The First Part Of Henry The Sixth

1 Enter Charles, the Bastard of Orleans, Alençon, La Pucelle and forces.
2 PUCELLE.
3 Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
4 Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered.
5 Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,
6 For things that are not to be remedied.
7 Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while
8 And like a peacock sweep along his tail;
9 We’ll pull his plumes and take away his train,
10 If Dauphin and the rest will be but ruled.
11 CHARLES.
12 We have been guided by thee hitherto,
13 And of thy cunning had no diffidence.
14 One sudden foil shall never breed distrust
15 BASTARD.
16 Search out thy wit for secret policies,
17 And we will make thee famous through the world.
18 ALENÇON.
19 We’ll set thy statue in some holy place,
20 And have thee reverenced like a blessed saint.
21 Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
22 PUCELLE.
23 Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:
24 By fair persuasions mix’d with sugar’d words
25 We will entice the Duke of Burgundy
26 To leave the Talbot and to follow us.
27 CHARLES.
28 Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that,
29 France were no place for Henry’s warriors;
30 Nor should that nation boast it so with us,
31 But be extirped from our provinces.
32 ALENÇON.
33 For ever should they be expulsed from France,
34 And not have title of an earldom here.
35 PUCELLE.
36 Your honours shall perceive how I will work
37 To bring this matter to the wished end.
38 [_Drum sounds afar off._]
39 Hark! By the sound of drum you may perceive
40 Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.
41 [_Here sound an English march._]
42 There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread,
43 And all the troops of English after him.
44 [_French march._]
45 Now in the rearward comes the Duke and his.
46 Fortune in favour makes him lag behind.
47 Summon a parley; we will talk with him.
48 [_Trumpets sound a parley._]
49 CHARLES.
50 A parley with the Duke of Burgundy!
51 Enter Burgundy.
52 BURGUNDY.
53 Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
54 PUCELLE.
55 The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.
56 BURGUNDY.
57 What say’st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence.
58 CHARLES.
59 Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words.
60 PUCELLE.
61 Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France,
62 Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.
63 BURGUNDY.
64 Speak on, but be not over-tedious.
65 PUCELLE.
66 Look on thy country, look on fertile France,
67 And see the cities and the towns defaced
68 By wasting ruin of the cruel foe.
69 As looks the mother on her lowly babe
70 When death doth close his tender dying eyes,
71 See, see the pining malady of France;
72 Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
73 Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast.
74 O, turn thy edged sword another way;
75 Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help.
76 One drop of blood drawn from thy country’s bosom
77 Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore.
78 Return thee therefore with a flood of tears,
79 And wash away thy country’s stained spots.
80 BURGUNDY.
81 Either she hath bewitch’d me with her words,
82 Or nature makes me suddenly relent.
83 PUCELLE.
84 Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee,
85 Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.
86 Who join’st thou with but with a lordly nation
87 That will not trust thee but for profit’s sake?
88 When Talbot hath set footing once in France,
89 And fashion’d thee that instrument of ill,
90 Who then but English Henry will be lord,
91 And thou be thrust out like a fugitive?
92 Call we to mind, and mark but this for proof:
93 Was not the Duke of Orleans thy foe?
94 And was he not in England prisoner?
95 But when they heard he was thine enemy,
96 They set him free without his ransom paid,
97 In spite of Burgundy and all his friends.
98 See then, thou fight’st against thy countrymen,
99 And join’st with them will be thy slaughtermen.
100 Come, come, return; return, thou wandering lord;
101 Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.
102 BURGUNDY.
103 I am vanquished; these haughty words of hers
104 Have batter’d me like roaring cannon-shot,
105 And made me almost yield upon my knees.
106 Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen!
107 And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace.
108 My forces and my power of men are yours.
109 So, farewell, Talbot; I’ll no longer trust thee.
110 PUCELLE.
111 [_Aside_.] Done like a Frenchman: turn and turn again.
112 CHARLES.
113 Welcome, brave Duke! Thy friendship makes us fresh.
114 BASTARD.
115 And doth beget new courage in our breasts.
116 ALENÇON.
117 Pucelle hath bravely play’d her part in this,
118 And doth deserve a coronet of gold.
119 CHARLES.
120 Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,
121 And seek how we may prejudice the foe.
122 [_Exeunt._]