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Home : Othello : Act 2, scene i Read the Study Guide: Othello
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Othello
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Enter MONTANO and two GENTLEMEN
MONTANO and two GENTLEMEN enter.
 MONTANO
  What from the cape can you discern at sea?
MONTANO
What can you see out on the ocean?
 FIRST GENTLEMAN
  Nothing at all. It is a high-wrought flood.
  I cannot 'twixt the heaven and the main
  Descry a sail.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Nothing. The water's so rough that I can't see any sails, either in the bay or on the ocean.
 MONTANO
5 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?
MONTANO
It was windy on shore too. A big blast of wind shook our fortifications. How could a ship made out of wood hold together in those mountainous waves? What do you think will be the result of this storm?
 SECOND GENTLEMAN
10 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,
15 And quench the guards of th' ever-fixèd pole.
  I never did like molestation view
  On the enchafèd flood.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
The Turkish navy will be broken up. The wind's whipping up the waves so high you expect them to reach the clouds and splash against the stars in the sky. I've never seen the waters so disturbed.
 MONTANO
  If that the Turkish fleet
  Be not ensheltered and embayed, they are drowned.
20 It is impossible they bear it out.
MONTANO
If the Turkish fleet isn't protected in some harbor, their men must all be drowned. No ship could survive this storm.
Enter a THIRD GENTLEMAN
A THIRD GENTLEMAN enters.

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