'Twas full of darnel; do you like the taste? BURGUNDY Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtezan!
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 LA PUCELLE What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance, And run a tilt at death within a chair? TALBOT Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite, Encompass'd 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 LA PUCELLE Are ye so hot, sir? yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.
The English whisper together in council God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? TALBOT Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field? JOAN LA PUCELLE 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, Alencon, and the rest;Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out? ALENCON Signior, no. TALBOT Signior, hang! base muleters of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls And dare not take up arms like gentlemen. JOAN LA PUCELLE Away, captains! let's get us from the walls;For Talbot means no goodness by his looks.
God be wi' you, 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, Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd 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 Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried, 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. 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 Iread That stout Pendragon in his litter sick Came to the field and vanquished 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.
Exeunt all but BEDFORD and Attendants An alarum: excursions. Enter FASTOLFE and a Captain Captain Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste? FASTOLFE Whither away! to save myself by flight:
We are like to have the overthrow again. Captain What! will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot? FASTOLFE 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, ALENCON, 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 An alarum. Re-enter TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and the rest TALBOT Lost, and recover'd 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 fulfill'd 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 SCENE III. The plains near Rouen. Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, JOAN LAPUCELLE, and forces JOAN LA PUCELLE 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 OF ORLEANS Search out thy wit for secret policies, And we will make thee famous through the world. ALENCON 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 LA PUCELLE Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise: