Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds,
The gutter’d rocks and congregated sands –
Traitors ensteep’d to clog the guiltless keel, –
As having sense of beauty, do omit
Their mortal natures, letting go safely by
The divine Desdemona.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Cassio’s respect for Desdemona stands in sharp contrast to the derogatory way Iago speaks about women. He sees her as a goddess. Her inherent beauty and goodness are so great that nature and the rocks and sands hold back in awe and allows her ship to pass safely through the storm. Cassio personifies nature, the rocks and sands in this hyperbolic speech, which he makes to Governor Montano and Gentlemen. His language in praise of Desdemona is excessive and extravagent, foreshadowing that Iago will later use their friendship to falsely allege a love affairs between the two.