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In memory of her when she is dead,
Her ashes, in an urn more precious
Than the rich-jewel'd coffer of Darius,
Transported shall be at high festivals
Before the kings and queens of France.
No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,
But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint.
Come in, and let us banquet royally,
After this golden day of victory.

30

[Flourish. Exeunt.

fairest and most commended for workmanship was built at the cost and charges of one Rhodope, a verie strumpet.”—I. G.

25. "the rich-jewel'd coffer of Darius"; referred to by Plutarch in his Life of Alexander, as the "preciousest thing, and the richest that was gotten of all spoyls and riches, taken at the overthrow of Darius he said he would put the Iliads of Homer into it, as the worthiest thing.”—I. G.

ACT SECOND

SCENE I

Before Orleans.

Enter a Sergeant of a band, with two Sentinels.

Serg. Sirs, take your places and be vigilant:
If any noise or soldier you perceive

Near to the walls, by some apparent sign
Let us have knowledge at the court of guard.
First. Sent. Sergeant, you shall. [Exit Sergeant.
Thus are poor servitors,

When others sleep upon their quiet beds,
Constrain❜d to watch in darkness, rain and cold.

Enter Talbot, Bedford, Burgundy, and forces, with scaling-ladders, their drums beating a dead march.

Tal. Lord Regent, and redoubted Burgundy,

8. "redoubted Burgundy"; Duke of Burgundy, surnamed Philip the Good.-I. G.

He succeeded to the title in 1419, at which time his father was murdered. The murder is one of the darkest spots in that land of perfidy and blood. In pursuance of a special arrangement, he went to confer with the Dauphin at Montereau upon Yonne. At his coming he found that three barriers, each having a gate, had been drawn across the bridge, and was told that the Dauphin had been waiting for him more than an hour. Having with twelve attendants passed two of the gates, which were quickly locked behind him, he

By whose approach the regions of Artois, Wallon and Picardy are friends to us, This happy night the Frenchmen are secure, Having all day caroused and banqueted: Embrace we then this opportunity, As fitting best to quittance their deceit Contrived by art and baleful sorcery. Bed. Coward of France! how much he

fame,

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wrongs his

Despairing of his own arm's fortitude,
To join with witches and the help of hell!
Bur. Traitors have never other company.

But what's that Pucelle whom they term so
pure?

Tal. A maid, they say.

Bed.

A maid! and be so martial!

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Bur. Pray God she prove not masculine ere long,
If underneath the standard of the French
She carry armor as she hath begun.

there bent his knee to the Dauphin, who had come forth to meet him; and, while addressing him in that posture, was struck in the face with an axe by one of the Dauphin's servants, and before he could make any defense, a multitude of wounds laid him dead on the ground. Of his attendants one escaped, another was slain, and the rest remained as captives in the hands of the assassins. This rare piece of inhumanity had the effect of throwing his son into close alliance with England, which was further strengthened and prolonged by the marriage of Bedford with his sister in 1423. Her death, which occurred in 1432, greatly loosened the bonds between her brother and the regent. At length, under the mediation of the pope, a congress of English, French, and Burgundian ambassadors was held at Arras in 1435, which ended in a reconciliation of Burgundy and the Dauphin, who had then succeeded to the crown of France. The Poet represents the detaching of Burgundy from England to have been brought about by Joan of Arc; for which the only historical ground is, that Joan wrote a letter to the duke urging upon him the course which he afterwards took.—H. N. H.

Tal. Well, let them practice and converse with spirits:

God is our fortress, in whose conquering name Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarks. Bed. Ascend, brave Talbot; we will follow thee. Tal. Not all together: better far, I guess,

That we do make our entrance several

ways;

That, if it chance the one of us do fail, The other yet may rise against their force. Bed. Agreed: I'll to yond corner.

Bur.

And I to this.

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Tal. And here will Talbot mount, or make his

grave.

Now, Salisbury, for thee, and for the right

Of English Henry, shall this night appear How much in duty I am bound to both. Sent. Arm! arm! the enemy doth make assault! [Cry: 'St George,' 'A Talbot.'

The French leap over the walls in their shirts. Enter, several ways, the Bastard of Orleans, Alençon, and Reignier, half ready, and half unready.

Alen. How now, my lords! what, all unready so?

29. "all together"; Rowe's emendation of "altogether" of Ff.— I. G.

39. "Unready" is undressed. Thus in Chapman's Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: "You are not going to bed; I see you are not yet unready.” A stage direction in The Two Maids of Moreclock, 1609, says, "Enter James unready, in his nightcap, garterless." So in Cotgrave: "Deshabiller, to unclothe, make unreddie, put or take off clothes."H. N. H.

Bast. Unready! aye, and glad we 'scaped so

well.

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Reig. 'Twas time, I trow, to wake and leave our beds,

Hearing alarums at our chamber-doors.

Alen. Of all exploits since first I follow'd arms, Ne'er heard I of a warlike enterprise

More venturous or desperate than this.

Bast. I think this Talbot be a fiend of hell.
Reig. If not of hell, the heavens, sure, favor him.
Alen. Here cometh Charles: I marvel how he sped.
Bast. Tut, holy Joan was his defensive guard.

Enter Charles and La Pucelle.

Char. Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful
dame?

Didst thou at first, to flatter us withal,
Make us partakers of a little gain,

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That now our loss might be ten times so much? Puc. Wherefore is Charles impatient with his

friend?

At all times will you have my power alike?
Sleeping or waking must I still prevail,

Or will you blame and lay the fault on me?
Improvident soldiers! had your watch been
good,

This sudden mischief never could have fall'n. Char. Duke of Alençon, this was your default, 60 That, being captain of the watch to-night, Did look no better to that weighty charge.

40. “ay, and glad"; Ff., “I and glad"; Pope, “I am glad.”—I. G.

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