Char. Divinest creature, Astræa's daughter, Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens That one day bloom'd and fruitful were the next. France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess! 10 More blessed hap did ne'er befall our state. Reig. Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town? Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires And feast and banquet in the open streets, To celebrate the joy that God hath given us. Alen. All France will be replete with mirth and joy, When they shall hear how we have play'd the men. Char. 'Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won; Than Rhodope's or Memphis' ever was; 20 4. "Astræa," daughter of Zeus and Themis, hence goddess of Justice (and so of the observance of promises).-C. H. H. 6. “Adonis' gardens." "The proverb alluded to seems always to have been used in a bad sense, for things which make a fair show for a few days, and then wither away; but the author of this play, desirous of making a show of his learning, without considering its propriety, has made the Dauphin apply it as an encomium" (Blakeway). Cp. Faerie Queene, III, vi. 29; F. 1, "Garden."—I. G. 22. "Than Rhodope's or Memphis'," Hanmer's emendation; Ff. "or Memphis"; Capell's "of Memphis" has been generally adopted. Pliny, writing of the pyramids near Memphis, records that "the In memory of her when she is dead, 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: Near to the walls, by some apparent sign When others sleep upon their quiet beds, 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, As fitting best to quittance their deceit 10 Bed. Coward of France! how much he wrongs his fame, 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! 20 Bur. Pray God she prove not masculine ere long, 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. ways; That, if it chance the one of us do fail, Bur. 30 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. |