The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  THIRD SERVINGMAN And I will see what physic the tavern affords. Exeunt the Mayor and Servingmen

  WARWICK

  Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign,

  Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet

  We do exhibit to your majesty.

  GLOUCESTER

  Well urged, my lord of Warwick—for, sweet prince,

  An if your grace mark every circumstance,

  You have great reason to do Richard right,

  Especially for those occasions

  At Eltham Place I told your majesty.

  KING HENRY

  And those occasions, uncle, were of force.—

  Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is

  That Richard be restored to his blood.

  WARWICK

  Let Richard be restored to his blood.

  So shall his father’s wrongs be recompensed.

  WINCHESTER

  As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.

  KING HENRY

  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. 170

  RICHARD PLANTAGENET

  Thy humble servant vows obedience

  And humble service till the point of death.

  KING HENRY

  Stoop then, and set your knee against my foot.

  Richard kneels

  And in reguerdon of that duty done,

  I gird thee with the valiant sword of York.

  Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,

  And rise created princely Duke of York.

  RICHARD DUKE OF YORK (rising)

  And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may fall;

  And as my duty springs, so perish they

  That grudge one thought against your majesty.

  ALL BUT RICHARD AND SOMERSET

  Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!

  SOMERSET (aside)

  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 disanimates his enemies.

  KING HENRY

  When Gloucester says the word, King Henry goes,

  For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.

  GLOUCESTER

  Your ships already are in readiness.

  Sennet. 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 feigned ashes of forged love,

  And will at last break out into a flame.

  As festered members rot but by degree

  Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,

  So will this base and envious 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 Monmouth should win all,

  And Henry born at Windsor should lose all’—

  Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish

  His days may finish, ere that hapless time. Exit

  3.2 Enter Joan la Pucelle, disguised, with four French Soldiers with sacks upon their backs

  JOAN

  These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,

  Through which our policy must make a breach.

  Take heed. Be wary how you place your words.

  Talk like the vulgar sort of market men

  That come to gather money for their corn.

  If we have entrance, as I hope we shall,

  And that we find the slothful watch but weak,

  I’ll by a sign give notice to our friends,

  That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.

  A SOLDIER

  Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,

  And we be lords and rulers over Rouen.

  Therefore we’ll knock.

  They knock

  WATCH (within)

  Qui là?

  JOAN Paysans, la pauvre gens de France:

  Poor market folks that come to sell their corn.

  WATCH (opening the gates)

  Enter, go in. The market bell is rung.

  JOAN (aside)

  Now, Rouen, I’ll shake thy bulwarks to the ground.

  Exeunt

  3.3 Enter Charles the Dauphin, the Bastard of Orléans, ⌈the Duke of Alençon, René Duke of Anjou, and French soldier⌉

  CHARLES

  Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem,

  And once again we’ll sleep secure in Rouen.

  BASTARD

  Here entered Pucelle and her practisants.

  Now she is there, how will she specify

  ‘Here is the best and safest passage in’?

  RENE

  By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower—

  Which, once discerned, shows that her meaning is:

  No way to that, for weakness, which she entered.

  Enter Joan la Pucelle on the top, thrusting out a torch burning

  JOAN

  Behold, this is the happy wedding torch

  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 it like a comet of revenge,

  A prophet to the fall of all our foes!

  RENE

  Defer no time; delays have dangerous ends.

  Enter and cry, ‘The Dauphin!’, presently,

  And then do execution on the watch. Alarum. Exeunt

  3.4 An alarum. Enter Lord 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 unawares,

  That hardly we escaped the pride of France. Exit

  3.5 An alarum. Excursions. The Duke of Bedford brought in sick, in a chair. Enter Lord Talbot and the Duke of Burgundy, without, within, Joan la Pucelle, Charles the Dauphin, the Bastard of Orléans, ⌈the Duke of Alençon, and René Duke of Anjou⌉ on the walls

  JOAN

  Good morrow gallants. Want ye corn for bread?

  I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast

  Before he’ll buy again at such a rate.

  ‘Twas full of darnel. 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.

  JOAN

  What will you do, good graybeard? Break a lance

  And run a-tilt at death within a chair?

  TALBOT

  Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite,

  Encompassed with thy lustful paramours,

  Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age

  And twit with cowardice a man half dead?

  Damsel, I’ll have a bout with you again,

  Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.

  JOAN

  Are ye so hot, 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 Speaker?r />
  TALBOT

  Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?

  JOAN

  Belike your lordship takes us then for fools,

  To try if that our own be ours or no.

  TALBOT

  I speak not to that railing Hecate

  But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest.

  Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?

  ALENÇON

  Seignieur, no.

  TALBOT Seignieur, hang! Base muleteers of France, Like peasant footboys do they keep the walls And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

  JOAN

  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 French 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,

  Pricked 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 conqueror;

  As sure as in this late betrayed town

  Great Cceur-de-lion’s 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, regard this dying prince,

  The valiant Duke of Bedford. (To Bedford) Come, my

  lord,

  We will bestow you in some better place,

  Fitter for sickness and for crazy age.

  BEDFORD

  Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me.

  Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen,

  And will be partner of your weal 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 litter sick,

  Came to the field and vanquishèd his foes.

  Methinks I should revive the soldiers’ hearts,

  Because I ever found them as myself.

  TALBOT

  Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!

  Then be it so; heavens keep old Bedford safe.

  And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,

  But gather we our forces out of hand,

  And set upon our boasting enemy.

  Exit with Burgundy

  An alarum. Excursions. Enter Sir John Fastolf and a

  Captain

  CAPTAIN

  Whither away, Sir John Fastolf, in such haste?

  FASTOLF

  Whither away? To save myself by flight.

  We are like to have the overthrow again.

  CAPTAIN

  What, will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?

  FASTOLF

  Ay, all the Talbots in the world, to save my life. Exit

  CAPTAIN

  Cowardly knight, ill fortune follow thee! Exit

  Retreat. Excursions. Joan, 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 daring with their scoffs

  Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves.

  Bedford dies, and is carried in by two in his chair

  3.6 An alarum. Enter Lord Talbot, the Duke of 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, gentle Duke. But where is Pucelle now?

  I think her old familiar is asleep.

  Now where’s the Bastard’s braves, and Charles his

  gleeks?

  What, all amort? Rouen hangs her head for grief

  That such a valiant company are fled.

  Now will we take some order in the town,

  Placing therein some expert officers,

  And then depart to Paris, to the King,

  For there young Henry with his nobles lie.

  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 exequies fulfilled in Rouen.

  A braver soldier never couched lance;

  A gentler heart did never sway in court.

  But kings and mightiest potentates must die,

  For that’s the end of human misery. Exeunt

  3.7 Enter Charles the Dauphin, the Bastard of Orléans, the Duke of Alençon, Joan la Pucelle, ⌈and French soldiers⌉

  JOAN

  Dismay not, princes, at this accident,

  Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered.

  Care is no cure, 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 train,

  If Dauphin and the rest will be but ruled.

  CHARLES

  We have been guided by thee hitherto,

  And of thy cunning had no diffidence.

  One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.

  BASTARD (to Joan)

  Search out thy wit for secret policies,

  And we will make thee famous through the world.

  ALENÇON (to Joan)

  We’ll set thy statue in some holy place

  And have thee reverenced like a blessed saint.

  Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.

  JOAN

  Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:

  By fair persuasions mixed with sugared words

  We will entice the Duke of Burgundy

  To leave the Talbot and to follow us. 20

  CHARLES

  Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that

  France were no place for Henry’s warriors,

  Nor should that nation boast it so with us,

  But be extirpèd from our provinces.

  ALENÇON

  For ever should they be expulsed from France

  And not have title of an earldom here.

  JOAN

  Your honours shall perceive how I will work

  To bring this matter to the wished end.

  Drum sounds afar off

  Hark, by the sound of drum you may perceive

  Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.

  Here sound an English march

  There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread,

  And all the troops of English after him.

  Here sound a French march

  Now in the rearward comes the Duke and his;

  Fortune in favour makes him lag behind.

  Summon a parley. We will talk with him.

  Trumpets sound a parley

  CHARLES ⌈calling⌉

  A parley with the Duke of Burgundy.

  ⌈Enter the Duke of Burgundy⌉

  BURGUNDY

  Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?

  JOAN

  The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.

  BURGUNDY

  What sayst thou, Charles?—for I am marching hence.

  CHARLES

  Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words.

  JOAN

  Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of Franc
e,

  Stay. Let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.

  BURGUNDY

  Speak on, but be not over-tedious.

  JOAN

  Look on thy country, look on fertile France,

  And see the cities and the towns defaced

  By wasting ruin of the cruel foe.

  As looks the mother on her lowly babe

  When death doth close his tender-dying eyes,

  See, see the pining malady of France;

  Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,

  Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast.

  O turn thy edged 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 stained spots.

  BURGUNDY ⌈aside⌉

  Either she hath bewitched me with her words,

  Or nature makes me suddenly relent.

  JOAN

  Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee,

  Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.

  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 but 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 them will be thy slaughtermen.

  Come, come, return; return, thou wandering lord,

  Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.

  BURGUNDY ⌈aside⌉

  I am vanquished. These haughty words of hers

  Have battered me like roaring cannon-shot

  And made me almost yield upon my knees.

  (To the others) Forgive me, country, and sweet

  countrymen;

  And lords, accept this hearty kind embrace.