Thus the Mortimers,
In whom the title rested, were suppressed.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Of which, my lord, your honour is the last.
MORTIMER True, and thou see’st that I no issue94 have,
And that my fainting words do warrant95 death:
Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather96:
But yet be wary in thy studious97 care.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Thy grave admonishments98 prevail with me:
But yet methinks my father’s execution
Was nothing less than bloody tyranny.
MORTIMER With silence, nephew, be thou politic101:
Strong-fixèd is the house of Lancaster,
And like a mountain, not to be removed.
But now thy uncle is removing104 hence,
As princes do their courts, when they are cloyed105
With long continuance in a settled place.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET O uncle, would some part of my young years
Might but redeem the passage108 of your age.
MORTIMER Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth
Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.
Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good111,
Only give order112 for my funeral.
And so farewell, and fair be all thy hopes,
And prosperous be thy life in peace and war.
Dies
RICHARD PLANTAGENET And peace, no war, befall thy parting soul.
In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage,
And like a hermit overpassed117 thy days.
Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast,
And what I do imagine, let that rest119.
Keepers, convey him hence, and I myself
Will see his burial better than his life.
Exeunt [Jailers with Mortimer’s body]
Here dies the dusky122 torch of Mortimer,
Choked with ambition of the meaner sort123.
And for124 those wrongs, those bitter injuries,
Which Somerset hath offered to my house125,
I doubt not but with honour to redress.
And therefore haste I to the parliament,
Either to be restorèd to my blood128,
Or make mine ill the advantage of my good129.
Exit
running scene 9
Flourish. Enter King [Henry VI], Exeter, Gloucester, [Bishop of] Winchester, Warwick, Somerset, Suffolk, Richard Plantagenet. Gloucester offers to put up a bill: Winchester snatches it, tears it
WINCHESTER Com’st thou with deep premeditated lines1?
With written pamphlets studiously devised?
Humphrey of Gloucester, if thou canst accuse,
Or aught intend’st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention, suddenly5,
As I with sudden and extemporal6 speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object7.
GLOUCESTER Presumptuous priest, this place commands my patience8,
Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonoured me.
Think not, although in writing I preferred10
The manner of thy vile11 outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forged12, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen.13
No, prelate, such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous and dissentious pranks15,
As very16 infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer17,
Froward18 by nature, enemy to peace,
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems19
A man of thy profession and degree20.
And for21 thy treachery, what’s more manifest?
In that thou laid’st a trap to take my life,
As well at London Bridge as at the Tower.
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted24,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling26 heart.
WINCHESTER Gloucester, I do defy thee. Lords, vouchsafe
To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious or perverse,
As he will have me, how am I so poor?
Or how haps31 it I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted32 calling?
And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do? — Except34 I be provoked.
No, my good lords, it is not that35 offends:
It is not that that hath incensed the Duke:
It is because no one should sway37 but he,
No one but he should be about38 the king:
And that engenders thunder in his breast
And makes him roar these accusations forth.
But he shall know I am as good—
GLOUCESTER As good?
Thou bastard43 of my grandfather.
WINCHESTER Ay, lordly sir: for what are you, I pray,
But one imperious45 in another’s throne?
GLOUCESTER Am I not Protector, saucy46 priest?
WINCHESTER And am not I a prelate of the Church?
GLOUCESTER Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps48
And useth it to patronage49 his theft.
WINCHESTER Unreverent Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER Thou art reverent51
Touching thy spiritual function52, not thy life.
WINCHESTER Rome53 shall remedy this.
WARWICK Roam thither then.
To Gloucester
My lord, it were your duty to forbear55.
SOMERSET Ay, see the bishop be not overborne56.
To Winchester
Methinks my lord should be religious
And know the office that belongs to such58.
WARWICK Methinks his lordship59 should be humbler:
It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.
SOMERSET Yes, when his holy state is touched so near61.
WARWICK State holy or unhallowed, what of that?
Is not his grace Protector to the king?
Aside
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue,
Lest it be said ‘Speak, sirrah65, when you should:
Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?’
Else would I have a fling67 at Winchester.
KING HENRY VI Uncles of Gloucester and of Winchester,
The special watchmen of our English weal69,
I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,
To join your hearts in love and amity.
O what a scandal is it to our crown,
That two such noble peers as ye should jar73!
Believe me, lords, my tender years74 can tell
Civil dissension is a viperous worm75
That gnaws the bowels76 of the commonwealth.
A noise within: ‘Down with the tawny-coats!’
What tumult’s this?
WARWICK An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the Bishop’s men.
A noise again: ‘Stones, stones!’ Enter Mayor [of London]
MAYOR O my good lords, and virtuous Henry,
Pity the city of London, pity us!
The Bishop and the Duke of Gloucester’s men,
Forbidden late83 to carry any weapon,
Have filled their pockets full of pebble stones
And, banding themselves in contrary parts85,
Do pelt so fast at one another’s pate86
That many have their giddy87 brains knocked out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compelled to shut our shops.
Enter [Servingmen] in skirmish with bloody pates
KING HENRY VI We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,
To hold your slaught’ring hands and keep the peace.
Pray, uncle Gloucester, mitigate92 this strife.
FIRST SERVINGMAN Nay, if we be forbidden stones, we’ll fall to it with our teeth.
SECOND SERVINGMAN Do what ye dare, we are as94 resolute.
Skirmish again
GLOUCESTER You of my household, leave this peevish95 broil
And set this unaccustomed fight aside.
THIRD SERVINGMAN My lord, we know your grace to be a man
Just and upright and, for your royal birth,
Inferior to none but to his majesty:
And ere that we will suffer100 such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal,
To be disgracèd by an inkhorn mate102,
We and our wives and children all will fight
And have our bodies slaughtered by thy foes.
FIRST SERVINGMAN Ay, and the very parings105 of our nails
Shall pitch a field106 when we are dead.
Begin again
GLOUCESTER Stay, stay, I say!
And if you love me, as you say you do,
Let me persuade you to forbear awhile.
KING HENRY VI O how this discord doth afflict my soul!
Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer114 a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
WARWICK Yield, my Lord Protector, yield, Winchester:
Except you mean with obstinate repulse117
To slay your sovereign and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief119 and what murder too
Hath been enacted through your enmity:
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
WINCHESTER He shall submit, or I will never yield.
GLOUCESTER Compassion on the king commands me stoop,
Or I would see his124 heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of125 me.
WARWICK Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banished moody127 discontented fury,
As by his smoothèd brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern and tragical129?
Winchester turns away To Winchester
GLOUCESTER Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
KING HENRY VI Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach
That malice was a great and grievous sin:
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?
WARWICK Sweet king: the bishop hath a kindly gird135.
For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent:
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?
WINCHESTER Well, Duke of Gloucester, I will yield to thee
Love for thy love and hand for hand I give.
Aside
GLOUCESTER Ay, but I fear me with a hollow140 heart.—
To the others
See here, my friends and loving countrymen,
This token142 serveth for a flag of truce
Betwixt ourselves and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble144 not.
Aside
WINCHESTER So help me God,— as I intend it not.
KING HENRY VI O loving uncle, kind Duke of Gloucester,
How joyful am I made by this contract147.—
Away, my masters148, trouble us no more,
But join in friendship, as your lords have done.
FIRST SERVINGMAN Content: I’ll to the surgeon’s150.
SECOND SERVINGMAN And so will I.
THIRD SERVINGMAN And I will see what physic152 the tavern affords.
Exeunt [the Mayor and Servingmen]
WARWICK Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign,
Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet
We do exhibit155 to your majesty.
GLOUCESTER Well urged, my lord of Warwick — for sweet prince,
And if your grace mark every circumstance157,
You have great reason to do Richard right,
Especially for those occasions159
At Eltham Place I told your majesty.
KING HENRY VI And those occasions, uncle, were of force161:
Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is
That Richard be restorèd to his blood163.
WARWICK Let Richard be restorèd to his blood;
So shall his father’s wrongs165 be recompensed.
WINCHESTER As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.
KING HENRY VI If Richard will be true, not that alone
But all the whole inheritance I give
That doth belong unto the House of York,
From whence you spring by lineal descent.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Thy humble servant vows obedience
And humble service till the point of death.
Richard kneels
KING HENRY VI Stoop then and set your knee against my foot,
And, in reguerdon174 of that duty done,
I gird175 thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise Richard, like a true Plantagenet,
And rise created princely177 Duke of York.
Plantagenet is henceforth known as Richard Duke of York
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall:
And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought180 against your majesty.
ALL Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!
Aside
SOMERSET Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!
GLOUCESTER Now will it best avail your majesty
To cross the seas and to be crowned in France:
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,
As it disanimates187 his enemies.
KING HENRY VI When Gloucester says the word, King Henry goes,
For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
GLOUCESTER Your ships already are in readiness.
Sennet. Flourish
Exeunt all but Exeter
EXETER Ay, we may march in England or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue:
This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feignèd ashes of forged194 love,
And will at last break out into a flame:
As festered members rot but by degree196,
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious198 discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which, in the time of Henry named the Fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe:
That Henry born at Monmouth202 should win all
And Henry born at Windsor203 lose all:
Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless205 time.
Exit
running scene 10
Enter [Joan la] Pucelle disguised, with four [French] Soldiers with sacks upon their backs
PUCELLE These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,
Through which our policy2 must make a breach.
Take heed, be wary how you place your words:
Talk like the vulgar4 sort of market men
That come to gather money for their corn.
If we have entrance, as I hope we shall,
And that7 we find the slothful watch but weak,
I’ll by a sign give notice to our friends,
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter9 them.
FIRST SOLDIER Our sacks shall be a mean10 to sack the city,
And we be11 lords and rulers over Rouen:
Therefore we’ll knock.
[They] knock
Within
WATCH. Qui là13?
PUCELLE. Paysans, la pauvre gens de France:14
Poor market folks that come to sell their corn.
opening the gates
WATCH Enter, go in: the market bell is rung.
PUCELLE Now, Rouen, I’ll shake thy bulwarks to the ground.
Exeunt
Enter Charles, [the] Bastard [of Orléans], Alençon, [Reignier, and forces]
CHARLES Saint Denis bless this happy18 stratagem,
And once again we’ll sleep secure in Rouen.
BASTARD Here entered Pucelle and her practisants20:
Now she is there, how will she specify
Here is the best and safest passage in?
REIGNIER By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower,
Which, once discerned, shows that her meaning is,
No way to that, for weakness, which she entered25.
Enter [Joan la] Pucelle on the top, thrusting out a torch burning
PUCELLE Behold, this is the happy wedding torch26
That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen,
But burning fatal to the Talbonites!
BASTARD See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend:
The burning torch in yonder turret stands.
CHARLES Now shine it31 like a comet of revenge,
A prophet to32 the fall of all our foes!
REIGNIER Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends:
Enter and cry, ‘The dauphin!’, presently34,
And then do execution on the watch35.
Alarum [Exeunt]
An alarum. [Enter] Talbot in an excursion
TALBOT France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears,
If Talbot but survive thy treachery.
Pucelle, that witch, that damnèd sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares39,
That hardly40 we escaped the pride of France.
Exit
An alarum: excursions. Bedford brought in sick in a chair. Enter Talbot and Burgundy without: within, [Joan la] Pucelle, Charles, Bastard of Orléans, [Alençon] and Reignier on the walls
PUCELLE Good morrow, gallants41: want ye corn for bread?
I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast
Before he’ll buy again at such a rate43.
’Twas full of darnel44: do you like the taste?
BURGUNDY Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtesan:
I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn.
CHARLES Your grace may starve, perhaps, before that time.
BEDFORD O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason.
PUCELLE What will you do, good grey-beard? Break a lance
And run a-tilt at death within51 a chair?
TALBOT Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite52,
Encompassed with53 thy lustful paramours,
Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age
And twit55 with cowardice a man half dead?
Damsel, I’ll have a bout56 with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
PUCELLE Are ye so hot58, sir? Yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace:
If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.
[The English] whisper together in counsel
God speed the parliament: who shall be the speaker60?
TALBOT Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field61?
PUCELLE Belike62 your lordship takes us then for fools,
To try if that our own be ours or no.
TALBOT I speak not to that railing Hecate64,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest.
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
ALENÇON Seigneur67, no.
TALBOT Seigneur, hang! Base muleteers68 of France,
Like peasant footboys do they keep69 the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.
PUCELLE Away, captains, let’s get us from the walls,
For Talbot means no goodness by his looks.
Goodbye, my lord: we came but to tell you
That we are here.
Exeunt from the walls
TALBOT And there will we be too, ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot’s greatest fame.
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
Pricked78 on by public wrongs sustained in France,
Either to get the town again or die.
And I, as sure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror81,
As sure as in this late betrayèd town
Great Coeur-de-lion’s83 heart was burièd,
So sure I swear to get the town or die.
BURGUNDY My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
TALBOT But ere we go, regard86 this dying prince,
To Bedford
The valiant Duke of Bedford.— Come, my lord,
We will bestow you in some better place,
Fitter for sickness and for crazy89 age.
BEDFORD Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:
Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen
And will be partner of your weal92 or woe.
BURGUNDY Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you.
BEDFORD Not to be gone from hence: for once I read
That stout Pendragon, in his litter95 sick,
Came to the field and vanquishèd his foes.
Methinks I should revive the soldiers’ hearts,
Because I ever98 found them as myself.
TALBOT Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!
Then be it so: heavens keep old Bedford safe.
And now no more ado101, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand102,
And set upon our boasting enemy.
Exit [with Burgundy and forces]
An alarum: excursions. Enter Sir John Falstaff and a Captain
CAPTAIN Whither away, Sir John Falstaff, in such haste?
FALSTAFF Whither away? To save myself by flight:
We are like to have the overthrow106 again.
CAPTAIN What? Will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?
FALSTAFF Ay, all the Talbots in the world, to save my life.
Exit
CAPTAIN Cowardly knight, ill fortune follow thee!
Exit
Retreat: excursions. [Joan la] Pucelle, Alençon and Charles fly
BEDFORD Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please,
For I have seen our enemies’ overthrow.
What is the trust or strength of foolish man?
They that of late were daring113 with their scoffs
Are glad114 and fain by flight to save themselves.
Bedford dies, and is carried in by two in his chair. An alarum. Enter Talbot, Burgundy and the rest [of the English soldiers]
TALBOT Lost, and recovered in a day again!
This is a double honour, Burgundy:
Yet heavens have glory for this victory.
BURGUNDY Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy
Enshrines thee in his heart, and there erects
Thy noble deeds as valour’s monuments.
TALBOT Thanks, gentle121 duke. But where is Pucelle now?
I think her old familiar122 is asleep.
Now where’s the Bastard’s braves, and Charles his gleeks123?
What, all amort124? Rouen hangs her head for grief
That such a valiant company are fled.
Now will we take some order126 in the town,
Placing therein some expert127 officers,
And then depart to Paris, to the king,
For there young Henry with his nobles lie129.
BURGUNDY What wills Lord Talbot pleaseth Burgundy.
TALBOT But yet, before we go, let’s not forget
The noble Duke of Bedford late deceased,
But see his exequies133 fulfilled in Rouen.
A braver soldier never couchèd lance134,
A gentler heart did never sway135 in court.
But kings and mightiest potentates136 must die,
For that’s the end137 of human misery.
Exeunt
running scene 11
Enter Charles, [the] Bastard [of Orléans], Alençon, [Joan la] Pucelle [and French soldiers]
PUCELLE Dismay not, princes, at this accident1,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recoverèd2:
Care is no cure3, but rather corrosive,
For things that are not to be remedied.
Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while
And like a peacock sweep along his tail:
We’ll pull his plumes and take away his train7,
If Dauphin and the rest will be but ruled8.
CHARLES We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence10:
One sudden foil11 shall never breed distrust.
BASTARD Search out thy wit for secret policies12,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
ALENÇON We’ll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenced like a blessèd saint.
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
PUCELLE Then thus it must be: this doth Joan devise:
By fair18 persuasions, mixed with sugared words,
We will entice the Duke of Burgundy
To leave the Talbot and to follow us.
CHARLES Ay, marry, sweeting21, if we could do that,
France were no place for Henry’s warriors,
Nor should that nation boast it so with us,
But be extirpèd24 from our provinces.
ALENÇON For ever should they be expulsed25 from France
And not have title of an earldom here.
PUCELLE Your honours shall perceive how I will work
To bring this matter to the wishèd end.
Drum sounds afar off
Hark! By the sound of drum you may perceive
Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward30.
Here sound an English march
There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread31,
And all the troops of English after him.
[Here sound a] French march
Now in the rearward comes the duke and his:
Fortune in34 favour makes him lag behind.
Summon a parley35: we will talk with him.
Trumpets sound a parley
CHARLES A parley with the Duke of Burgundy.
[Enter Burgundy with soldiers]
BURGUNDY Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
PUCELLE The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.
BURGUNDY What say’st thou, Charles? For I am marching hence.
CHARLES Speak, Pucelle, and enchant40 him with thy words.
PUCELLE Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France,
Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.
BURGUNDY Speak on, but be not over-tedious43.
PUCELLE Look on thy country, look on fertile France,
And see the cities and the towns defaced
By wasting46 ruin of the cruel foe,
As looks the mother on her lowly47 babe
When death doth close his tender-dying48 eyes.
See, see the pining malady of France49:
Behold the wounds, the most unnatural50 wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast.
O turn thy edgèd52 sword another way:
Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help:
One drop of blood drawn from thy country’s bosom
Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore.
Return thee therefore with a flood of tears,
And wash away thy country’s stainèd57 spots.
BURGUNDY Either she hath bewitched me with her words,
Or nature59 makes me suddenly relent.
PUCELLE Besides, all French and France exclaims on60 thee,
Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny61.
Who join’st thou with, but with a lordly nation
That will not trust thee but for profit’s sake?
When Talbot hath set footing once in France
And fashioned thee that instrument of ill,
Who then but English Henry will be lord
And thou be thrust out like a fugitive?
Call we to mind, and mark but68 this for proof:
Was not the Duke of Orléans thy foe?
And was he not in England prisoner?
But when they heard he was thine enemy,
They set him free without his ransom paid,
In spite of Burgundy and all his friends.
See, then, thou fight’st against thy countrymen,
And join’st with them75 will be thy slaughtermen.
Come, come, return; return, thou wandering76 lord:
Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.
Aside
BURGUNDY I am vanquished: these haughty78 words of hers
Have battered me like roaring cannon-shot,
And made me almost yield upon my knees.
Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen:
And, lords, accept this hearty82 kind embrace.
My forces and my power83 of men are yours.
So farewell, Talbot: I’ll no longer trust thee.
Aside
PUCELLE Done like a Frenchman: turn and turn again.
CHARLES Welcome, brave duke: thy friendship makes us fresh86.
BASTARD And doth beget87 new courage in our breasts.
ALENÇON Pucelle hath bravely88 played her part in this,
And doth deserve a coronet89 of gold.
CHARLES Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,
And seek how we may prejudice91 the foe.
Exeunt
running scene 12
Enter King [Henry VI], Gloucester, [Bishop of] Winchester, [Richard Plantagenet, now Duke of] York, Suffolk, Somerset, Warwick, Exeter, [Vernon, Basset and others]. To them, with his Soldiers, Talbot
TALBOT My gracious prince, and honourable peers,
Hearing of your arrival in this realm,
I have awhile given truce unto my wars,
To do my duty4 to my sovereign:
In sign whereof, this arm, that hath reclaimed5
To your obedience fifty fortresses,
Twelve cities and seven walled towns of strength,
Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem8,
Lets fall his sword before your highness’ feet,
And with submissive loyalty of heart
Ascribes the glory of his conquest got
He kneels
First to my God and next unto your grace.
KING HENRY VI Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Gloucester,
That hath so long been resident in France?
GLOUCESTER Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.
To Talbot
KING HENRY VI Welcome, brave captain and victorious lord.
When I was young, as yet I am not old,
I do remember how my father said
A stouter champion19 never handled sword.
Long since we were resolvèd of your truth20,
Your faithful service and your toil in war,
Yet never have you tasted our reward,
Or been reguerdoned23 with so much as thanks,
Because till now we never saw your face.
Talbot rises
Therefore stand up, and for these good deserts25
We here create you Earl of Shrewsbury,
And in our coronation take your place.
Sennet. Flourish
Exeunt all but Vernon and Basset
VERNON Now sir, to you that were so hot28 at sea,
Disgracing of these colours29 that I wear
In honour of my noble lord of York,
Dar’st thou maintain the former words thou spak’st?
BASSET Yes, sir, as well as you dare patronage32
The envious barking of your saucy33 tongue
Against my lord the Duke of Somerset.
VERNON Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is35.
BASSET Why, what is he? As good a man as York.
VERNON Hark ye, not so: in witness, take ye that.
Strikes him
BASSET Villain, thou know’st the law of arms38 is such
That whoso draws a sword ’tis present39 death,
Or else this blow should broach40 thy dearest blood.
But I’ll unto his majesty, and crave41
I may have liberty42 to venge this wrong,
When thou shalt see I’ll meet thee to thy cost.
VERNON Well, miscreant44, I’ll be there as soon as you,
And after45 meet you sooner than you would.
Exeunt
Act 4 Scene 1
running scene 13
Enter King [Henry VI], Gloucester, [Bishop of] Winchester, York, Suffolk, Somerset, Warwick, Talbot, and [the] Governor [of Paris and] Exeter
GLOUCESTER Lord Bishop, set the crown upon his head.
Crowns King Henry
WINCHESTER God save King Henry, of that name the sixth!
GLOUCESTER Now, Governor of Paris, take your oath,
That you elect4 no other king but him;
Esteem5 none friends but such as are his friends,
And none your foes but such as shall pretend6
Malicious practices against his state:
This shall ye do, so help you righteous God.
Enter Falstaff
FALSTAFF My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais
To haste unto your coronation,
He shows the letter
A letter was delivered to my hands,
Writ to your grace from th’Duke of Burgundy.
TALBOT Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!
I vowed, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
Plucks it off
To tear the Garter from thy craven’s15 leg,
Which I have done, because unworthily
Thou wast installèd in that high degree.
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard19, at the battle of Patay,
When but in all I was six thousand strong
And that the French were almost ten to one,
Before we met or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire did run away:
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men.
Myself and divers25 gentlemen beside
Were there surprised and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss:
Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood: yea or no?
GLOUCESTER To say the truth, this fact30 was infamous
And ill beseeming any common31 man,
Much more a knight, a captain32 and a leader.
TALBOT When first this order was ordained, my lords,
Knights of the Garter were of noble birth,
Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage35,
Such as were grown to credit36 by the wars:
Not fearing death, nor shrinking for37 distress,
But always resolute in most extremes.
He then that is not furnished in this sort39
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable order,
And should, if I were worthy to be judge,
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain43
That doth presume to boast of gentle44 blood.
KING HENRY VI Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear’st thy doom45:
Be packing46, therefore, thou that wast a knight:
Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.
[Exit Falstaff]
And now, my Lord Protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.
GLOUCESTER What means his grace, that he hath changed his style50?
No more but51 plain and bluntly ‘To the king’?
Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription53
Pretend54 some alteration in good will?
Reads
What’s here? — ‘I have upon especial cause,
Moved with compassion of my country’s wrack56,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
Forsaken your pernicious59 faction
And joined with Charles, the rightful King of France.’
O monstrous treachery! Can this be so?
That in alliance, amity and oaths,
There should be found such false dissembling guile?
KING HENRY VI What? Doth my uncle Burgundy revolt64?
GLOUCESTER He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.
KING HENRY VI Is that the worst this letter doth contain?
GLOUCESTER It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
KING HENRY VI Why then Lord Talbot there shall talk with him
And give him chastisement69 for this abuse.
How say you, my lord? Are you not content?
TALBOT Content, my liege? Yes: but that I am prevented71,
I should have begged I might have been employed.
KING HENRY VI Then gather strength and march unto him straight73:
Let him perceive how ill we brook74 his treason
And what offence it is to flout75 his friends.
TALBOT I go, my lord, in heart desiring still76
You may behold confusion77 of your foes.
[Exit]
Enter Vernon and Basset
VERNON Grant me the combat78, gracious sovereign.
BASSET And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.
Pointing to Vernon
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK This is my servant80: hear him, noble prince.
Pointing to Basset
SOMERSET And this is mine, sweet Henry, favour him.
KING HENRY VI Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.
Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim83,
And wherefore crave you combat, or with whom?
VERNON With him, my lord, for he hath done me wrong.
BASSET And I with him, for he hath done me wrong.
KING HENRY VI What is that wrong whereof you both complain?
First let me know, and then I’ll answer you.
BASSET Crossing the sea from England into France,
This fellow here with envious90 carping tongue,
Upbraided me about the rose I wear,
Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves92
Did represent my master’s blushing cheeks,
When stubbornly he did repugn94 the truth
About a certain question in the law95
Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him:
With other vile and ignominious terms:
In confutation of which rude98 reproach
And in defence of my lord’s worthiness,
I crave the benefit100 of law of arms.
VERNON And that is my petition101, noble lord:
For though he seem with forgèd quaint conceit102
To set a gloss upon103 his bold intent,
Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him,
And he first took exceptions at105 this badge,
Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower
Bewrayed the faintness107 of my master’s heart.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?
SOMERSET Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,
Though ne’er so cunningly you smother it.
KING HENRY VI Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick111 men,
When for so slight and frivolous a cause
Such factious emulations113 shall arise?
Good cousins114 both of York and Somerset,
Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK Let this dissension first be tried by fight,
And then your highness shall command a peace.
SOMERSET The quarrel toucheth118 none but us alone:
Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK There is my pledge120: accept it, Somerset.
VERNON Nay, let it rest121 where it began at first.
BASSET Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.
GLOUCESTER Confirm it so? Confounded123 be your strife,
And perish ye with your audacious prate124:
Presumptuous vassals125, are you not ashamed
With this immodest126 clamorous outrage
To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lords, methinks you do not well
To bear with their perverse objections129:
Much less to take occasion130 from their mouths
To raise a mutiny131 betwixt yourselves.
Let me persuade you take a better course.
EXETER It grieves his highness: good my lords, be friends.
KING HENRY VI Come hither, you that would be combatants:
Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour,
Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.
And you, my lords, remember where we are:
In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:
If they perceive dissension in our looks
And that within ourselves140 we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs141 be provoked
To wilful disobedience, and rebel142!
Beside, what infamy will there arise,
When foreign princes shall be certified144,
That for a toy, a thing of no regard145,
King Henry’s peers and chief nobility
Destroyed themselves, and lost the realm of France!
O, think upon the conquest of my father,
My tender years, and let us not forgo149
That for a trifle that150 was bought with blood.
Let me be umpire in this doubtful151 strife:
Putting on a red rose
I see no reason, if I wear this rose,
That any one should therefore be suspicious153
I more incline to154 Somerset than York:
Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both.
As well they may156 upbraid me with my crown,
Because, forsooth157, the King of Scots is crowned.
But your discretions158 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 institute162 your grace
To be our regent in these parts163 of France:
And good my lord of Somerset, unite
Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot165,
And like true subjects, sons of your progenitors166,
Go cheerfully together and digest167
Your angry choler168 on your enemies.
Ourself, my Lord Protector and the rest,
After some respite170, will return to Calais;
From thence to England, where I hope ere long
To be presented, by your victories,
With Charles, Alençon and that traitorous rout173.
Exeunt all but York, Warwick, Exeter [and] Vernon. Flourish
WARWICK My lord of York, I promise you, the king
Prettily175, methought, did play the orator.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK And so he did: but yet I like it not,
In that he wears the badge of Somerset.
WARWICK Tush, that was but his fancy178, blame him not:
I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK An if I wist180 he did— but let it rest:
Other affairs must now be managèd.
Exeunt [all but] Exeter
EXETER Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice:
For had the passions183 of thy heart burst out,
I fear we should have seen deciphered184 there
More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,
Than yet can be imagined or supposed:
But howsoe’er, no simple187 man that sees
This jarring discord of nobility,
This shouldering189 of each other in the court,
This factious bandying of their favourites190,
But that it doth presage some ill event191.
’Tis much192 when sceptres are in children’s hands:
But more, when envy breeds unkind193 division,
There comes the ruin, there begins confusion194.
Exit
running scene 14
Enter Talbot, with Trump and Drum before Bordeaux
TALBOT Go to the gates of Bordeaux, trumpeter:
Summon their general unto the wall.
[Trumpet] sounds. Enter General aloft
English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth,
Servant in arms to Harry King of England,
And thus he would5: open your city gates,
Be humble to us, call my sovereign yours,
And do him homage as obedient subjects,
And I’ll withdraw me and my bloody8 power.
But if you frown upon this proffered peace,
You tempt the fury of my three attendants,
Lean famine, quartering11 steel, and climbing fire,
Who in a moment even12 with the earth
Shall lay your stately and air-braving13 towers,
If you forsake14 the offer of their love.
GENERAL Thou ominous and fearful owl of death15,
Our nation’s terror and their bloody scourge,
The period17 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 out20 and fight.
If thou retire, the dauphin well appointed21
Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee.
On either hand thee there are squadrons pitched23,
To wall24 thee from the liberty of flight;
And no way canst thou turn thee for redress25,
But death doth front thee with apparent spoil26,
And pale27 destruction meets thee in the face:
Ten thousand French have ta’en the sacrament28
To rive29 their dangerous artillery
Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot:
Lo, there thou stand’st, a breathing valiant man
Of an invincible unconquered spirit:
This is the latest33 glory of thy praise
That I thy enemy due34 thee withal:
For ere the glass35 that now begins to run
Finish the process of his sandy hour,
These eyes that see thee now well colourèd37
Shall see thee withered, bloody, pale and dead.
Drum afar off
Hark, hark, the dauphin’s drum, a warning bell39,
Sings heavy40 music to thy timorous soul,
And mine shall ring thy dire departure41 out.
Exit
TALBOT He fables42 not: I hear the enemy:
Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings43.
O negligent and heedless discipline44,
How are we parked and bounded in a pale45?
A little herd of England’s timorous deer,
Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs47.
If we be English deer, be then in blood48,
Not rascal-like to fall down with a pinch49,
But rather, moody-mad50: and desperate stags
Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel51
And make the cowards stand aloof at bay52:
Sell every man his life as dear as mine,
And they shall find dear54 deer of us, my friends.
God and Saint George, Talbot and England’s right,
Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight!
[Exeunt]
running scene 15
Enter a Messenger that meets York. Enter York with Trumpet and many Soldiers
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK Are not the speedy scouts returned again,
That dogged2 the mighty army of the dauphin?
MESSENGER They are returned, my lord, and give it out3
That he is marched to Bordeaux with his power
To fight with Talbot: as he marched along,
By your espials6 were discoverèd
Two mightier troops than that the dauphin led,
Which joined with him and made their march for Bordeaux.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK A plague upon that villain Somerset,
That thus delays my promisèd supply
Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege.
Renownèd Talbot doth expect my aid,
And I am louted13 by a traitor villain,
And cannot help the noble chevalier:
God comfort him in this necessity15:
If he miscarry16, farewell wars in France.
Enter another messenger [Sir William Lucy]
LUCY Thou princely leader of our English strength,
Never so needful18 on the earth of France,
Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot,
Who now is girdled with a waist20 of iron
And hemmed about with grim destruction:
To Bordeaux, warlike duke, to Bordeaux, York,
Else farewell Talbot, France, and England’s honour.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK O God, that Somerset, who in proud heart
Doth stop my cornets25, 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 remiss29 traitors sleep.
LUCY O, send some succour to the distressed30 lord.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK He dies, we lose: I break my warlike word:
We mourn, France smiles: we lose, they daily get,
All ’long of33 this vile traitor Somerset.
LUCY Then God take mercy on brave Talbot’s soul,
And on his son young John, who two hours since
I met in travel toward his warlike father:
This seven years did not Talbot see his son,
And now they meet where both their lives are done.
RICHARD DUKE OF YORK Alas, what joy shall noble Talbot have
To bid his young son welcome to his grave?
Away, vexation41 almost stops my breath,
That sundered friends42 greet in the hour of death.
Lucy, farewell: no more my fortune can43,
But curse the cause44 I cannot aid the man.
Maine, Blois, Poitiers, and Tours are won away,
’Long all46 of Somerset and his delay.
Exeunt [all but Lucy]
LUCY Thus, while the vulture of sedition47
Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,
Sleeping neglection49 doth betray to loss
The conquest of our scarce-cold50 conqueror,
That ever-living man of memory51,
Henry the Fifth: whiles they each other cross52,
Lives, honours, lauds53, and all hurry to loss.
[Exit]
[Act 4 Scene 4]
running scene 16
Enter Somerset with his army, [a Captain of Talbot’s with him]
SOMERSET It is too late, I cannot send them now:
This expedition2 was by York and Talbot
Too rashly plotted. All our general force
Might with a sally of the very town4
Be buckled with5: the over-daring Talbot
Hath sullied all his gloss6 of former honour
By this unheedful7, desperate, wild adventure:
York set him on to fight and die in shame,
That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the name.
CAPTAIN Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me
Set from our o’ermatched11 forces forth for aid.
[Enter Sir William Lucy]
SOMERSET How now, Sir William, whither were you sent?
LUCY Whither, my lord? From bought and sold13 Lord Talbot,
Who, ringed about with bold adversity,
Cries out for noble York and Somerset,
To beat assailing death from his weak legions16:
And whiles the honourable captain there
Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied limbs,
And, in advantage ling’ring19, looks for rescue,
You, his false hopes, the trust20 of England’s honour,
Keep off aloof with worthless emulation21:
Let not your private discord22 keep away
The levied succours23 that should lend him aid,
While he, renownèd noble gentleman,
Yields up his life unto a world of25 odds.
Orléans the Bastard, Charles, Burgundy,
Alençon, Reignier, compass him about27,
And Talbot perisheth by your default28.
SOMERSET York set him on29: York should have sent him aid.
LUCY And York as fast upon your grace exclaims,
Swearing that you withhold his levied host31,
Collected for this expedition.
SOMERSET York lies: he might have sent33 and had the horse:
I owe him little duty, and less love,
And take foul scorn35 to fawn on him by sending.
LUCY The fraud of England, not the force of France,
Hath now entrapped the noble-minded Talbot:
Never to England shall he bear his life,
But dies betrayed to fortune by your strife.
SOMERSET Come, go: I will dispatch the horsemen straight:
Within six hours they will be at his aid.
LUCY Too late comes rescue: he is ta’en or slain.
For fly he could not, if he would have fled,
And fly would Talbot never, though44 he might.
SOMERSET If he be dead, brave Talbot, then adieu.
LUCY His fame lives in the world, his shame in you.
Exeunt
running scene 17
Enter Talbot and his son [John]
TALBOT O young John Talbot, I did send for thee
To tutor thee in stratagems of war,
That Talbot’s name might be in thee revived
When sapless age and weak unable limbs
Should bring thy father to his drooping5 chair.
But — O malignant and ill-boding6 stars —
Now thou art come unto a feast of death,
A terrible and unavoided8 danger:
Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse,
And I’ll direct thee how thou shalt escape
By sudden11 flight. Come, dally not, be gone.
JOHN Is my name Talbot? And am I your son?
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.
TALBOT Fly to revenge my death if I be slain.
JOHN He that flies so will ne’er return again.
TALBOT 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 regard22 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 exploit27 have done.
You fled for vantage28, everyone will swear:
But if I bow29, 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 mortality32,
Rather than life preserved with infamy.
TALBOT Shall all thy mother’s hopes lie in one tomb?
JOHN Ay, rather than I’ll shame my mother’s womb.
TALBOT Upon my blessing I command thee go.
JOHN To fight I will, but not to fly the foe.
TALBOT Part of thy father may be saved in thee.
JOHN No part of him but will be shame in me.
TALBOT Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it.
JOHN Yes, your renownèd name: shall flight abuse41 it?
TALBOT Thy father’s charge42 shall clear thee from that stain.
JOHN You cannot witness for me, being slain.
If death be so apparent44, then both fly.
TALBOT And leave my followers here to fight and die?
My age46 was never tainted with such shame.
JOHN And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?
No more can I be severed 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.
TALBOT Then here I take my leave of thee, fair son,
Born to eclipse53 thy life this afternoon:
Come, side by side, together live and die,
And soul with soul from France to heaven fly.
Exeunt
[Act 4 Scene 6]
running scene 17 continues
Alarum: excursions, wherein Talbot’s son [John] is hemmed about [by French soldiers], and Talbot rescues him
TALBOT Saint George and victory! Fight, soldiers, fight:
The Regent2 hath with Talbot broke his word
And left us to the rage of France his3 sword.
Where is John Talbot? Pause, and take thy breath:
I gave thee life and rescued thee from death.
JOHN O, twice my father, twice am I thy son:
The life thou gav’st me first was lost and done,
Till with thy warlike sword, despite of fate,
To my determined time thou gav’st new date9.
TALBOT When from the dauphin’s crest10 thy sword struck fire,
It warmed thy father’s heart with proud desire
Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age,
Quickened with youthful spleen13 and warlike rage,
Beat down Alençon, Orléans, Burgundy,
And from the pride of Gallia15 rescued thee.
The ireful16 bastard Orléans, that drew blood
From thee, my boy, and had the maidenhood17
Of thy first fight, I soon encountered,
And interchanging blows I quickly shed
Some of his bastard blood, and in disgrace20
Bespoke him thus: ‘Contaminated, base
And misbegotten22 blood I spill of thine,
Mean23 and right poor, for that pure blood of mine
Which thou didst force from Talbot, my brave boy.’
Here, purposing25 the Bastard to destroy,
Came in strong rescue. Speak, thy father’s care:
Art thou not weary, John? How dost thou fare?
Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,
Now thou art sealed29 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 wot32,
To hazard all our lives in one small boat.
If I today die not with Frenchmen’s rage,
Tomorrow I shall die with mickle35 age.
By me they nothing gain, and 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 saved if thou wilt fly away.
JOHN The sword of Orléans hath not made me smart42:
These words of yours draw life-blood from my heart.
On that advantage44, bought with such a shame,
To save a paltry life and slay bright fame,
Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,
The47 coward horse that bears me fall and die:
And like48 me to the peasant boys of France,
To be shame’s scorn and subject of mischance49.
Surely, by all the glory you have won,
An if I fly, I am not Talbot’s son.
Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot52:
If son to Talbot, die at Talbot’s foot.
TALBOT Then follow thou thy desp’rate sire of Crete,
Thou Icarus55: thy life to me is sweet:
If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father’s side,
And commendable proved, let’s die in pride57.
Exeunt
[Act 4 Scene 7]
running scene 17 continues
Alarum. Excursions. Enter old Talbot led [by a Servant]
TALBOT Where is my other life? Mine own is gone.
O, where’s young Talbot? Where is valiant John?
Triumphant death, smeared with captivity3,
Young Talbot’s valour makes me smile at thee.
When he perceived me shrink and on my knee,
His bloody sword he brandished over me,
And like a hungry lion did commence
Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience8:
But when my angry guardant9 stood alone,
Tend’ring my ruin and assailed of10 none,
Dizzy-eyed11 fury and great rage of heart
Suddenly made him from my side to start
Into the clust’ring13 battle of the French:
And in that sea of blood my boy did drench14
His over-mounting15 spirit, and there died,
My Icarus, my blossom, in his pride.
SERVANT O my dear lord, lo17 where your son is borne.
Enter [Soldiers] with [the body of] John Talbot borne
TALBOT Thou antic18 death, which laugh’st us here to scorn,
Anon19, from thy insulting tyranny,
Couplèd in bonds of perpetuity,
Two Talbots, wingèd through the lither21 sky,
In thy despite shall scape mortality22.
To John
O thou whose wounds become hard-favoured23 death,
Speak to thy father ere thou yield thy breath.
Brave25 death by speaking, whether he will or no:
Imagine him a Frenchman and thy foe.
Poor boy, he smiles, methinks, as who27 should say,
‘Had death been French, then death had died today.’
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
Enter Charles, Alençon, Burgundy, Bastard [of Orléans] and [Joan la] Pucelle
CHARLES Had York and Somerset brought rescue in,
We should have found a bloody day of this.
BASTARD How the young whelp of Talbot’s, raging wood35,
Did flesh his puny36 sword in Frenchmen’s blood.
PUCELLE Once I encountered him, and thus I said:
‘Thou maiden38 youth, be vanquished by a maid.’
But with a proud majestical high scorn,
He answered thus: ‘Young Talbot was not born
To be the pillage41 of a giglot wench’:
So rushing in the bowels42 of the French,
He left me proudly, as unworthy fight.
BURGUNDY Doubtless he would have made a noble knight:
See where he lies inhearsèd45 in the arms
Of the most bloody nurser of his harms46.
BASTARD Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder
Whose life was England’s glory, Gallia’s wonder48.
CHARLES O no, forbear: for that which we have fled49
During the life, let us not wrong it dead.
Enter Lucy [with a French herald]
LUCY Herald, conduct me to the dauphin’s tent,
To know who hath obtained the glory of the day.
CHARLES On what submissive message53 art thou sent?
LUCY Submission, dauphin? ’Tis a mere54 French word:
We English warriors wot55 not what it means.
I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta’en
And to survey57 the bodies of the dead.
CHARLES For prisoners ask’st thou? Hell our prison is.
But tell me whom thou seek’st?
LUCY But where’s the great Alcides of the field,
Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,
Created for his rare success in arms
Great Earl of Washford, Waterford, and Valence,
Lord Talbot of Goodrich and Urchinfield,
Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,
Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,
The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge,
Knight of the noble order of Saint George,
Worthy Saint Michael and the Golden Fleece,
Great Marshal to Henry the Sixth
Of all his wars within the realm of France?71
PUCELLE Here is a silly stately style72 indeed:
The Turk73, that two-and-fifty kingdoms hath,
Writes not so tedious a style as this.
Him that thou magnifi’st with all these titles,
Stinking and fly-blown76 lies here at our feet.
LUCY Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen’s only scourge,
Your kingdom’s terror and black Nemesis78?
O were mine eyeballs into bullets turned,
That I in rage might shoot them at your 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 amongst you here,
It would amaze84 the proudest of you all.
Give me their bodies, that I may bear them hence
And give them burial as beseems86 their worth.
PUCELLE I think this upstart is old Talbot’s ghost,
He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit:
For God’s sake let him have them: to keep them here,
They would but stink, and putrefy the air.
CHARLES Go take their bodies hence.
LUCY I’ll bear them hence: but from their ashes shall be reared
A phoenix93 that shall make all France afeard.
CHARLES So94 we be rid of them, do with them what thou wilt.
And now to Paris in this conquering vein:
All will be ours, now bloody Talbot’s slain.
Exeunt
running scene 18
Sennet. Enter King [Henry VI], Gloucester, and Exeter [attended]
KING HENRY VI Have you perused the letters from the Pope,
The Emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?
GLOUCESTER I have, my lord, and their intent is this:
They humbly sue unto4 your excellence
To have a godly peace concluded of5
Between the realms of England and of France.
KING HENRY VI How doth your grace affect their motion7?
GLOUCESTER Well, my good lord, and as the only means
To stop effusion of our Christian blood
And stablish10 quietness on every side.
KING HENRY VI Ay, marry, uncle, for I always thought
It was both impious and unnatural
That such immanity13 and bloody strife
Should reign among professors of one faith.
GLOUCESTER Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect
And surer bind this knot of amity,
The Earl of Armagnac, near knit17 to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,
Proffers his only daughter to your grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.
KING HENRY VI Marriage, uncle? Alas, my years are young21:
And fitter is my study and my books
Than wanton23 dalliance with a paramour.
Yet call th’ambassadors, and as you please,
So let them have their answers every one:
Exit Attendant
I shall be well content with any choice
Tends to God’s glory and my country’s weal27.
Enter Winchester [in Cardinal’s habit], and three Ambassadors [one a Papal legate]
Aside
EXETER What, is my lord of Winchester installed,
And called unto a cardinal’s degree29?
Then I perceive that will be verified30
Henry the Fifth did sometime31 prophesy:
‘If once he come to be a cardinal,
He’ll make his cap33 co-equal with the crown.’
KING HENRY VI My lords ambassadors, your several34 suits
Have been considered and debated on:
Your purpose is both good and reasonable:
And therefore are we certainly resolved
To draw38 conditions of a friendly peace,
Which by my lord of Winchester we mean
Shall be transported presently40 to France.
To Armagnac ambassador
GLOUCESTER And for the proffer of my lord your master,
I have informed his highness so at large42
As43 liking of the lady’s virtuous gifts,
Her beauty and the value of her dower,
He doth intend she shall be England’s queen.
KING HENRY VI In argument46 and proof of which contract,
Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.
And so, my Lord Protector, see them guarded
And safely brought to Dover, wherein shipped49
Commit them to the fortune of the sea.
Exeunt [all but Winchester and Legate]
WINCHESTER Stay, my lord legate, you shall first receive
The sum of money which I promisèd
Should be delivered to his holiness
For clothing me in these grave ornaments54.
LEGATE I will attend upon your lordship’s leisure.
[Exit]
WINCHESTER Now Winchester will not submit, I trow56,
Or be inferior to the proudest peer:
Humphrey of Gloucester, thou shalt well perceive
That neither in birth or for authority,
The bishop will be overborne by thee:
I’ll either make thee stoop and bend thy knee,
Or sack this country with a mutiny62.
Exit
running scene 19
Enter Charles, Burgundy, Alençon, Bastard [of Orléans], Reignier and Joan [la Pucelle]
CHARLES These news, my lords, may cheer our drooping spirits:
’Tis said the stout2 Parisians do revolt
And turn again unto the warlike French.
ALENÇON Then march to Paris, royal Charles of France,
And keep not back your powers in dalliance5.
PUCELLE Peace be amongst them, if they turn to us,
Else ruin combat with7 their palaces.
Enter Scout
SCOUT Success unto our valiant general,
And happiness to his accomplices9.
CHARLES What tidings send our scouts? I prithee speak.
SCOUT The English army that divided was
Into two parties, is now conjoined in one,
And means to give you battle presently.
CHARLES Somewhat too sudden, sirs, the warning is,
But we will presently provide15 for them.
BURGUNDY I trust the ghost of Talbot is not there:
Now he is gone, my lord, you need not fear.
PUCELLE Of all base passions, fear is most accursed.
Command the conquest, Charles, it shall be thine:
Let Henry fret and all the world repine20.
CHARLES Then on, my lords, and France be fortunate!
Exeunt
[Act 5 Scene 3]
running scene 19 continues
Alarum. Excursions. Enter Joan la Pucelle
PUCELLE The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.
Now help, ye charming spells and periapts2,
And ye choice spirits that admonish3 me,
And give me signs of future accidents4.
Thunder
You speedy helpers, that are substitutes5
Under the lordly monarch of the north6,
Appear, and aid me in this enterprise.
Enter Fiends
This speedy and quick8 appearance argues proof
Of your accustomed diligence to me.
Now, ye familiar spirits10 that are culled
Out of the powerful regions under earth,
Help me this once, that France may get the field12.
They walk, and speak not
O hold me not with silence over-long:
Where I was wont14 to feed you with my blood,
I’ll lop a member15 off and give it you
In earnest16 of a further benefit,
So you do condescend to help me now.
They hang their heads
No hope to have redress? My body shall
Pay recompense19, if you will grant my suit.
They shake their heads
Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice
Entreat you to your wonted furtherance21?
Then take my soul — my body, soul and all —
Before that England give the French the foil23.
They depart
See, they forsake me! Now the time is come
That France must vail her lofty-plumèd crest25
And let her head fall into England’s lap.
My ancient27 incantations are too weak,
And hell too strong for me to buckle28 with:
Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust.
Exit
Excursions. Burgundy and York fight hand to hand.
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