The First Part Of Henry The Sixth

1 Enter York, Warwick and others.
2 YORK.
3 Bring forth that sorceress condemn’d to burn.
4 Enter La Pucelle, guarded, and a Shepherd.
5 SHEPHERD.
6 Ah, Joan, this kills thy father’s heart outright!
7 Have I sought every country far and near,
8 And, now it is my chance to find thee out,
9 Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?
10 Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I’ll die with thee!
11 PUCELLE.
12 Decrepit miser, base ignoble wretch!
13 I am descended of a gentler blood.
14 Thou art no father nor no friend of mine.
15 SHEPHERD.
16 Out, out! My lords, as please you, ’tis not so;
17 I did beget her, all the parish knows.
18 Her mother liveth yet, can testify
19 She was the first fruit of my bachelorship.
20 WARWICK.
21 Graceless, wilt thou deny thy parentage?
22 YORK.
23 This argues what her kind of life hath been,
24 Wicked and vile; and so her death concludes.
25 SHEPHERD.
26 Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!
27 God knows thou art a collop of my flesh;
28 And for thy sake have I shed many a tear.
29 Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan.
30 PUCELLE.
31 Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn’d this man
32 Of purpose to obscure my noble birth.
33 SHEPHERD.
34 ’Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest
35 The morn that I was wedded to her mother.
36 Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl.
37 Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time
38 Of thy nativity! I would the milk
39 Thy mother gave thee when thou suck’dst her breast
40 Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake!
41 Or else, when thou didst keep my lambs a-field,
42 I wish some ravenous wolf had eaten thee!
43 Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?
44 O, burn her, burn her! Hanging is too good.
45 [_Exit._]
46 YORK.
47 Take her away, for she hath lived too long,
48 To fill the world with vicious qualities.
49 PUCELLE.
50 First, let me tell you whom you have condemn’d:
51 Not one begotten of a shepherd swain,
52 But issued from the progeny of kings;
53 Virtuous and holy, chosen from above,
54 By inspiration of celestial grace,
55 To work exceeding miracles on earth.
56 I never had to do with wicked spirits.
57 But you, that are polluted with your lusts,
58 Stain’d with the guiltless blood of innocents,
59 Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,
60 Because you want the grace that others have,
61 You judge it straight a thing impossible
62 To compass wonders but by help of devils.
63 No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been
64 A virgin from her tender infancy,
65 Chaste and immaculate in very thought;
66 Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused,
67 Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.
68 YORK.
69 Ay, ay; away with her to execution!
70 WARWICK.
71 And hark ye, sirs; because she is a maid,
72 Spare for no faggots, let there be enow.
73 Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake,
74 That so her torture may be shortened.
75 PUCELLE.
76 Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?
77 Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity,
78 That warranteth by law to be thy privilege:
79 I am with child, ye bloody homicides.
80 Murder not then the fruit within my womb,
81 Although ye hale me to a violent death.
82 YORK.
83 Now heaven forfend! The holy maid with child?
84 WARWICK.
85 The greatest miracle that e’er ye wrought!
86 Is all your strict preciseness come to this?
87 YORK.
88 She and the Dauphin have been juggling.
89 I did imagine what would be her refuge.
90 WARWICK.
91 Well, go to; we’ll have no bastards live,
92 Especially since Charles must father it.
93 PUCELLE.
94 You are deceived; my child is none of his.
95 It was Alençon that enjoy’d my love.
96 YORK.
97 Alençon, that notorious Machiavel!
98 It dies and if it had a thousand lives.
99 PUCELLE.
100 O, give me leave, I have deluded you.
101 ’Twas neither Charles nor yet the Duke I named,
102 But Reignier, King of Naples, that prevail’d.
103 WARWICK.
104 A married man! That’s most intolerable.
105 YORK.
106 Why, here’s a girl! I think she knows not well—
107 There were so many—whom she may accuse.
108 WARWICK.
109 It’s sign she hath been liberal and free.
110 YORK.
111 And yet, forsooth, she is a virgin pure!
112 Strumpet, thy words condemn thy brat and thee.
113 Use no entreaty, for it is in vain.
114 PUCELLE.
115 Then lead me hence, with whom I leave my curse:
116 May never glorious sun reflex his beams
117 Upon the country where you make abode;
118 But darkness and the gloomy shade of death
119 Environ you, till mischief and despair
120 Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!
121 [_Exit, guarded._]
122 YORK.
123 Break thou in pieces and consume to ashes,
124 Thou foul accursed minister of hell!
125 Enter Bishop of Winchester as Cardinal, attended.
126 WINCHESTER.
127 Lord Regent, I do greet your Excellence
128 With letters of commission from the King.
129 For know, my lords, the states of Christendom,
130 Moved with remorse of these outrageous broils,
131 Have earnestly implored a general peace
132 Betwixt our nation and the aspiring French;
133 And here at hand the Dauphin and his train
134 Approacheth to confer about some matter.
135 YORK.
136 Is all our travail turn’d to this effect?
137 After the slaughter of so many peers,
138 So many captains, gentlemen and soldiers,
139 That in this quarrel have been overthrown
140 And sold their bodies for their country’s benefit,
141 Shall we at last conclude effeminate peace?
142 Have we not lost most part of all the towns,
143 By treason, falsehood, and by treachery,
144 Our great progenitors had conquered?
145 O, Warwick, Warwick! I foresee with grief
146 The utter loss of all the realm of France.
147 WARWICK.
148 Be patient, York; if we conclude a peace,
149 It shall be with such strict and severe covenants
150 As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby.
151 Enter Charles, Alençon, Bastard, Reignier and others.
152 CHARLES.
153 Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed
154 That peaceful truce shall be proclaim’d in France,
155 We come to be informed by yourselves
156 What the conditions of that league must be.
157 YORK.
158 Speak, Winchester, for boiling choler chokes
159 The hollow passage of my poison’d voice
160 By sight of these our baleful enemies.
161 WINCHESTER.
162 Charles, and the rest, it is enacted thus:
163 That, in regard King Henry gives consent,
164 Of mere compassion and of lenity,
165 To ease your country of distressful war,
166 And suffer you to breathe in fruitful peace,
167 You shall become true liegemen to his crown.
168 And, Charles, upon condition thou wilt swear
169 To pay him tribute and submit thyself,
170 Thou shalt be placed as viceroy under him,
171 And still enjoy the regal dignity.
172 ALENÇON.
173 Must he be then as shadow of himself?
174 Adorn his temples with a coronet,
175 And yet, in substance and authority,
176 Retain but privilege of a private man?
177 This proffer is absurd and reasonless.
178 CHARLES.
179 ’Tis known already that I am possess’d
180 With more than half the Gallian territories,
181 And therein reverenced for their lawful king.
182 Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish’d,
183 Detract so much from that prerogative
184 As to be call’d but viceroy of the whole?
185 No, lord ambassador, I’ll rather keep
186 That which I have than, coveting for more,
187 Be cast from possibility of all.
188 YORK.
189 Insulting Charles! Hast thou by secret means
190 Used intercession to obtain a league,
191 And, now the matter grows to compromise,
192 Stand’st thou aloof upon comparison?
193 Either accept the title thou usurp’st,
194 Of benefit proceeding from our king
195 And not of any challenge of desert,
196 Or we will plague thee with incessant wars.
197 REIGNIER.
198 My lord, you do not well in obstinacy
199 To cavil in the course of this contract.
200 If once it be neglected, ten to one
201 We shall not find like opportunity.
202 ALENÇON.
203 To say the truth, it is your policy
204 To save your subjects from such massacre
205 And ruthless slaughters as are daily seen
206 By our proceeding in hostility;
207 And therefore take this compact of a truce,
208 Although you break it when your pleasure serves.
209 WARWICK.
210 How say’st thou, Charles? Shall our condition stand?
211 CHARLES.
212 It shall; only reserv’d you claim no interest
213 In any of our towns of garrison.
214 YORK.
215 Then swear allegiance to his Majesty,
216 As thou art knight, never to disobey
217 Nor be rebellious to the crown of England,
218 Thou, nor thy nobles, to the crown of England.
219 [_Charles and the rest give tokens of fealty._]
220 So, now dismiss your army when ye please;
221 Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still,
222 For here we entertain a solemn peace.
223 [_Exeunt._]