Lucy, farewell; no more my fortune can,
But curse the cause I cannot aid the man.
Maine, Blois, Poictiers, and Tours, are won
away,

Long all of Somerset and his delay.
[Exit, with his soldiers.
Lucy. Thus, while the vulture of sedition
Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,
Sleeping neglecion doth betray to loss
The conquest of our scarce cold conqueror, 50
That ever living man of memory,
Henry the Fifth, whiles they each other cross,
Lives, honors, lands and all hurry to loss.

Cap. Here is Sir William Lucy, who with

me

10 Set from our o'ermatch'd forces forth for aid. Enter SIR WILLIAM LUCY,

Som. How now, Sir William! whither were you sent ?

Lucy. Whither, my lord ? from bought and sold Lord Talbot ;

Who, ring'd about with bold adversity,
Cries out for noble York and Somerset,
To beat assailing death from his weak legions:
And whiles the honorable captain there
Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied
limbs,

And, in advantage lingering, looks for resene, You, his false hopes, the trust of England's honor,

Keep off aloof with worthless emulation. Let not your private discord keep away

20

Hath now entrapp'd the noble-minded Talbot:
Never to England shall he bear his life;
But dies, betray'd to fortune by your strife.
Som. Come, go; I will dispatch the horse-
men straight:
40

Within six hours they will be at his aid.
Lucy. Too late comes rescue: he is ta'en

or slain :

For fly he could not, if he would have fled; And fly would Talbot never, though he might. Som. If he be dead, brave Talbot, then adien !

Lucy. His fame lives in the world, his shame in you. [Exeunt. SCENE V. The English camp near Bourdeaux. Enter TALBOT and JOHN his son.

Tal. O young John Talbot! I did send for thee

To tutor thee in stratagems of war,
That Talbot's name might be in thee revived!
When sapless age and weak unable limbs
Should bring thy father to his drooping chair..
But, C malignant and ill-boding stars!
Now thou art come unto a feast of death,
A terrible and unavoided danger
Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest
horse;

And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape 10
By sudden flight: come, dally not, be gone.
John. Is my name Talbot? and am I your

son ?

Upon my death the French can little boast;
In yours they will, in you all hopes are lost.
Flight cannot stain the honor you have won ;
But mine it will, that no exploit have done :
You fled for vantage, every one will swear;
But, if I bow, they'll say it was for fear.
There is no hope that ever I will stay,
If the first hour I shrink and run away.
Here on my knee I beg mortality,
Rather than life preserved with infamy.
Tal. Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one

tomb?

30

John. Ay, rather than I'll shame my mother's womb.

Tal. Upon my blessing, I command thee go. John. To fight I will, but not to fly the foe. Tal. Part of thy father may be saved in thee.

John. No part of him but will be shame in

me.

Tal. Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it. 40

John. Yes, your renowned name: shall flight abuse it?

Tal. Thy father's charge shall clear thee from that stain.

John. You cannot witness for me, being slain.

If death be so apparent, then both fly.

Tal. And leave my followers here to fight and die?

My age was never tainted with such shame. John. And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?

No more can I be sever'd from your side,
Than can yourself yourself in twain divide:
Stay, go, do what you will, the like do I; 50
For live I will not, if my father die.

Tal. Then here I take my leave of thee, fair

son,

Born to eclipse thy life this afternoon.
Come, side by side together live and die;
And soul with soul from France to heaven fly.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI. A field of battle.

Alarum: excursions, wherein TALBOT's Son is hemmed about, and TALBOT rescues him. Tal. Saint George and victory! fight, soldiers, fight:

The regent hath with Talbot broke his word And left us to the rage of France his sword. Where is John Talbot? Pause, and take thy breath;

I gave thee life and rescued thee from death. John. O, twice my father, twice am I thy son!

The life thou gavest me first was lost and done,
Till with thy warlike sword, despite of fate,
To my determined time thou gavest new date.
Tal. When from the Dauphin's crest thy
sword struck fire,

10

It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age, Quicken'd with youthful spleen and warlike

rage,

Art thou not weary, John? how dost thou fare?
Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,
Now thou art seal'd the son of chivalry
Fly, to revenge my death when I am dead: 30
The help of one stands me in little stead.
O, too much folly is it, well I wot,
To hazard all our lives in one small boat!
If I to-day die not with Frenchmen's rage,
To-morrow I shall die with mickle age:
By me they nothing gain an if I stay;
'Tis but the shortening of my life one day:
In thee thy mother dies, our household's name,
My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's

On that advantage, bought with such a shame,
To save a paltry life and slay bright fame,
Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,
The coward horse that bears me fall and die!
And like me to the peasant boys of France,
To be shame's scorn and subject of mischance!
Surely, by all the glory you have won,
An if I fly, I am not Talbot's son:
Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot;
If son to Talbot, die at Talbot's foot.

50

Tal. Then follow thou thy desperate sire of
Crete,

Thou Icarus; thy life to me is sweet:
If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father's side;
And, commendable proved, let's die in pride.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VII. Another part of the field. Alarum: excursions. Enter old TALBOT led by a Servant.

Tal. Where is my other life? mine own is gone;

O, where's young Talbot? where is valiant
John ?

Triumphant death, smear'd with captivity,
Young Talbot's valor makes me smile at thee:
When he perceived me shrink and on my knee,
His bloody sword he brandisi'd over me,
And, like a hungry lion, did commence
Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience;

Had death been French, then death had died to-day.

Come, come and lay him in his father's arms :
My spirit can no longer bear these harms. 30
Soldiers, adieu! I have what I would have,
Now my old arms are young John Talbot's
grave.
[Dies.
Enter CHARLES, ALENÇON, BURGUNDY, BAS-
TARD, LA PUCELLE, and forces.

Char. Had York and Somerset brought rescue in,

We should have found a bloody day of this. Bast. How the young whelp of Talbot's, raging-wood, [blood! Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's Puc. Once I encounter'd him, and thus I said:

'Thou maiden youth, be vanquish'd by a maid :'

But, with a proud majestical high scorn,

He answer'd thus: Young Talbot was not born

To be the pillage of a giglot wench :'
So, rushing in the bowels of the French,
He left me proudly, as unworthy fight.

40

Bur. Doubtless he would have made a no

To know who hath obtained the glory of the
day.
{sent?
Char. On what submissive message art thou
Lucy. Submission, Dauphin! 'tis a mere
French word;

We English warriors wot not what it means.
I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta'en
And to survey the bodies of the dead.

Char. For prisoners ask'st thou ? hell our prison is.

But tell me whom thou seek'st.

Lucy. But where's the great Alcides of the field, 60

Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,
Created, for his rare success in arms,

Great Earl of Washford, Waterford and Val

ence;

Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield,
Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of
Alton,

Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of
Sheffield,

The thrice-victorious Lord of Falconbridge; Knight of the noble order of Saint George, Worthy Saint Michael and the Golden Fleece ; Great marshal to Henry the Sixth 70

Of all his wars within the realm of France ?

Puc. Here is a silly stately style indeed! The Turk, that two and fifty kingdoms hath, Writes not so tedious a style as this. Him that thou magnifiest with all these titles Stinking and fly-blown lies here at our feet. Lucy. Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen's only

scourge,

Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis ?
O, were mine eyeballs into bullets turn'd,
That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!
O, that I could but call these dead to life! 81
It were enough to fright the realm of France:
Were but his picture left amongst you here,
It would amaze the proudest of you all.
Give me their bodies, that I may bear them
hence

And give them burial as beseems their worth.
Puc. I think this upstart is old Talbot's
ghost,
[spirit.
He speaks with such a proud commanding
For God's sake let him have 'em; to keep

Lucy. Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin's

Sennet.

tent,

King. Ay, marry, uncle; for I always thought

It was both impious and unnatural
That such immanity and bloody strife
Should reign among professors of one faith.
Glou. Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect
And surer bind this knot of amity,

The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,
Proffers his only daughter to your grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous
dowry.

20

King. Marriage, uncle! alas, my years are young!

And fitter is my study and my books
Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.
Yet call the ambassador: and as you please,
So let them have their answers every one:
I shall be well content with any choice
Tends to God's glory and my country's weal

Enter WINCHESTER in Cardinal's habit, a
Legate and two Ambassadors.

Ere. What! is my Lord of Winchester install'd,

And call'd unto a cardinal's degree?
Then I perceive that will be verified
Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy,
If once he come to be a cardinal,

30

He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.' King. My lords ambassadors, your several suits,

Have been consider'd and debated on.
Your purpose is both good and reasonable;
And therefore are we certainly resolved
To draw conditions of a friendly peace;
Which by my Lord of Winchester we mean
Shall be transported presently to France. 40
Glou. And for the proffer of my lord your
master,

I have inform'd your highness so at large
As liking of the lady's virtuous gifts,
Her beauty and the value of her dower,
He doth intend she shall be England's queen.
King. In argument and proof of which
contract,

Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.
And so, my lord protector, see them guarded
And safely brought to Dover; where inshipp'd
Commit them to the fortune of the sea.

50

[Exeunt all but Winchester and Legate. Win. Stay, my lord legate: you shall first receive

The sum of money which I promised Should be deliver'd to his holiness

For clothing me in these grave ornaments. Leg. I will attend upon your lordship's leisure.

Win. [Aside] Now Winchester will not submit, I trow,

Or be inferior to the proudest peer. Humphrey of Gloucester, the a shalt well perceive

60

That, neither in birth or for authority,
The bishop will be overborne by thee:
I'll either make thee stoop and bend thy knee,
Or sack this country with a mutiny. [Exeunt.
SCENE II. France. Plains in Anjou.
Enter CHARLES, BURGUNDY, ALENCON, BAS-
TARD, REIGNIER, LA PUCELLE, and forces.
Char. These news, my lord, may cheer
our drooping spirits:

'Tis said the stout Parisians do revolt
And turn again unto the warlike French.

Alen. Then march to Paris, royal Charles of France,

And keep not back your powers in dalliance. Puc. Peace be amongst them, if they turn

to us;

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 a 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.

20

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 LA PUCELLE fighting hand to hand with YORK: LA PUCELLE is taken. The French fly.

York. Damsel of France, I think I have you

fast:

30 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! Puc. Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be.

York. O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper

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; 60
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 ey
Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak
I'll call for pen and ink, and write my min
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, beanty's princely majesty is such, 70
Confounds the tongue and makes the senses
rough.

Mar. Say, Earl of Suffolk-if thy name be

Suf 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.

90

Mur. Hear ye, captain, are you not at leisure ? [much: Suf. It shall be so, disdain they ne'er so Henry is youthful and will quickly yield. Madam, I have a secret to reveal..

100

Mar. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight,

And will not any way dishonor me.
Suf.

Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say. Mur. Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French,