Bast. Methinks your looks are sad, your cheer 7 appall'd : Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?

Be not dismay'd, for succour is at hand:

A holy maid hither with me I bring,

Which, by a vision sent to her from Heaven,
Ordained is to raise this tedious siege,

And drive the English forth the bounds of France.
The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,

Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome : 8

What's past and what's to come she can descry.
Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,
For they are certain and unfallible.

Char. Go, call her in. [Exit Bastard.] — But first, to try

her skill,

Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place :

Question her proudly; let thy looks be stern:

By this means shall we sound what skill she hath. [Retires. Re-enter the Bastard of Orleans, with LA PUCELLE.

Reig. Fair maid, is't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?
Puc. Reignier, is't thou that thinkest to beguile me?
Where is the Dauphin?— Come, come from behind ;
I know thee well, though never seen before.

Be not amazed, there's nothing hid from me:
In private will I talk with thee apart. -
Stand back, you lords, and give us leave awhile.

Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.
Puc. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter,
My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.

7 Cheer in this instance means heart or courage, as in the expression, "be of good cheer."

8 Warburton says, "there were no nine sibyls of Rome: it is a mistake for the nine Sibylline Oracles brought to one of the Tarquins." But the Poet followed the popular books of his day, which say that "the ten sibyls were women that had the spirit of prophecy, and they prophesied of Christ."

Heaven and our gracious Lady hath it pleased
To shine on my contemptible estate :

Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,

And to Sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,
God's Mother deigned to appear to me,
And, in a vision full of majesty,

Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
And free my country from calamity :
Her aid she promised, and assured success:
In cómplete glory she reveal'd herself;
And, whereas I was black and swart before,
With those clear rays which she infused on me
That beauty am I bless'd with which you see.
Ask me what question thou canst possible,
And I will answer unpremeditated:

My courage try by combat, if thou darest,
And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
Resolve on this,9 thou shalt be fortunate,
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

Char. Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high terms:
Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,

In single combat thou shalt buckle 10 with me;
And, if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;
Otherwise I renounce all confidence.

Puc. I am prepared: here is my keen-edged sword,
Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side;

The which at Touraine, in Saint Catharine's churchyard,
Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth.

Char. Then come, o' God's name; I do fear no woman. Puc. And, while I live, I'll ne'er fly from a man. [They fight.

9 "Resolve on this" is be assured of this, or assure yourself of this. The Poet has resolve several times in a like sense. See vol iv. page 125, note 31. 10 To buckle is to engage, to encounter, to join in close fight. So, again, in v. 3, of this play: "And Hell too strong for me to buckle with."

Char. Stay, stay thy hands! thou art an Amazon, And fightest with the sword of Deborah.

Puc. Christ's Mother helps me, else I were too weak. Char. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that must help me : Impatiently I burn with thy desire;

My heart and hands thou hast at once subdued.
Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,

Let me thy servant, and not sovereign, be:
'Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus.
Puc. I must not yield to any rites of love,
For my profession's sacred from above:
When I have chased all thy foes from hence,
Then will I think upon a recompense.

Char. Meantime look gracious on thy prostrate thrall.
Reig. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk.
Alen. Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock ;
Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.

Reig. Shall we disturb him, since he keeps no mean? Alen. He may mean more than we poor men do know : These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues. Reig. My lord, where are you? what devise you on? Shall we give over Orleans, or no?

Puc. Why, no, I say, distrustful recreants!

Fight till the last gasp; I will be your guard.

Char. What she says, I'll confirm: we'll fight it out.
Puc. Assign'd am I to be the English scourge.

This night the siege assuredly I'll raise :

11

Expect Saint Martin's Summer, halcyon days,

Since I have entered into these wars.

Glory is like a circle in the water,

Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,

11 That is, expect prosperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after Winter has begun. The French have a proverbial expression, Esté de St. Martin, for fine weather in Winter.

Till, by broad spreading, it disperse to nought.
With Henry's death the English circle ends;
Dispersed are the glories it included.

Now am I like that proud-insulting ship
Which Cæsar and his fortune bare at once.

Char. Was Mahomet inspirèd with a dove? 12
Thou with an eagle art inspirèd, then.

Helen, the mother of great Constantine,

Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters, 13 were like thee.
Bright star of Venus, fall'n down on the Earth,
How may I reverent worship thee enough?

Alen. Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege. Reig. Woman, do what thou canst to save our honours; Drive them from Orleans, and be immortalized.

Char. Presently we'll try: come, let's away about it: No prophet will I trust, if she prove false.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.- London. Before the Gates of the Tower.

Enter the Duke of GLOSTER, with his Serving-men in blue

coats.

Glo. I am come to survey the Tower this day:
Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance.1 -
Where be these warders, that they wait not here ?
Open the gates; 'tis Gloucester that calls.
I Ward. [Within.] Who's there that

periously?

[Servants knock. knocketh so im

12 Mahomet had a dove "which he used to feed with wheat out of his ear; which dove, when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomet's shoulder, and thrust its bill in to find its breakfast, Mahomet persuading the rude and simple Arabians that it was the Holy Ghost."— RALEIGH'S History of the World.

13 Meaning the four daughters of Philip mentioned in Acts, xxi. 9.

1 Conveyance was used for furtive knavery, juggling artifice, sleight of hand, or any kind of secret management.

I Serv. It is the noble Duke of Gloucester.

2 Ward. [Within.] Whoe'er he be, you may not be let in.

I Serv. Villains, answer you so the Lord Protector?

1 Ward. [Within.] The Lord protect him! SO we answer him:

We do no otherwise than we are will'd.

Glo. Who willèd you? or whose will stands but mine?

There's none protector of the realm but I. —

2

Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize :

Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?

[GLOSTER'S Serving-men rush at the Tower-gates. Woodville. [Within.] What noise is this? what traitors have we here?

Glo. Lieutenant, is it you whose voice I hear? Open the gates; here's Gloster that would enter. Woodville. [Within.] Have patience, noble duke; I may

not open;

The Cardinal of Winchester forbids:

From him I have express commandment 3

That thou nor none of thine shall be let in.

Glo. Faint-hearted Woodville, prizest him 'fore me,
Arrogant Winchester, that haughty prelate,

Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could brook?
Thou art no friend to God or to the King:
Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly.

Serving-men. Open the gates unto the Lord Protector : We'll burst them open, if you come not quickly.

[GLOSTER'S Serving-men rush again at the Tower-gates.

2 Break up was the same as break open. So in Micah, ii. 13: "They have broken up and have passed through the gate." And in St. Matthew, xxiv. 43: "He would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."

8 Commandment here is four syllables, as if spelt commandement.