature 
	will instruct her in it, and compel her to some second 
	choice. Now, sir, this granted, as it is a most pregnant 
	and unforced position, who stands so eminent in the degree 
	of this fortune as Cassio does? - a knave very voluble, no 
	further conscionable than in putting on the mere form of 
	civil and humane seeming for the better compass of his salt 
	and most hidden loose affection. Why, none; why, none - a 
	slipper and subtle knave, a finder of occasion, that has an 
	eye can stamp and counterfeit advantages, though true 
	advantage never present itself. A devilish knave! Besides, 
	the knave is handsome, young, and hath all those requisites 
	in him that folly and green minds look after; a pestilent 
	complete knave, and the woman hath found him already.

Roderigo	I cannot believe that in her; she's full of most blest 
	condition.

Iago	Blest fig's end! The wine she drinks is made of grapes. If 
	she had been blest, she would never have loved the Moor. 
	Blest pudding! Didst thou not see her paddle with the palm 
	of his hand? Didst not mark that?

Roderigo	Yes, that I did; but that was but courtesy.

Iago	Lechery, by this hand: an index and obscure prologue to the 
	history of lust and foul thoughts. They met so near with 
	their lips that their breaths embraced together. Villainous 
	thoughts, Roderigo! When these mutualities so marshal the 
	way, hard at hand comes the master and main exercise, th' 
	incorporate conclusion. Pish! But, sir, be you ruled by me. 
	I have brought you from Venice. Watch you tonight: for the 
	command, I'll lay't upon you. Cassio knows you not; I'll 
	not be far from you. Do you find some occasion to anger 
	Cassio, either by speaking too loud, or tainting his 
	discipline, or from what other course you please, which the 
	time shall more favourably minister.

Roderigo	Well.

Iago	Sir, he's rash, and very sudden in choler, and haply may 
	strike at you. Provoke him that he may, for even out of 
	that will I cause these of Cyprus to mutiny, whose 
	qualification shall come into no true taste again but by 
	the displanting of Cassio. So shall you have a shorter 
	journey to your desires by the means I shall then have to 
	prefer them, and the impediment most profitably removed, 
	without which there were no expectation of our prosperity.

Roderigo	I will do this, if I can bring it to any opportunity.

Iago	I warrant thee. Meet me by and by at the citadel. I must 
	fetch his necessaries ashore. Farewell.

Roderigo 	Adieu.
												[Exit.
Iago	That Cassio loves her, I do well believe it;
	That she loves him, 'tis apt and of great credit.
	The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not,
	Is of a constant, loving, noble nature;
	And I dare think he'll prove to Desdemona
	A most dear husband. Now I do love her too;
	Not out of absolute lust - though peradventure
	I stand accountant for as great a sin-
	But partly led to diet my revenge,
	For that I do suspect the lusty Moor
	Hath leaped into my seat; the thought whereof
	Doth like a poisonous mineral gnaw my inwards;
	And nothing can or shall content my soul
	Till I am evened with him, wife for wife;
	Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor
	At least into a jealousy so strong,
	That judgement cannot cure. Which thing to do,
	If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trace
	For his quick hunting, stand the putting on,
	I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,
	Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb-
	For I fear Cassio with my nightcap too-
	Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me,
	For making him egregiously an ass,
	And practising upon his peace and quiet
	Even to madness. 'Tis here, but yet confused;
	Knavery's plain face is never seen till used.
												[Exit.
