The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works
Page 208
CHARLES
Welcome, brave Duke. Thy friendship makes us
fresh.
BASTARD And doth beget new courage in our breasts.
ALENÇON Puzel hath bravely played her part in this
And doth deserve a coronet of gold.
CHARLES
Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,
90
And seek how we may prejudice the foe. Exeunt.
3.4 Enter the KING, GLOUCESTER, WINCHESTER, Richard Plantagenet, now Duke of YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WARWICK, VERNON and BASSET, EXETER; 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 duty to my sovereign.
In sign whereof, this arm – that hath reclaimed
5
To your obedience fifty fortresses,
Twelve cities and seven walled towns of strength,
Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem –
Lets fall his sword before your highness’ feet,
[Kneels.]
And with submissive loyalty of heart
10
Ascribes the glory of his conquest got
First to my God, and next unto your grace.
KING Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloucester,
That hath so long been resident in France?
GLOUCESTER Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.
15
KING 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 champion never handled sword.
Long since we were resolved of your truth,
20
Your faithful service and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tasted our reward,
Or been reguerdoned with so much as thanks,
Because till now we never saw your face.
Therefore stand up, and for these good deserts
25
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 hot at sea,
Disgracing of these colours that I wear
In honour of my noble lord of York –
30
Dar’st thou maintain the former words thou spak’st?
BASSET Yes, sir, as well as you dare patronage
The envious barking of your saucy tongue
Against my lord the Duke of Somerset.
VERNON Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.
35
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 knowest the law of arms is such
That whoso draws a sword, ’tis present death –
Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood.
40
But I’ll unto his majesty, and crave
I may have liberty to venge this wrong –
When, thou shalt see, I’ll meet thee to thy cost.
VERNON
Well, miscreant, I’ll be there as soon as you
And after meet you sooner than you would. Exeunt.
45
4.1 Enter KING, GLOUCESTER, WINCHESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WARWICK, TALBOT, Governor of Paris and EXETER.
GLOUCESTER
Lord Bishop, set the crown upon his head.
WINCHESTER
God save King Henry, of that name the Sixth.
GLOUCESTER Now, Governor of Paris, take your oath:
That you elect no other king but him,
Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,
5
And none your foes but such as shall pretend
Malicious practices against his state:
This shall ye do, so help you righteous God.
Exit Governor.
Enter FASTOLFE.
FASTOLFE
My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais
To haste unto your coronation,
10
A letter was delivered to my hands,
Writ to your grace from the Duke of Burgundy.
TALBOT Shame to the Duke of Burgundy, and thee.
[Tears the emblem of the Garter from Fastolfe’s leg.]
I vowed, base knight, when I did meet thee next
To tear the Garter from thy craven’s leg,
15
Which I have done, because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard, at the battle of Patay, –
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
20
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 divers gentlemen beside
25
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 fact was infamous
30
And ill beseeming any common man,
Much more a knight, a captain 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 courage,
35
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress
But always resolute in most extremes.
He then that is not furnished in this sort
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
40
Profaning this most honourable order,
And should (if I were worthy to be judge)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.
KING Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear’st thy doom:
45
Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight.
Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.
Exit Fastolfe.
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 style?
No more but, plain and bluntly, ‘To the King’.
Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription
Pretend some alteration in good will?
What’s here? I have upon especial cause,
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Moved with compassion of my country’s wrack,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
Forsaken your pernicious faction
And joined with Charles, the rightful King of France.
60
O monstrous treachery: can this be so,
That in alliance, amity and oaths
There should be found such false dissembling guile?
KING What? Doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
GLOUCESTER
He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.
65
KING Is that the worst this letter doth contain?
GLOUCESTER
It is the worst – and all, my lord, he writes.
KING Why then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him
And give him chastisement for this abuse.
How say you, my lord, are you not content?
70
TALBOT
Content, my liege? Yes: but that I am prevented,
I should have begged I might have been employed.
KING
Then gather strength and march unto him straight.
Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason
And what offence it is to flout his friends.
75
TALBOT I go, my lord, in heart desiring still
You may behold confusion of your foes. Exit.
Enter VERNON and BASSET.
VERNON Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign.
BASSET And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.
YORK This is my servant: hear him, noble prince.
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SOMERSET And this is mine: sweet Henry, favour him.
KING Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.
Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim,
And wherefore crave you combat? Or with whom?
VERNON
With him, my lord, for he hath done me wrong.
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BASSET And I with him, for he hath done me wrong.
KING 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 envious carping tongue
90
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,
95
Argued 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.
100
VERNON And that is my petition, noble lord:
For though he seem with forged quaint conceit
To set a gloss upon his bold intent,
Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him,
And he first took exceptions at this badge,
105
Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower
Bewrayed the faintness of my master’s heart.
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.
110
KING
Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick 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.
115
YORK Let this dissension first be tried by fight,
And then your highness shall command a peace.
SOMERSET The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;
Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.
YORK There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.
120
[York throws down his gauntlet.]
VERNON Nay, let it rest where it began at first.
BASSET Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.
GLOUCESTER
Confirm it so? Confounded be your strife
And perish ye with your audacious prate.
Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed
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With this immodest clamorous outrage
To trouble and disturb the King and us?
And you, my lords, methinks you do not well
To bear with their perverse objections –
Much less to take occasion from their mouths
130
To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves.
Let me persuade you take a better course.
EXETER
It grieves his highness. Good my lords, be friends.
KING Come hither, you that would be combatants.
Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour,
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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 ourselves we disagree,
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How will their grudging stomachs be provoked
To wilful disobedience and rebel!
Beside, what infamy will there arise
When foreign princes shall be certified
That for a toy, a thing of no regard,
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King Henry’s peers and chief nobility
Destroyed themselves and lost the realm of France!