Othello
written by William Shakespeare

Othello: It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars.
It is the cause. Yet I'll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that 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 thy light,
Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked the rose,
I cannot give it vital growth again.
It needs must wither. I'll smell it on the tree.
O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! (He kisses her)
Once more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after. One more, and (this) the last.
(He kisses her)
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly:
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.

Thanks to "East-Indiana Jones" and "Joker" (respectively) for bringing this speech to my attention: much appreciated.

"Othello," of course, one of Shakespeare's most famous plays: the title character has been played on screen by famous actors like Orson Welles, Laurence Oliver, Anthony Hopkins, Lorne Greene, Raul Julia, Yaphet Kotto, and Laurence Fishburne in 1993. For the record, the Hopkins BBC version made me cry.

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