The First Part Of Henry The Sixth

1 Alarum. Excursions. Enter La Pucelle.
2 PUCELLE.
3 The Regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.
4 Now help, ye charming spells and periapts;
5 And ye choice spirits that admonish me,
6 And give me signs of future accidents. [_Thunder_]
7 You speedy helpers, that are substitutes
8 Under the lordly monarch of the north,
9 Appear and aid me in this enterprise.
10 Enter Fiends.
11 This speed and quick appearance argues proof
12 Of your accustom’d diligence to me.
13 Now, ye familiar spirits that are cull’d
14 Out of the powerful regions under earth,
15 Help me this once, that France may get the field.
16 [_They walk and speak not._]
17 O, hold me not with silence over-long!
18 Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,
19 I’ll lop a member off and give it you
20 In earnest of a further benefit,
21 So you do condescend to help me now.
22 [_They hang their heads._]
23 No hope to have redress? My body shall
24 Pay recompense if you will grant my suit.
25 [_They shake their heads._]
26 Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice
27 Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?
28 Then take my soul; my body, soul and all,
29 Before that England give the French the foil.
30 [_They depart._]
31 See, they forsake me. Now the time is come
32 That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest
33 And let her head fall into England’s lap.
34 My ancient incantations are too weak,
35 And hell too strong for me to buckle with.
36 Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust.
37 [_Exit._]
38 Excursions. Burgundy and York fight hand to hand. The French fly. La
39 Pucelle is taken.
40 YORK.
41 Damsel of France, I think I have you fast.
42 Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms,
43 And try if they can gain your liberty.
44 A goodly prize, fit for the devil’s grace!
45 See, how the ugly witch doth bend her brows,
46 As if with Circe she would change my shape!
47 PUCELLE.
48 Chang’d to a worser shape thou canst not be.
49 YORK.
50 O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man;
51 No shape but his can please your dainty eye.
52 PUCELLE.
53 A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee!
54 And may ye both be suddenly surprised
55 By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds!
56 YORK.
57 Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy tongue!
58 PUCELLE.
59 I prithee, give me leave to curse awhile.
60 YORK.
61 Curse, miscreant, when thou com’st to the stake.
62 [_Exeunt._]
63 Alarum. Enter Suffolk with Margaret in his hand.
64 SUFFOLK.
65 Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner.
66 [_Gazes on her._]
67 O fairest beauty, do not fear nor fly!
68 For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,
69 I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,
70 And lay them gently on thy tender side.
71 Who art thou? Say, that I may honour thee.
72 MARGARET.
73 Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
74 The King of Naples, whosoe’er thou art.
75 SUFFOLK.
76 An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call’d.
77 Be not offended, nature’s miracle,
78 Thou art allotted to be ta’en by me.
79 So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
80 Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
81 Yet, if this servile usage once offend,
82 Go and be free again as Suffolk’s friend.
83 [_She is going._]
84 O, stay! I have no power to let her pass;
85 My hand would free her, but my heart says no.
86 As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,
87 Twinkling another counterfeited beam,
88 So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.
89 Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak.
90 I’ll call for pen and ink, and write my mind.
91 Fie, de la Pole, disable not thyself;
92 Hast not a tongue? Is she not here?
93 Wilt thou be daunted at a woman’s sight?
94 Ay, beauty’s princely majesty is such
95 Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough.
96 MARGARET.
97 Say, Earl of Suffolk, if thy name be so,
98 What ransom must I pay before I pass?
99 For I perceive I am thy prisoner.
100 SUFFOLK.
101 How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit,
102 Before thou make a trial of her love?
103 MARGARET.
104 Why speak’st thou not? What ransom must I pay?
105 SUFFOLK.
106 She’s beautiful, and therefore to be woo’d;
107 She is a woman, therefore to be won.
108 MARGARET.
109 Wilt thou accept of ransom, yea, or no?
110 SUFFOLK.
111 Fond man, remember that thou hast a wife;
112 Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?
113 MARGARET.
114 I were best leave him, for he will not hear.
115 SUFFOLK.
116 There all is marr’d; there lies a cooling card.
117 MARGARET.
118 He talks at random; sure, the man is mad.
119 SUFFOLK.
120 And yet a dispensation may be had.
121 MARGARET.
122 And yet I would that you would answer me.
123 SUFFOLK.
124 I’ll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?
125 Why, for my king. Tush, that’s a wooden thing!
126 MARGARET.
127 He talks of wood. It is some carpenter.
128 SUFFOLK.
129 Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,
130 And peace established between these realms.
131 But there remains a scruple in that too;
132 For though her father be the King of Naples,
133 Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,
134 And our nobility will scorn the match.
135 MARGARET.
136 Hear ye, captain, are you not at leisure?
137 SUFFOLK.
138 It shall be so, disdain they ne’er so much.
139 Henry is youthful and will quickly yield.
140 Madam, I have a secret to reveal.
141 MARGARET.
142 What though I be enthrall’d? He seems a knight,
143 And will not any way dishonour me.
144 SUFFOLK.
145 Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
146 MARGARET.
147 Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French;
148 And then I need not crave his courtesy.
149 SUFFOLK.
150 Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause.
151 MARGARET.
152 Tush, women have been captivate ere now.
153 SUFFOLK.
154 Lady, wherefore talk you so?
155 MARGARET.
156 I cry you mercy, ’tis but _quid_ for _quo_.
157 SUFFOLK.
158 Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose
159 Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?
160 MARGARET.
161 To be a queen in bondage is more vile
162 Than is a slave in base servility;
163 For princes should be free.
164 SUFFOLK.
165 And so shall you,
166 If happy England’s royal king be free.
167 MARGARET.
168 Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?
169 SUFFOLK.
170 I’ll undertake to make thee Henry’s queen,
171 To put a golden scepter in thy hand
172 And set a precious crown upon thy head,
173 If thou wilt condescend to be my—
174 MARGARET.
175 What?
176 SUFFOLK.
177 His love.
178 MARGARET.
179 I am unworthy to be Henry’s wife.
180 SUFFOLK.
181 No, gentle madam, I unworthy am
182 To woo so fair a dame to be his wife,
183 And have no portion in the choice myself.
184 How say you, madam, are ye so content?
185 MARGARET.
186 An if my father please, I am content.
187 SUFFOLK.
188 Then call our captains and our colours forth.
189 And, madam, at your father’s castle walls
190 We’ll crave a parley, to confer with him.
191 A parley sounded. Enter Reignier on the walls.
192 See, Reignier, see, thy daughter prisoner!
193 REIGNIER.
194 To whom?
195 SUFFOLK.
196 To me.
197 REIGNIER.
198 Suffolk, what remedy?
199 I am a soldier, and unapt to weep
200 Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness.
201 SUFFOLK.
202 Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord:
203 Consent, and for thy honour give consent,
204 Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,
205 Whom I with pain have woo’d and won thereto;
206 And this her easy-held imprisonment
207 Hath gain’d thy daughter princely liberty.
208 REIGNIER.
209 Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?
210 SUFFOLK.
211 Fair Margaret knows
212 That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign.
213 REIGNIER.
214 Upon thy princely warrant, I descend
215 To give thee answer of thy just demand.
216 [_Exit from the walls._]
217 SUFFOLK.
218 And here I will expect thy coming.
219 Trumpets sound. Enter Reignier, below.
220 REIGNIER.
221 Welcome, brave earl, into our territories.
222 Command in Anjou what your honour pleases.
223 SUFFOLK.
224 Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,
225 Fit to be made companion with a king.
226 What answer makes your Grace unto my suit?
227 REIGNIER.
228 Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth
229 To be the princely bride of such a lord,
230 Upon condition I may quietly
231 Enjoy mine own, the country Maine and Anjou,
232 Free from oppression or the stroke of war,
233 My daughter shall be Henry’s, if he please.
234 SUFFOLK.
235 That is her ransom; I deliver her;
236 And those two counties I will undertake
237 Your Grace shall well and quietly enjoy.
238 REIGNIER.
239 And I again, in Henry’s royal name,
240 As deputy unto that gracious king,
241 Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith.
242 SUFFOLK.
243 Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,
244 Because this is in traffic of a king.
245 [_Aside_.] And yet, methinks, I could be well content
246 To be mine own attorney in this case.
247 I’ll over then to England with this news,
248 And make this marriage to be solemnized.
249 So, farewell, Reignier; set this diamond safe
250 In golden palaces, as it becomes.
251 REIGNIER.
252 I do embrace thee as I would embrace
253 The Christian prince, King Henry, were he here.
254 MARGARET.
255 Farewell, my lord; good wishes, praise, and prayers
256 Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret. [_Going_].
257 SUFFOLK.
258 Farewell, sweet madam; but hark you, Margaret,
259 No princely commendations to my king?
260 MARGARET.
261 Such commendations as becomes a maid,
262 A virgin and his servant, say to him.
263 SUFFOLK.
264 Words sweetly placed and modestly directed.
265 But, madam, I must trouble you again:
266 No loving token to his Majesty?
267 MARGARET.
268 Yes, my good lord; a pure unspotted heart,
269 Never yet taint with love, I send the King.
270 SUFFOLK.
271 And this withal. [_Kisses her_.]
272 MARGARET.
273 That for thyself. I will not so presume
274 To send such peevish tokens to a king.
275 [_Exeunt Reignier and Margaret._]
276 SUFFOLK.
277 O, wert thou for myself! But, Suffolk, stay;
278 Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth.
279 There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.
280 Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise.
281 Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount,
282 And natural graces that extinguish art;
283 Repeat their semblance often on the seas,
284 That, when thou com’st to kneel at Henry’s feet,
285 Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder.
286 [_Exit._]