I pray you in your letters, 400 When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, 401 Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, 402 Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak 403 Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; 404 Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, 405 Perplexed in the extreme;
OTHELLO
Soft you. A word or two before you go. 397
I have done the state some service, and they 398
know ’t. 399 No more of that. I pray you in your letters, 400
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, 401
Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, 402
Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak 403
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; 404
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, 405
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, 406
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away 407
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued 408
eyes, 409 Albeit unused to the melting mood, 410
Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees 411
Their medicinable gum. Set you down this. 412
And say besides, that in Aleppo once, 413
Where a malignant and a turbanned Turk 414
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, 415
I took by th’ throat the circumcisèd dog, 416
And smote him, thus. 417
⟨He stabs himself.⟩
