Gle. The church! where is it? Had not | France is revolted from the English quite ;
Except some petty towns of no import:
The Dauphin Charles is crowned king in
Rheims ;
His thread of life had not so soon decay'd;
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.
Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art
protector;
And lookest to command the prince, and realm,
Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,
More than God, or religious churchmen, may.
Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the
flesh;
[go'st,
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou
Except it be to pray against thy foes.
Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your
minds in peace!
Let's to the altar:-Heralds, wait on us :-
Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms;
Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead.-
Posterity, await for wretched years, [suck;
When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall
Our isle be made a nourish* of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.
Henry the fifth! thy ghost I invocate;
Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils!
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens !
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright-
Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all!
Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,
Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture:
Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans,
Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost.
Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead
Henry's corse ?
Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns
Will make him burst his lead, and rise from
death.
Glo. Is Paris lost? is Roüen yielded up?
If Henry were recall'd to life again,
These news would cause him once more yield
the ghost.
Exe. How were they lost? what treachery
was us'd?
Mess. No treachery; but want of men and
money.
Among the soldiers this is muttered,-
That here you maintain several factions;
And, whilst a field should be despatch'd and
fought,
You are disputing of your generals.
One would have ling'ring wars, with little cost;
Another would fly swift but wanteth wings;
A third man thinks, without expense at all,
By guileful fair words peace may be obtain'd.
Awake, awake, English nobility!
Let not sloth dim your honours, new-begot:
Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms;
Of England's coat one half is cut away.
Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, These tidings would call forth hert flowing tides.
Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of
France:
The bastard of Orleans with him is join'd;
Reignier, duke of Anjou, doth take his part;
The duke of Alencon flieth to his side.
Exe. The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to
him!
O, whither shall we fly from this reproach?
Glo. We will not fly, but to our enemies'
throats:
Bedford, if thou be slack, I'll fight it out.
Bed. Gloster, why doubt'st thou of my for-
wardness!
An army have I muster'd in my thoughts,
Wherewith already France is over-run.
Enter a third MESSENGER.
3. Mess. My gracious lords,—to add to your laments, [hearse,Wherewith you now bedew King Henry'a I must inform you of a dismal fight, Betwixt the stout lord Talbot and the French. Win. What! wherein Talbot overcame? is't so?
3. Mess. O, no; wherein lord Talbot was
The circumstance I'll tell you more at large.
Retiring from the siege of Orleans,
The tenth of August last, this dreadful lord,
Having full scarce six thousand in his troop,
By three and twenty thousand of the French
Was round encompassed and set upon :
No leisure had he to enrank his men;
He wanted pikes to set before his archers;
Instead whereof, sharp stakes, pluck'd out of
hedges,
They pitch'd in the ground confusedly,
To keep the horsemen off from breaking in.
More than three hours the fight continued ;
Enacted wonders with his sword and lance.
Where valiant Talbot, above human thought,
Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand
The French exclaim'd, The devil was in arms;
Here there, and every where, enrag'd he slew:
All the whole army stood agaz'd on him:
His soldiers, spying his undaunted spirit,
A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain,
And rush'd into the bowels of the battle.
Here had the conquest fully been sealed up,
He being in the vaward, (plac'd behind,
If Sir John Fastolfe had not play'd the coward;
With purpose to relieve and follow them,)
Hence grew the general wreck and massacre;
Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke,
Enclosed were they with their enemies:
A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace,
Thrust Talbot with a spear into the back;
Whom all France, with their chief assembled
Durst not presume to look once in the face.
Bed. Is Talbot slain? then I will slay myself,
For living idly here, in pomp and ease,
Whilst such a worthy leader, wanting aid,
Give me my steel'd coat, I'll fight for France.-Unto his dastard foe-man is betray'd.
Away with these disgraceful wailing robes!
Wounds I will lend the French, instead of eyes,
To weep their intermissive miseries.t
Enter another MESSENGER.
2. Mess. Lords, view these letters, full of bad mischance,
*Norse was anciently so spelt.
t Her, i. e. England's.
And lord Scales with him, and lord Hunger-
3. Mess. O no, he lives; but is took prisoner,
ford:
Most of the rest slaughter'd, or took, likewise.
Bed. His ransom there is none but I shall
I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne,
His crown shall be the ransom of my friend;
1. c. Their miseries which have had only a short Four of their lords I'll change for one of
Farewell, my masters; to my task will I; Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make, To keep our great Saint George's feast withal: Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take, Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake.
3 Mess. So you had need; for Orleans is besieg'd;
The English army is grown weak and faint:
The earl of Salisbury craveth supply,
And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,
Since they, so few, watch such a multitude.
Ere. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry
Either to quell the Dauphin utterly, [sworn;
Or bring him in obedience to your yoke.
Bed. I do remember it; and here take leave,
To go about my preparation.
[Exit.
Glo. I'll to the Tower, with all the haste I can,
To view the artillery and munition;
And then I will proclaim young Henry king,
[Exit.
Eze. To Eltham will I, where the young
king is,
Being ordain'd his special governor;
And for his safety there I'll best advise.
Win. Each hath his place and function to attend:
I am left out; for me nothing remains.
But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office;
The king from Eltham I intend to send,
And sit at chiefest stern of public weal.
[Exit. Scene closes.
SCENE II.-France.-Before Orleans. Eater CHARLES, with his Forces; ALENÇON, REIGNIER, and others.
Char. Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens,
So in the earth, to this day is not known:
Late did he shine upon the English side;
Now we are victors upon us he smiles.
What towns of any moment, but we have?
At pleasure here we lie, near Orleans;
Otherwiles, the famish'd English, like pale
ghosts,
Faintly besiege us one hour in a month.
Alen. They want their porridge, and their
Either they must be dieted like mules,
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey.*
Alen. Froissard, a countrymen of ours, records,
England all Olivers and Rowlands bred,
During the time Edward the third did reign.
More truly now may this be verified;
For none but Samsons, and Goliasses,
It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!
Lean raw-bon'd rascals! who would e'er sup-
They had such courage and audacity? [pose
Char. Let's leave this town; for they are
hair-brain'd slaves,
[ger: And hunger will enforce them to be more caOf old I know them; rather with their teeth The walls they'll tear down, than forsake the siege.
Reig. I think, by some odd gimmalst or de, vice,
[on; Their arms are set, like clocks, still to strike Else ne'er could they hold out so, as they do. By my consent, we'll e'en let them alone. Alen. Be it so.
Enter the BASTARD of Orleans.
Bast. Where's the prince Dauphin, I have news for him.
Char. Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome
Bast. Methinks, your looks are sad, your cheerý appall'd;
Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?
Be not dismay'd, for succour is at hand:
A holy maid thither with me I bring,
Which, by a vision sent to her from heaven,
Ordained is to raise this tedious siege,
And drive the English forth the bounds of
France.
The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,
Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome;
What's past, and what's to come, she cau
descry.
Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words, For they are certain and unfallible.
Char, Go, call her in: [Exit BASTARD.] But,
And have their provender tyed to their mouths, Enter LA POCELLE, BASTARD of Orleans, and
Or piteous they will look, like drowned mice.
Reig, Let's raise the siege; Why live we idly here?
Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear: Remaineth none but mad-brain'd Salisbury; And he may well in fretting spend his gall, Nor men, nor money, hath he to make war. Char. Sound, sound alarum; we will rush
Where is the Dauphin ?—come, come from be-
Be not amaz'd, there's nothing hid from me:
I know thee well, though never seen before.
In private will I talk with thee apart :-
Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first
Now for the honour of the forlorn French-Stand back, you lords, and give us leave a Him I forgive my death, that killeth me, When he sees me go back one foot, or fly. [Exeunt. Alarums; Excursions, afterwards a Retreat. Re-enter CHARLES, ALENÇON, REIGNIER, and others.
Puc. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter,
My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.
Heaven, and our lady gracious, hath it pleas'd
To shine on my contemptible estate:
1. e. The prey for which they are hungry.
A gimmal is a piece of jointed work, where one piece moves within another; here it is taken at large for an engine.
This was not in former times a term of reproach
Countenance.
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI.
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,
Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,
And to sun's parching heat display'd my Till, by broad spreading, it disperse to nought.
God's mother deigned to appear to me ;
And, in a vision full of majesty,
Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
And free my country from calamity :
Her aid she promis'd, and assur'd success:
In complete glory she reveal'd herself;
And, whereas I was black and swart before,
With those clear rays which she infus'd on me,
That beauty am I bless'd with, which you see.
Ask me what question thou canst possible,
And I will answer unpremeditated:
My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st,
And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
Resolve on this:* Thou shalt be fortunate,
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.
Char. Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high
Qnly this proof I'll of thy valour make,-
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me;
And, if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;
Otherwise, I renounce all confidence.
Puc. I am prepar'd: here is my keen-edg'd
sword,
Deck'd with five flour-de-luces on each side;
The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's
Out of a deal of old iron I chose forth.
Char. Then come o'God's name, I fear no
Puc. And, while I live, I'll near fly from a [They fight.
Char. Stay, stay thy hands; thou art an
And fightest with the sword of Deborah. Puc. Christ's mother helps me, else I were too weak.
Char. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that
must help me :
Impatiently I burn with thy desire ;
My heart and hands thou hast at once subdu'd.
Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,
Let me thy servant, and not sovereign, be;
'Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus.
Puc. I must not yield to any rites of love,
For my profession's sacred from above:
When I have chas'd all thy foes from hence,
Then will I think upon a recompense.
Char. Meantime, look gracious on thy pros-
trate thrall.
Reig. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk.
Alen. Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock;
Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. Reig. Shall we disturb him, since he keeps
Alen. He may mean more than we poor men do know : [tongues. These women are shrewd tempters with their Reig. My lord, where are you? what devise
Shall we give over Orleans or no?
Puc. Why, no, I say, distrustful recreants! Fight till the last gasp; I will be your guard. Char. What she says, I'll confirm; we'll fight it out.
Pue. Assign'd am I to be the English scourge. This night the siege assuredly I'll raise : Expect Saint Martin's summer,t halcyon days, Since I have entered into these wars. Glory is like a circle in the water,
Be firmly persuaded of it.
+ Expect prosperity after misfortune.
With Henry's death, the English circle ends;
Dispersed are the glories it included.
Now am I like that proud insulting ship,
Which Cæsar and his fortune bare at once.
Char. Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?
Thou with an eagle art inspired then,
Helen, the mother of great Constantine, [thee
Bright star of Venus, fall'n down on the earth,
Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters,* were like
How may I reverently worship thee enough?
Alen. Leave off delays, and let us raise the
Reig. Woman, do what thou canst to save our honours;
Drive them from Orleans, and be immortaliz'd. Char. Presently we'll try:-Come let's away about it:
No prophet will I trust, if she proves false. [Exeunt.
SCENE III-London.-Hill before the Tower. Enter, at the Gates, the Duke of GLOSTER, with
his Serving-men, in blue coats.
Glo. I am come to survey the Tower this day; Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance.t-Where be these warders, that they wait not here? Open the gates; Gloster it is that calls. [SERVANTS knock.
1 Ward [Within.] Who is there that knocks so imperiously?
1 Serv. It is the noble Duke of Gloster. 2 Ward. [Within.[ Whoe'er he be, you may not be let in.
1 Serv. Answer you so the lord protector, villains?
1 Ward. [Within.] The Lord protect him! So we answer him:
We do no otherwise than we are will'd.
Glo. Who will'd you? or whose will stands
There's none protector of the realm, but I.—
Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize :
Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?
SERVANTS rush at the Tower Gates. Enter, to
the Gates, WOODVILLE, the Lieutenant.
Wood. [Within.] What noise is this? what
traitors have we here?
Glo. Lieutenant, is it you, whose voice I
hear?
[enter.
Open the gates; here's Gloster that would
Wood. [Within.] Have patience, noble duke:
The cardinal of Winchester forbids :
I may not open;
From him I have express commandement,
That thou, nor none of thine, shall be let in.
Glo. Faint-hearted Woodville, prizest him
Arrogant Winchester? that haughty prelate,
'fore me?
Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could
Glo. Piel'd priest,* dost thou command me to be shut out?
Win. I do, thou most usurping proditor,t
And not protector of the king or realm.
Glo. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator;
Thou, that contriv'dst to murder our dead lord;
Thou, that giv'st whores indulgences to sin :
I'll canvast thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,
If thou proceed in this thy insolence.
Win. Nay, stand thou back, I will not budge
a foot;
This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,
To slay thy brother Abel if thou wilt.
Glo. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee
Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearing-cloth
I'll use, to carry thee out of this place.
Win. Do what thou dar'st; I beard thee to
thy face.
Glo. What? am I dar'd, and bearded to my
face?
Draw, men, for all this privileged place;
Blue-coats to tawny-coats. Priest, beware
your beard;
[GLOSTER and his Men attack the Bishop.
I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly:
Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat;
In spite of pope or dignities of church,
Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.
Win. Gloster, thou'lt answer this before the
May. I'll call for clubs, if you will not
This cardinal is more haughty than the devil. Glo. Mayor, farewell: thou dost not what thou may'st.
Win. Abominable Gloster! guard thy head; For I intend to have it, ere long.
[Exit. May. See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart.[bear! Good God! that nobles should such stomachst I myself fight not once in forty years. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-France.-Before Orleans. Enter, on the Walls, the Master-Gunner and
Howe'er, unfortunate, I miss'd my aim.
M. Gun. But now thou shalt not. Be thou
rul'd by me:
Chief master-gunner am I of this town;
Something I must do, to procure me grace :
The prince's espials have informed me,
How the English, in the suburbs close in-
trench'd,
Wont, through a secret gate of iron bars
In yonder tower, to overpeer the city; [tage,
And thence discover, how, with most advan-
They may vex us, with shot, or with assault.
[stay? To intercept this inconvenience,
Glo. Winchester goose, I cry-a rope! a
rope!-
Now beat them hence. Why do you let them
Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's
Thus contumeliously should break the peace! Glo. Peace, mayor; thou know'st little of [king,
Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor
Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.
Win. Here's Gloster too, a foe to citizens;
One that still motions war, and never peace,
O'ercharging your free purses with large fines;
That seeks to overthrow religion,
Because he is protector of the realm;
And would have armour here out of the Tower,
To crown himselfking, and suppress the prince.
Glo. I will not answer thee with words, but
blows. [Here they skirmish again.
May. Nought rests for me, in this tumul-
tuous strife,
But to make open proclamation :-
Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou canst.
Off. All manner of men, assembled here in arms
this day, against God's peace and the king's,
we charge and command you, in his highness'
name, to repair to your several dwelling-places:
and not to wear, handle, or use, any sword,
weapon, or dagger, henceforward, upon pain
of death.
Glo. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law: But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.
Win. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear cost,
Thy heart-blood I will have, for this day's work.
Alluding to his shaven crown. Trai.or. Sift.
A strumpet
An allusion to the Bishop's habit.
A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have plac'd;
And fully even these three days have I watch'd,
If I could see them. Now, boy, do thou watch,
For I can stay no longer.
If thou spy'st any, run and bring me word;
And thou shalt find me at the governor's.
Son. Father, I warrant you; take you no
I'll never trouble you, if I may spy them.
Enter, in an upper Chamber of a Tower, the
Lords SALISBURY and TALBOT, Sir WILLIAM
GLANSDALE, Sir THOMAS GARGRAVE, and
others.
Sal. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!
How wert thou handled, being prisoner?
Or by what means got'st thou to be releas'd?
Discourse, I pr'ythee, on this turret's top.
Tal. The duke of Bedford had a prisoner,
Called-the brave lord Ponton de Santrailles;
For him I was exchang'd and ransomed.
But with a baser man of arms by far, [me :
Once, in contempt, they would have barter'd
Which I, disdaining, scorn'd; and craved death
Rather than I would be so pil'd esteemed.[]
In fine, redeem'd I was as I desir'd. [heart!
But, O! the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my
Whom with my bare fists I would execute,
If I now had him brought into my power.
Sul. Yet tell'st thou not, how thou wert en-
tertain'd.
Tal. With scoffs, and scorns, and contume-
lious taunts.
In open market-place produc'd they me,
Here, said they, is the terror of the French,
To be a public spectacle to all;
The scare-crow that affrights our children so.
Then broke I from the officers that led me;
And with my nails digg'd stones out of the
ground,
"That is, for peace-officers armed with clubs or slaves.
+ Pride.
! Favour.
! Spies.
So stripped of hours.
To hurl at the beholders of my shame.
My grisly countenance made others fly;
None durst come near for fear of sudden
death.
In iron walls they deem'd me not secure;
So great fear of my name 'mongst them was
spread,
That they suppos'd, I could rend bars of steel,
And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:
Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,
That walk'd about me every minute-while;
And if I did but stir out of my bed,
Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.
Sal. I grieve to hear what torments you
endur'd;
But we will be reveng'd sufficiently.
Now it is supper-time in Orleans;
Here, through this grate, I can count every
And view the Frenchmen how they fortify;
Let us look in, the sight will much delight
thee.-
Sir Thomas Gargrave, and Sir William Glans-
Let me have your express opinions,
Where is best place to make our battery next.
Gar. I think, at the north gate; for there
stand lords.
Glan. And I, here, at the bulwark of the
bridge.
Is come with great power to raise the siege.
[SALISBURY groans.
Tal. Hear, hear, how dying Salisbury doth
groan!
It irks his heart, he cannot be reveng'd—
Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you:-
Pucelle or puzzel,* dolphin or dogfish,
Your hearts Ill stamp out with my horse's
heels,
And make a quagmire of your mingled brains.-
Convey me Salisbury into his tent,
And then we'll try what these dastardly
Frenchmen dare.
[Exeunt, bearing out the Bodies.
SCENE V.-The same-Before one of the Gates.
Alarum
Skirmishings. TALBOT pursueth the
DAUPHIN, and driveth him in: then enter Jo-
AN LA PUCELLE, driving Englishmen before
her. Then enter TALBOT.
my strength, my valour, and my force?
Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them;
A woman, clad in armour, chaseth them,
Enter LA PUCELLE.
Here, here she comes:I'll have a bout with
thee;
Tal. For aught I see, the city must be fam-Devil, or devil's dam, Ill conjure thee:
Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand,
That have contriv'd this woeful tragedy !
In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame;
Henry the fifth he first train'd to the wars;
Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck
up,
[field.-
His sword did ne'er leave striking in the
Yet liv'st thou, Salisbury? though thy speech
doth fail,
One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.-
Heaven be thou gracious to none alive,
If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands!-
Bear hence his body, I will help to bury it,—
Sir Thomas Gargrave hast thou any life?
Speak unto Talbot; nay, look up to him.
Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort;
Thou shalt not die, whiles-
He beckons with his hand, and smiles on me;
As who should say, When I am dead and gone,
Remember to avenge me on the French,—
Plantagenet, I will; and Nero-like,
Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:
Wretch'd shall France be only in my name.
Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch, And straightway give thy soul to him thou serv'st.
Puc. Come, come, 'tis only I that must disgrace thee;
Tal. Heavens, can you suffer hell so to pre
And from my shoulders crack my arms asun-
My breast I'll burst with straining of my cour-
But I will chastise this high-minded strumpet.
der,
Pue. Talbot, farewell; thy hour is not yet
I must go victual Orleans forthwith.
O'ertake me, if thou canst; Iscorn thy strength.
Go, go, cheer up thy hunger-starved men;
Help Salisbury to make his testament;
This day is ours, as many more shall be.
[PUCELLE enters the Town, with Soldiers. Tal. My thoughts are whirled like a potter's know not where I am, nor what I do: wheel; Drives back our troops, and conquers, as she A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibal, [stench,
So bees with smoke, and doves with noisome
Are from their hives, and houses, driven away.
They call'd us, for our fierceness, English
dogs;
Now, like to whelps, we crying run away.
[A short Alarum. Hark, countrymen? either renew the fight, Renounce your soil, give sheep in lion's stead: Or tear the lions out of England's coat; Sheep run not half so timorous from the wolf, Or horse, or oxen, from the leopard, As you fly from your oft subdued slaves. Thunder heard; afterwards an Alarum. It will not be:-Retire into your trenches: Alarum. Another skirmish. What stir is this? What tumults in the hea-You all consented unto Salisbury's death,
|