Complete Plays, The (255 page)

Exeunt

S
CENE
III. B
EFORE
A
NGIERS
.

Alarum. Excursions. Enter Joan La Pucelle

Joan La Pucelle

The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.
Now help, ye charming spells and periapts;
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,
Appear and aid me in this enterprise.

Enter Fiends

This speedy and quick appearance argues proof
Of your accustom’d diligence to me.
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!
Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,
I’ll lop a member off and give it you
In earnest of further benefit,
So you do condescend to help me now.

They hang their heads

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?
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
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

Excursions. Re-enter Joan La Pucelle fighting hand to hand with York. 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.
A goodly prize, fit for the devil’s grace!
See, how the ugly wench doth bend her brows,
As if with Circe she would change my shape!

Joan La Pucelle

Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be.

York

O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man;
No shape but his can please your dainty eye.

Joan La Pucelle

A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee!
And may ye both be suddenly surprised
By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds!

York

Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy tongue!

Joan La Pucelle

I prithee, give me leave to curse awhile.

York

Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.

Exeunt

Alarum. Enter Suffolk with Margaret in his hand

Suffolk

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;
I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,
And lay them gently on thy tender side.
Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee.

Margaret

Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
The King of Naples, whosoe’er thou art.

Suffolk

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:
So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
Yet, if this servile usage once offend.
Go, and be free again, as Suffolk’s friend.

She is going

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,
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;
Hast not a tongue? is she not here?
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman’s sight?
Ay, beauty’s princely majesty is such,
Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough.

Margaret

Say, Earl of Suffolk — if thy name be so —
What ransom must I pay before I pass?
For I perceive I am thy prisoner.

Suffolk

How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit,
Before thou make a trial of her love?

Margaret

Why speak’st thou not? what ransom must I pay?

Suffolk

She’s beautiful, and therefore to be woo’d;
She is a woman, therefore to be won.

Margaret

Wilt thou accept of ransom? yea, or no.

Suffolk

Fond man, remember that thou hast a wife;
Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?

Margaret

I were best to leave him, for he will not hear.

Suffolk

There all is marr’d; there lies a cooling card.

Margaret

He talks at random; sure, the man is mad.

Suffolk

And yet a dispensation may be had.

Margaret

And yet I would that you would answer me.

Suffolk

I’ll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?
Why, for my king: tush, that’s a wooden thing!

Margaret

He talks of wood: it is some carpenter.

Suffolk

Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,
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,
And our nobility will scorn the match.

Margaret

Hear ye, captain, are you not at leisure?

Suffolk

It shall be so, disdain they ne’er so much.
Henry is youthful and will quickly yield.
Madam, I have a secret to reveal.

Margaret

What though I be enthrall’d? he seems a knight,
And will not any way dishonour me.

Suffolk

Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.

Margaret

Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French;
And then I need not crave his courtesy.

Suffolk

Sweet madam, give me a hearing in a cause —

Margaret

Tush, women have been captivate ere now.

Suffolk

Lady, wherefore talk you so?

Margaret

I cry you mercy, ’tis but Quid for Quo.

Suffolk

Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose
Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?

Margaret

To be a queen in bondage is more vile
Than is a slave in base servility;
For princes should be free.

Suffolk

And so shall you,
If happy England’s royal king be free.

Margaret

Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?

Suffolk

I’ll undertake to make thee Henry’s queen,
To put a golden sceptre in thy hand
And set a precious crown upon thy head,
If thou wilt condescend to be my —

Margaret

What?

Suffolk

His love.

Margaret

I am unworthy to be Henry’s wife.

Suffolk

No, gentle madam; I unworthy am
To woo so fair a dame to be his wife,
And have no portion in the choice myself.
How say you, madam, are ye so content?

Margaret

An if my father please, I am content.

Suffolk

Then call our captains and our colours forth.
And, madam, at your father’s castle walls
We’ll crave a parley, to confer with him.

A parley sounded. Enter Reignier on the walls

See, Reignier, see, thy daughter prisoner!

Reignier

To whom?

Suffolk

 
To me.

Reignier

 
Suffolk, what remedy?
I am a soldier, and unapt to weep,
Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness.

Suffolk

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;
And this her easy-held imprisonment
Hath gained thy daughter princely liberty.

Reignier

Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?

Suffolk

Fair Margaret knows
That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign.

Reignier

Upon thy princely warrant, I descend
To give thee answer of thy just demand.

Exit from the walls

Suffolk

And here I will expect thy coming.

Trumpets sound. Enter Reignier, below

Reignier

Welcome, brave earl, into our territories:
Command in Anjou what your honour pleases.

Suffolk

Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,
Fit to be made companion with a king:
What answer makes your grace unto my suit?

Reignier

Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth
To be the princely bride of such a lord;
Upon condition I may quietly
Enjoy mine own, the country Maine and Anjou,
Free from oppression or the stroke of war,
My daughter shall be Henry’s, if he please.

Suffolk

That is her ransom; I deliver her;
And those two counties I will undertake
Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.

Reignier

And I again, in Henry’s royal name,
As deputy unto that gracious king,
Give thee her hand, for sign of plighted faith.

Suffolk

Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,
Because this is in traffic of a king.

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 solemnized.
So farewell, Reignier: set this diamond safe
In golden palaces, as it becomes.

Reignier

I do embrace thee, as I would embrace
The Christian prince, King Henry, were he here.

Margaret

Farewell, my lord: good wishes, praise and prayers
Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.

Going

Suffolk

Farewell, sweet madam: but hark you, Margaret;
No princely commendations to my king?

Margaret

Such commendations as becomes a maid,
A virgin and his servant, say to him.

Suffolk

Words sweetly placed and modestly directed.
But madam, I must trouble you again;
No loving token to his majesty?

Margaret

Yes, my good lord, a pure unspotted heart,
Never yet taint with love, I send the king.

Suffolk

And this withal.

Kisses her

Margaret

That for thyself: I will not so presume
To send such peevish tokens to a king.

Exeunt Reignier and Margaret

Suffolk

O, wert thou for myself! But, Suffolk, stay;
Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth;
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;
Repeat their semblance often on the seas,
That, when thou comest to kneel at Henry’s feet,
Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder.

Exit

S
CENE
IV. C
AMP
OF
THE
Y
ORK
IN
A
NJOU
.

Enter York, Warwick, and others

York

Bring forth that sorceress condemn’d to burn.

Enter Joan La Pucelle, guarded, and a Shepherd

Shepherd

Ah, Joan, this kills thy father’s heart outright!
Have I sought every country far and near,
And, now it is my chance to find thee out,
Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?
Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I’ll die with thee!

Joan La Pucelle

Decrepit miser! base ignoble wretch!
I am descended of a gentler blood:
Thou art no father nor no friend of mine.

Shepherd

Out, out! My lords, an please you, ’tis not so;
I did beget her, all the parish knows:
Her mother liveth yet, can testify
She was the first fruit of my bachelorship.

Warwick

Graceless! wilt thou deny thy parentage?

York

This argues what her kind of life hath been,
Wicked and vile; and so her death concludes.

Shepherd

Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!
God knows thou art a collop of my flesh;
And for thy sake have I shed many a tear:
Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan.

Joan La Pucelle

Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn’d this man,
Of purpose to obscure my noble birth.

Shepherd

’Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest
The morn that I was wedded to her mother.
Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl.
Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time
Of thy nativity! I would the milk
Thy mother gave thee when thou suck’dst her breast,
Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake!
Or else, when thou didst keep my lambs a-field,
I wish some ravenous wolf had eaten thee!
Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?
O, burn her, burn her! hanging is too good.

Exit

York

Take her away; for she hath lived too long,
To fill the world with vicious qualities.

Joan La Pucelle

First, let me tell you whom you have condemn’d:
Not me begotten of a shepherd swain,
But issued from the progeny of kings;
Virtuous and holy; chosen from above,
By inspiration of celestial grace,
To work exceeding miracles on earth.
I never had to do with wicked spirits:
But you, that are polluted with your lusts,
Stain’d with the guiltless blood of innocents,
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,
Because you want the grace that others have,
You judge it straight a thing impossible
To compass wonders but by help of devils.
No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been
A virgin from her tender infancy,
Chaste and immaculate in very thought;
Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused,
Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.