Page images
PDF
EPUB

And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?

Fer. With him, my lord; for he hath done me wrong.

Bas. And I with him; for he hath done me

wrong.

K. Hen. What is that wrong whereof you both complain?

First let me know, and then I'll answer you.
Bas. Crossing the sea from England into
France,

This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,
Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves
Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
When stubbornly he did repugn* the truth,
About a certain question in the law,
Argu'd betwixt the duke of York and him;
With other vile and ignominious terms:
In confutation of which rude reproach,
And in defence of my lord's worthiness,
I crave the benefit of law of arms.

Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord: For though he seem, with forged quaint conTo set a gloss upon his bold intent, [ceit, Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him; And he first took exceptions at this badge, Pronouncing-that the paleness of this flower Bewray'dt the faintness of my master's heart. York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left? Som. Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,

Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.
K. Hen. Good lord! what madness rules in
brain-sick men ;

When, for so slight and frivolous a cause,
Such factious emulations shall arise !-
Good cousins both of York and Somerset,
Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.
York. Let this dissention first be tried by
fight,

And then your highness shall command a

peace.

Som. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;

Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

York. There is my pledge; accept it, So

merset.

Ver. Nay, let it rest where it began at first.
Bas. Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.
Glo. Confirm it so? Confounded be your
strife!

And perish ye, with your audacious prate !
Presumptuous vassals! are you not asham'd,
With this immodest clamorous outrage
To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lords, methinks, you do not
To bear with their perverse abjections; [well,
Much less, to take occasion from their mouths
To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves;
Let me persuade you take a better course.
Bre. It grieves his highness;-Good my
lords; be friends.

K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be
combatants:
[favour,

Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our
Quite to forget this quarrel, and the cause.-
And you, my lords,-remember where we are;
la France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:
If they perceive dissention in our looks,
And that within ourselves we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs be provok'd
To wilful disobedience, and rebel?
Beside, What infamy will there arise,
When foreign princes shall be certified,
Betrayed.

* Resist.

VOL. II.

That, for a toy, a thing of no regard,
King Henry's peers, and chief nobility,
Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of
France ?

O think upon the conquest of my father,
My tender years; and let us not forego
That for a trifle, that was bought with blood!
Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.
I see no reason, if I wear this rose,

[Putting on a red Rose.
That any one should therefore be suspicious
I more incline to Somerset, than York :
Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:
As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd.
But your discretions better can persuade,
Than I am able to instruct or teach:
And therefore, as we hither came in peace,
So let us still continue peace and love.-
Cousin of York, we institute your grace
To be our regent in these parts of France:-
And good my lord of Somerset, unite
Your troops of horsemen with his bands of
foot ;-
[tors,
And, like true subjects, sons of your progeni-
Go cheerfully together, and digest
Your angry choler on your enemies.
Ourself, my lord protector, and the rest
After some respite, will return to Calais ;
From thence to England; where I hope ere
To be presented, by your victories, [long
With Charles, Alençon, and that traitorous

rout.

[Flourish. Exeunt King HENRY, GLO. SOM. WIN. SUF. and BASSET. War. My lord of York, I promise you, the king

Prettily, methought, did play the orator. York. And so he did; but yet I like it not, In that he wears the badge of Somerset. War. Tush! that was but his fancy, blame him not; [harm.

I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no York. And, if I wist, he did,—But let it rest;

Other affairs must now be managed.

[Exeunt YORK, WARWICK, and VERNON. Exe. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress

thy voice:

For, had the passions of thy heart burst out,
I fear we should have seen decipher'd there
More rancorous spite, more furious raging
Than yet can be imagin'd or suppos'd. [broils,
But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
This jarring discord of nobility,
This should'ring of each other in the court,
This factious bandying of their favourites,
But that it doth presage some ill event.
'Tis much,* when sceptres are in children's
hands;
[sion;
But more, when envy breeds unkind‡ divi-
There comes the ruin, there begins confusion.
[Exit.

SCENE II.-France.-Before Bourdeaux.
Enter TALBOT, with his Forces.
Tal. Go to the gates of Bourdeaux, trum-
peter,

Summon their general unto the wall.
Trumpet sounds a Parley. Enter, on the Walls,
the GENERAL of the French Forces, and others.
English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth,
Servant in arms to Harry king of England;
And thus he would,-Open your city gates,
'Tis strange, or wonderful
! Enmity.

3

+ Unnatural.

Be humble to us; call my sovereign yours,
And do him homage as obedient subjects,
And I'll withdraw me and my bloody power:
But, if you frown upon this proffer'd peace,
You tempt the fury of my three attendants,
Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing
fire;

Who, in a moment, even with the earth
Shall lay your stately and air-braving towers,
If you forsake the offer of their love.

Gen. Thou ominous and fearful owl of death,
Our nation's terror, and their bloody scourge!
The period of thy tyranny approacheth.
On us thou canst not enter, but by death:
For, I protest, we are well fortified,
And strong enough to issue out and fight:
If thou retire, the Dauphin, well appointed,
Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee:
On either hand thee there are squadrons
pitch'd,

[man,

To wall thee from the liberty of flight;
And no way canst thou turn thee for redress,
But death doth front thee with apparent spoil,
And pale destruction meets thee in the face.
Ten thousand French have ta'en the sacra-
To rive their dangerous artillery [ment,
Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot.
Lo! there thou stand'st, a breathing valiant
Of an invincible unconquer'd spirit:
This is the latest glory of thy praise,
That I, thy enemy, due* thee withal;
For ere the glass, that now begins to run,
Finish the process of his sandy hour,
These eyes,
that see thee now well coloured,
Shall see thee wither'd, bloody, pale, and dead.
Hark! hark! the Dauphin's drum, a warning
[Drum afar off
Sings heavy music to thy timorous soul; [bell,
And mine shall ring thy dire departure out.

[Exeunt GENERAL, &c. from the Walls. Tal. He fables not, I hear the enemy;— Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their

wings.

O, negligent and heedless discipline!
How are we park'd, and bounded in a pale;
A little herd of England's timorous deer,
Maz'd with a yelping kennel of French curs!
If we be English deer, be then in blood :t
Not rascal-like,t to fall down with a pinch;
But rather moody-mad, and desperate stags,
Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel,
And make the cowards stand aloof at bay:
Sell every man his life as dear as mine,
And they shall find dear deer of us,

friends.

York. A plague upon that villain Somerset,
That thus delays my promised supply
Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege
Renowned Talbot doth expect my aid;
And cannot help the noble chevalier :
And I am lowted* by a traitor villain,
God comfort him in this necessity!
If he miscarry, farewell wars in France.
Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY.

Lucy. Thou princely leader of our English
Never so needful on the earth of France,
strength,
Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot;
Who now is girdled with a waist of iron,
And hemm'd about with grim destruction:
To Bourdeaux, warlike duke! to Bourdeaux,
York!

Else, farewell Talbot, France, and England's

honour.

York. O God! that Somerset-who in proud

heart

Doth stop my cornets-were in Talbot's place!
So should we save a valiant gentleman,
By forfeiting a traitor and a coward.
Mad ire, and wrathful fury, makes me weep,
That thus we die, while remiss traitors sleep.
Lucy. O, send some succour to the distress'd
lord!

York. He dies, we lose; I break my warlike
word:

We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily
All 'long of this vile traitor Somerset. [get;
Lucy. Then, God take mercy on brave Tal-

bot's soul!

[since, This seven years did not Talbot see his son; And on his son, young John; whom two hours And now they meeet where both their lives are

I met in travel toward his warlike father!

done.t

York. Alas! what joy shall noble Talbot
have,

To bid his young son welcome to his grave?
Away! vexation almost stops my breath,
That sunder'd friends greet in the hour of
death.-

Lucy, farewell: no more my fortune can,

But curse the cause I cannot aid the man.— Maine, Blois, Poictiers, and Tours, are won away,

'Long all of Somerset, and his delay.

[Exit.

Lucy. Thus, while the vulturet of sedition
Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,
my The conquest of our scarce-cold conqueror,
Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss
Eng-Henry the fifth-Whiles they each other cross,
That ever-living man of memory,
Lives, honours, lands, and all, hurry to loss.
[Exit.

God, and Saint George! Talbot, and
land's right!
Prosper onr colours in this dangerous fight!
[Exeunt.

SCENE III-Plains in Gascony.
Enter YORK, with Forces; to him a MESSENGER.
York. Are not the speedy scouts return'd
again,

That dogg'd the mighty army of the Dauphin?
Mess. They are return'd, my lord; and give
it out,
That he is march'd to Bourdeaux with his
[power,
To fight with Talbot: As he march'd along,
By your espials were discovered

Two mightier troops than that the Dauphin led;
Which join'd with him, and made their march
for Bourdeaux.

* Endue, honour.

In high spirits.

† A rascal deer is the term of chase for lean poor deer: Spies

SCENE IV.-Other Plains of Gascony. Enter SOMERSET, with his Forces; an OFFICER of TALBOT's with him.

Som. It is too late; I cannot send them now;
Too rashly plotted; all our general force
This expedition was by York, and Talbot,
Might with a sally of the very town
Hath sullied all his gloss of former honour,
Be buckled with: the over-daring Talbot
By this unheedful, desperate, wild adventure :
That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the
York set him on to fight, and die in shame,

name.

Offi. Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me Set from our o'er-match'd forces forth for aid. Vanquished, baffled + Expended, consumed. Alluding to the tale of Prometheus.

[ocr errors][merged small]

Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY.

Som. How now, Sir William? whither were you sent ?

Lucy. Whither my lord? from bought and
sold lord Talbot;*

Who, ring'd about with bold adversity,
Cries out for noble York and Somerset,
To beat assailing death from his weak legions.
And whiles the honourable captain there
Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied
limbs,

And, in advantage ling'ring, looks for rescue,
You, his false hopes, the trust of England's

honour

Keep off aloof with worthless emulation.
Let not your private discord keep away
The levied succours that should lend him aid,
While he, renown'd noble gentleman,
Yields up his life unto a world of odds:
Orleans the Bastard, Charles, and Burgundy,
Alençon, Reignier, compass him about,
And Talbot perisheth by your default.

Som. York set him on, York should have
sent him aid.

Lucy. And York as fast upon your grace
exclaims;

Swearing that you withhold his levied host,
Collected for this expedition.

Som. York lies; he might have sent and had
the horse :

Tal. If we both stay, we both are sure to die.
John. Then let me stay; and, father, do you
fly:

Your loss is great, so your regard✶ should be ;
My worth unknown, no loss is known in me.
Upon my death the French can little boast;
In yours they will, in you all hopes are lost.
Flight cannot stain the honour you have won;
But mine it will, that no exploit have done :
You fled for vantage every one will swear;
But, if I bow, they'll say it was for fear.
There is no hope that ever I will stay,
If, the first hour, I shrink, and run away.
Here, on my knee, I beg mortality,
Rather than life preserv'd with infamy.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

SCENE V.-The English Camp, near Bourdeaux.

Enter TALBOT and JOHN his Son.

Tal. O young John Talbot! I did send for
To tutor thee in stratagems of war; [thee,
That Talbot's name might be in thee reviv'd,
When sapless age, and weak unable limbs,
Should bring thy father to his drooping chair.
But, O malignant and ill-boding stars!-
Now thou art come unto a feast of death,
A terrible and unavoided danger:
Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest
And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape
By sudden flight: come, dally not, be gone.
John. Is my name Talbot? and am I your

son?

[horse;

And shall I fly? O, if you love my mother,
Dishonour not her honourable name,
To make a bastard and a slave of me:
The world will say-He is not Talbot's blood,
That basely fled, when noble Talbot stood.
Tal. Fly, to revenge my death, if I be slain.
John. He, that flies so, will ne'er return
again.

Le. From one utterly ruined by the treacherous
practices of others.
f Encircled.
To a field where death will be feasted with slaughter.
For unavoidable.

Tal. Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one tomb?

John. Ay, rather than I'll shame my mother's
womb.

Tal. Upon my blessing I command thee go.
John. To fight I will, but not to fly the foe.
Tal. Part of thy father may be sav'd in thee.
John. No part of him, but will be shame in

me.

Tal. Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it.

John. Yes, your renowned name; Shall flight abuse it?

Tal. Thy father's charge shall clear thee from that stain.

John. You cannot witness for me, being slain.

death be so apparent, then both fly.

Tal. And leave my followers here, to fight,

and die?

My age was never tainted with such shame.
John. And shall my youth be guilty of such

blame?

No more can I be sever'd from your side,
Than can yourself yourself in twain divide:
Stay, go, do what you will, the like do I;
For live I will not, if my father die.

Tal. Then here I take my leave of thee, fair
Born to eclipse thy life this afternoon. [son,
Come, side by side together live and die;
And soul with soul from France to heaven
fly.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI-A Field of Battle. |Alarum: Excursions, wherein TALBOT's Son is hemmed about, and TALBOT rescues him.

Tal. Saint George and victory! fight, sol-
diers, fight:

The regent hath with Talbot broke his word,
And left us to the rage of France his sword.
Where is John Talbot ?-pause, and take thy

breath;

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Art not thou weary, John? How dost thou fare?
Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,
Now thou art seal'd the son of chivalry?
Fly, to revenge my death, when I am dead;
The help of one stands me in little stead.
O, too much folly is it, well I wot,

To hazard all our lives in one small boat.
If I to-day die not with Frenchmen's rage,
To-morrow I shall die with mickle age:
By me they nothing gain, an if I stay,

'Tis but the short'ning of my life one day:
In thee thy mother dies, our household's name,
My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's

fame:

All these, and more, we hazard by thy stay;
All these are sav'd, if thou wilt fly away.
John. The sword of Orleans hath not made
me smart,
[heart:
These words of yours draw life-blood from my
On that advantage, bought with such a shame,
(To save a paltry life, and slay bright fame,)
Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,
The coward horse, that bears me, fall and die:
And like me to the peasant boys of France;
To be shame's scorn, and subject of mischance!
Surely, by all the glory you have won,
And if I fly, I am not Talbot's son:
Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot;
If son to Talbot, die at Talbot's foot.

Anon, from thy insulting tyranny,
Coupled in bonds of perpetuity,
Two Talbots, winged through the lither" sky,
In thy despite, shall 'scape mortality.-
O thou whose wounds become hard-favour'd
death,

Speak to thy father, ere thou yield thy breath:
Brave death by speaking, whether he will, or

no;

Imagine him a Frenchman, and thy foe.-
Poor boy! he smiles, methinks; as who should
say-
[to-day.

Had death been French, then death had died
Come, come, and lay him in his father's arms;
My spirit can no longer bear these harms.
Soldiers, adieu! I have what I would have,
Now my old arms are young John Talbot's
grave.
[Dies.

Alarums. Exeunt Soldiers and Servant, leaving
the two Bodies. Enter CHARLES, ALENÇON,
BURGUNDY, BASTARD, LA PUCELLE, and
Forces.

Char. Had York and Somerset brought res-
cue in,

We should have found a bloody day of this.
Bast. How the young Whelp of Talbot's,
Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's
raging-wood,t
[blood!
Puc. Once I encounter'd him, and thus I

said,

Thou maiden youth, be vanquish'd by a maid :
He answer'd thus; Young Talbot was not born
But-with a proud, majestical high scorn,-
To be the pillage of a giglott wench :

So, rushing in the bowels of the French,
He left me proudly as unworthy fight.

Bur. Doubtless, he would have made a noble
knight:

Tal. Then follow thou thy desperate sire of See, where he lies inhersed in the arms.
Of the most bloody nurser of his harms.

Crete,

Thou Icarus; thy life to me is sweet :
If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father's side;
And, commendable prov'd, let's die in pride.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VII-Another part of the same. Alarum: Excursions. Enter TALBOT, wounded, supported by a SERVANT.

Tal. Where is my other life?-mine own is
gone ;-
[John ?-
O, where's young Talbot? where is valiant
Triumphant death, smear'd with captivity !t
Young Talbot's valour makes me smile at thee:
When he perceiv'd me shrink, and on my knee,
His bloody sword he brandish'd over me,
And, like a hungry lion, did commence
Rough deeds of rage, and stern impatience;
But when my angry guardant stood alone,
Tend'ring my ruin, and assail'd of none,
Dizzy-ey'd fury, and great rage of heart,
Suddenly made him from my side to start
Into the clust'ring battle of the French:
And in that sea of blood my boy did drench
His overmounting spirit; and there died
My Icarus, my blossom, in his pride.

Enter Soldiers, bearing the body of JOHN
TALBOT.

Serv. O my dear lord! lo, where your son
is borne!

Tal. Thou antic death, which laugh'st us

here to scorn,

Like me, reduce me to a level with.
Death stained and dishonoured with captivity.

+ "Watching me with tenderness in my fall."

Bast. Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder;

Whose life was England's glory, Gallia's won-
[der.
Char. O, no; forbear: for that which we
have fled

During the life, let us not wrong it dead.
Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY, attended; a French
Herald preceding.

Lucy. Herald,
Conduct me to the Dauphin's tent; to know
Who hath obtain'd the glory of the day.
Char. On what submissive message art thou
sent ?

Lucy. Submission, Dauphin? 'tis a mere
We English warriors wot not what it means.
French word;
I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta'en,
And to survey the bodies of the dead.

Char. For prisoners ask'st thou ? hell our
prison is.

But tell me whom thou seek'st.

Lucy. Where is the great Alcides of the field,
Valiant lord Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury?
Created, for his rare success in arms, [lence;
Great earl of Washford, Waterford, and Va-
Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchingfield,
Lord Strange of Blackmere, lord Verdun of
Alton,
[Sheffield,
The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge;
Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, lord Furnival of
Knight of the noble order of St. George,
Worthy saint Michael, and the golden fleece;
* Flexible yielding. ↑ Raving mad. Wantour.

1

[blocks in formation]

faces!

O, that I could but call these dead to life!
It were enough to fright the realm of France:
Were but his picture left among you here,
It would amaze* the proudest of you all.
Give me their bodies; that I may bear them
hence,

And give them burial as beseems their worth. Puc. I think, this upstart is old Talbot's ghost,

He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit.

For God's sake, let him have 'em; to keep them here,

They would but stink, and putrify the air.
Char. Go, take their bodies hence.
Lucy. I'll bear them hence:

But from their ashes shall be rear'd

A phoenix that shall make all France afeard. Char. So we be rid of them, do with 'em what thou wilt.

And now to Paris, in this conquering vein ; All will be ours, now bloody Talbot's slain. [Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

To stop effusion of our Christian blood,
And 'stablish quietness on every side.
K. Hen Ay, marry, uncle; for I always
thought,

It was both impious and unnatural,
That such immanityt and bloody strife
Should reign among professors of one faith.
Glo. Beside, my lord,-the sooner to effect,
And surer bind, this knot of amity,-
The earl of Armagnac-near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,-
Proffers his only daughter to your grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous
dowry,

K. Hen. Marriage, uncle! alas! my years

[blocks in formation]

I shall be well content with any choice,
Tends to God's glory, and my country's weal.
Enter a LEGATE, and two AMBASSADORS, with
WINCHESTER, in a Cardinal's Habit.

Exe. What is my lord of Winchester install'd,

And call'd unto a cardinal's degree!
Then, I perceive, that will be verified,
Henry the fifth did sometime prophesy,-
If once he come to be a cardinal,
He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.
K. Hen. My lords ambassadors, your seve-

ral suits

Have been consider'd and debated on.
Your purpose is both good and reasonable :
And, therefore, are we certainly resolv'd
To draw conditions of a friendly peace;
Which, by my lord of Winchester, we mean
Shall be transported presently to France.

Glo. And for the proffer of my lord your master,

I have inform'd his highness so at large,
As-liking of the lady's virtuous gifts,
Her beauty, and the value of her dower,-
He doth intend she shall be England's queen.
K. Hen. In argument and proof of which
contr ct,

Bear her this jewel, [To the AMB.] pledge of my affection.

And so, my lord protector, see them guarded, And safely brought to Dover; where, inshipp'd,

Commit them to the fortune of the sea. [Exeunt King HENRY and Train; GLOSTER, EXETER, and AMBASSADORS.

Win. Stay, my lord legate; you shall first receive

The sum of money, which I promised
Should be deliver'd to his holiness
For clothing me in these grave ornaments.
Leg. I will attend upon your lordship's lei-

sure.

Or be inferior to the proudest peer.
Win. Now, Winchester will not submit, I
[trow,
Humphrey of Gloster, thou shalt well per-
ceive,

The bishop will be overborne by thee:
That, neither in birth, or for authority,
I'll either make thee stoop, and bend thy knee,
Or sack this country with a mutiny. [Exeunt.

SCENE II-France.-Plains in Anjou.
Enter CHARLRS, BURGUNDY, ALENÇON, LA
PUCELLE, and Forces marching.
Char. These news, my lords, may cheer our
drooping spirits:

'Tis said, the stout Parisians do revolt,
And turn again unto the warlike French.
Alen. Then march to Paris, royal Charles

of France,

And keep not back your powers in dalliance. Puc. Peace be amongst them, if they turn

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »