France. Before Angiers. | |
| |
Alarum: Excursions. Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE. | |
| Joan. The regent conquers and the Frenchmen fly. | |
| Now help, ye charming spells and periapts; | 4 |
| And ye choice spirits that admonish me | |
| And give me signs of future accidents: [Thunder. | |
| You speedy helpers, that are substitutes | |
| Under the lordly monarch of the north, | 8 |
| Appear, and aid me in this enterprise! | |
| |
Enter Fiends. | |
| This speedy and quick appearance argues proof | |
| Of your accustom’d diligence to me. | 12 |
| Now, ye familiar spirits, that are cull’d | |
| Out of the powerful regions under earth, | |
| Help me this once, that France may get the field. [They walk, and speak not. | |
| O! hold me not with silence over-long. | 16 |
| Where I was wont to feed you with my blood, | |
| I’ll lop a member off and give it you, | |
| In earnest of a further benefit, | |
| So you do condescend to help me now. [They hang their heads. | 20 |
| No hope to have redress? My body shall | |
| Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit. [They shake their heads. | |
| Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice | |
| Entreat you to your wonted furtherance? | 24 |
| Then take my soul; my body, soul, and all, | |
| Before that England give the French the foil. [They depart. | |
| See! they forsake me. Now the time is come, | |
| That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest, | 28 |
| And let her head fall into England’s lap. | |
| My ancient incantations are too weak, | |
| And hell too strong for me to buckle with: | |
| Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust. [Exit. | 32 |
| |
Alarum. Enter French and English fighting: JOAN LA PUCELLE and YORK fight hand to hand: JOAN LA PUCELLE is taken. The French fly. | |
| York. Damsel of France, I think I have you fast: | |
| Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms, | |
| And try if they can gain your liberty. | 36 |
| A goodly prize, fit for the devil’s grace! | |
| See how the ugly witch doth bend her brows, | |
| As if with Circe she would change my shape. | |
| Joan. Chang’d to a worser shape thou canst not be. | 40 |
| York. O! Charles the Dauphin is a proper man; | |
| No shape but his can please your dainty eye. | |
| Joan. A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee! | |
| And may ye both be suddenly surpris’d | 44 |
| By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds! | |
| York. Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy tongue! | |
| Joan. I prithee, give me leave to curse a while. | |
| York. Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake. [Exeunt. | 48 |
| |
Alarum. Enter SUFFOLK, with MARGARET in his hand. | |
| Suf. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner. [Gazes on her. | |
| O fairest beauty! do not fear nor fly, | |
| For I will touch thee but with reverent hands. | 52 |
| I kiss these fingers for eternal peace, | |
| And lay them gently on thy tender side. | |
| What art thou? say, that I may honour thee. | |
| Mar. Margaret my name, and daughter to a king, | 56 |
| The King of Naples, whosoe’er thou art. | |
| Suf. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call’d. | |
| Be not offended, nature’s miracle, | |
| Thou art allotted to be ta’en by me: | 60 |
| So doth the swan her downy cygnets save, | |
| Keeping them prisoners underneath her wings. | |
| Yet if this servile usage once offend, | |
| Go and be free again, as Suffolk’s friend. [She turns away as going. | 64 |
| O stay! I have no power to let her pass; | |
| My hand would free her, but my heart says no. | |
| As plays the sun upon the glassy streams, | |
| Twinkling another counterfeited beam, | 68 |
| So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes. | |
| Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak: | |
| I’ll call for pen and ink and write my mind. | |
| Fie, De la Pole! disable not thyself; | 72 |
| Hast not a tongue? is she not here thy prisoner? | |
| Wilt thou be daunted at a woman’s sight? | |
| Ay; beauty’s princely majesty is such | |
| Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough. | 76 |
| Mar. Say, Earl of Suffolk,—if thy name be so,— | |
| What ransom must I pay before I pass? | |
| For I perceive, I am thy prisoner. | |
| Suf. [Aside.] How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit, | 80 |
| Before thou make a trial of her love? | |
| Mar. Why speak’st thou not? what ransom must I pay? | |
| Suf. [Aside.] She’s beautiful and therefore to be woo’d, | |
| She is a woman, therefore to be won. | 84 |
| Mar. Wilt thou accept of ransom, yea or no? | |
| Suf. [Aside.] Fond man! remember that thou hast a wife; | |
| Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? | |
| Mar. I were best to leave him, for he will not hear. | 88 |
| Suf. [Aside.] There all is marr’d; there lies a cooling card. | |
| Mar. He talks at random; sure, the man is mad. | |
| Suf. [Aside.] And yet a dispensation may be had. | |
| Mar. And yet I would that you would answer me. | 92 |
| Suf. [Aside.] I’ll win this Lady Margaret. For whom? | |
| Why, for my king: tush! that’s a wooden thing. | |
| Mar. [Overhearing him.] He talks of wood: it is some carpenter. | |
| Suf. [Aside.] Yet so my fancy may be satisfied, | 96 |
| And peace established between these realms. | |
| But there remains a scruple in that too; | |
| For though her father be the King of Naples, | |
| Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor, | 100 |
| And our nobility will scorn the match. | |
| Mar. Hear ye, captain? Are you not at leisure? | |
| Suf. [Aside.] It shall be so, disdain they ne’er so much: | |
| Henry is youthful and will quickly yield. | 104 |
| Madam, I have a secret to reveal. | |
| Mar. [Aside.] What though I be enthrall’d? he seems a knight, | |
| And will not any way dishonour me. | |
| Suf. Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say. | 108 |
| Mar. [Aside.] Perhaps I shall be rescu’d by the French; | |
| And then I need not crave his courtesy. | |
| Suf. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause— | |
| Mar. Tush, women have been captivate ere now. | 112 |
| Suf. Lady, wherefore talk you so? | |
| Mar. I cry you mercy, ’tis but quid for quo. | |
| Suf. Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose | |
| Your bondage happy to be made a queen? | 116 |
| Mar. To be a queen in bondage is more vile | |
| Than is a slave in base servility; | |
| For princes should be free. | |
| Suf. And so shall you, | 120 |
| If happy England’s royal king be free. | |
| Mar. Why, what concerns his freedom unto me? | |
| Suf. I’ll undertake to make thee Henry’s queen, | |
| To put a golden sceptre in thy hand | 124 |
| And set a precious crown upon thy head, | |
| If thou wilt condescend to be my— | |
| Mar. What? | |
| Suf. His love. | 128 |
| Mar. I am unworthy to be Henry’s wife. | |
| Suf. No, gentle madam; I unworthy am | |
| To woo so fair a dame to be his wife | |
| And have no portion in the choice myself. | 132 |
| How say you, madam, are you so content? | |
| Mar. An if my father please, I am content. | |
| Suf. Then call our captains and our colours forth! | |
| And, madam, at your father’s castle walls | 136 |
| We’ll crave a parley, to confer with him. [Troops come forward. | |
| |
A Parley sounded. Enter REIGNIER on the Walls. | |
| Suf. See, Reignier, see thy daughter prisoner! | |
| Reig. To whom? | 140 |
| Suf. To me. | |
| Reig. Suffolk, what remedy? | |
| I am a soldier, and unapt to weep, | |
| Or to exclaim on Fortune’s fickleness. | 144 |
| Suf. Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord: | |
| Consent, and for thy honour, give consent, | |
| Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king, | |
| Whom I with pain have woo’d and won thereto; | 148 |
| And this her easy-held imprisonment | |
| Hath gain’d thy daughter princely liberty. | |
| Reig. Speaks Suffolk as he thinks? | |
| Suf. Fair Margaret knows | 152 |
| That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign. | |
| Reig. Upon thy princely warrant, I descend | |
| To give thee answer of thy just demand. [Exit from the walls. | |
| Suf. And here I will expect thy coming. | 156 |
| |
Trumpets sound. Enter REIGNIER, below. | |
| Reig. Welcome, brave earl, into our territories: | |
| Command in Anjou what your honour pleases. | |
| Suf. Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child, | 160 |
| Fit to be made companion with a king. | |
| What answer makes your Grace unto my suit? | |
| Reig. Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth | |
| To be the princely bride of such a lord, | 164 |
| Upon condition I may quietly | |
| Enjoy mine own, the county Maine and Anjou, | |
| Free from oppression or the stroke of war, | |
| My daughter shall be Henry’s if he please. | 168 |
| Suf. That is her ransom; I deliver her; | |
| And those two counties I will undertake | |
| Your Grace shall well and quietly enjoy. | |
| Reig. And I again, in Henry’s royal name, | 172 |
| As deputy unto that gracious king, | |
| Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith. | |
| Suf. Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks, | |
| Because this is in traffic of a king: | 176 |
| [Aside.] And yet, methinks, I could be well content | |
| To be mine own attorney in this case. | |
| I’ll over then, to England with this news, | |
| And make this marriage to be solemniz’d. | 180 |
| So farewell, Reignier: set this diamond safe, | |
| In golden palaces, as it becomes. | |
| Reig. I do embrace thee, as I would embrace | |
| The Christian prince, King Henry, were he here. | 184 |
| Mar. Farewell, my lord. Good wishes, praise, and prayers | |
| Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret. [Going. | |
| Suf. Farewell, sweet madam! but hark you, Margaret; | |
| No princely commendations to my king? | 188 |
| Mar. Such commendations as become a maid, | |
| A virgin, and his servant, say to him. | |
| Suf. Words sweetly plac’d and modestly directed. | |
| But madam, I must trouble you again, | 192 |
| No loving token to his majesty? | |
| Mar. Yes, my good lord; a pure unspotted heart, | |
| Never yet taint with love, I send the king. | |
| Suf. And this withal. [Kisses her. | 196 |
| Mar. That for thyself: I will not so presume, | |
| To send such peevish tokens to a king. [Exeunt REIGNIER and MARGARET. | |
| Suf. O! wert thou for myself! But Suffolk, stay; | |
| Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth; | 200 |
| There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk. | |
| Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise: | |
| Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount | |
| And natural graces that extinguish art; | 204 |
| Repeat their semblance often on the seas, | |
| That, when thou com’st to kneel at Henry’s feet, | |
| Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder. [Exit. | |
