King Henry VI, First Part

ACT THIRD

SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house

[Flourish. Enter King, Exeter, Gloucester, Warwick, Somerset, and Suffolk; the Bishop of Winchester, Richard Plantagenet, and others. Gloucester offers to put up a bill; Winchester snatches it, tears it.]

WINCHESTER

 
Comest thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets studiously devised,
Humphrey of Gloucester? If thou canst accuse,
Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge.
Do it without invention, suddenly;
As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Presumptuous priest! this place commands my patience,
Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonor'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forged, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer,
Froward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree;
And for thy treachery, what's more manifest
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London-bridge as at the Tower.
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts are sifted
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.
 

WINCHESTER

 
Gloucester, I do defy thee. Lords, vouchsafe
To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious, or perverse,
As he will have me, how am I so poor?
Or how haps it I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do? – except I be provoked.
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that that hath incensed the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
No one but he should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast,
And makes him roar these accusations forth.
But he shall know I am as good —
 

GLOUCESTER

 
As good!
Thou bastard of my grandfather!
 

WINCHESTER

 
Aye, lordly sir; for what are you, I pray,
But one imperious in another's throne?
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Am I not protector, saucy priest?
 

WINCHESTER

 
And am not I a prelate of the church?
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps
And useth it to patronage his theft.
 

WINCHESTER

 
Unreverent Gloster!
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Thou art reverent
Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.
 

WINCHESTER

 
Rome shall remedy this.
 

WARWICK

 
Roam thither, then.
 

SOMERSET

 
My lord, it were your duty to forbear.
 

WARWICK

 
Ay, see the bishop be not overborne.
 

SOMERSET

 
Methinks my lord should be religious,
And know the office that belongs to such.
 

WARWICK

 
Methinks his lordship should be humbler;
It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.
 

SOMERSET

 
Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so near.
 

WARWICK

 
State holy or unhallow'd, what of that?
Is not his grace protector to the king?
 

PLANTAGENET

 
[Aside] Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue,
Lest it be said, 'Speak, sirrah, when you should:
Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?'
Else would I have a fling at Winchester.
 

KING

 
Uncles of Gloucester and of Winchester,
The special watchmen of our English weal,
I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,
To join your hearts in love and amity.
O, what a scandal is it to our crown,
That two such noble peers as ye should jar!
Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell
Civil dissension is a viperous worm
That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.
[A noise within, 'Down with the tawny-coats!'
What tumult's this?
 

WARWICK

 
An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the bishop's men.
 
 
[A noise again, 'Stones! stones!'
Enter Mayor.]
 

MAYOR

 
O, my good lords, and virtuous Henry,
Pity the city of London, pity us!
The bishop and the Duke of Gloucester's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble stones,
And banding themselves in contrary parts
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate
That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we for fear compell'd to shut our shops.
 

[Enter Serving-men, in skirmish, with bloody pates.]

KING

 
We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,
To hold your slaughtering hands and keep the peace.
Pray, uncle Gloucester, mitigate this strife.
 

FIRST SERVING-MAN. Nay, if we be forbidden stones, we 'll fall to it with our teeth

 
SECOND SERVING-MAN.
Do what ye dare, we are as resolute.
 

[Skirmish again.]

GLOUCESTER

 
You of my household, leave this peevish broil
And set this unaccustom'd fight aside.
 

THIRD SERVING-MAN

 
My lord, we know your grace to be a man
Just and upright; and, for your royal birth,
Inferior to none but to his Majesty:
And ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal,
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,
We and our wives and children all will fight,
And have our bodies slaughter'd by thy foes.
 

FIRST SERVING-MAN

 
Aye, and the very parings of our nails
Shall pitch a field when we are dead.
 

[Begin again.]

GLOUCESTER

 
Stay, stay, I say!
And if you love me, as you say you do,
Let me persuade you to forbear awhile.
 

KING

 
O, how this discord doth afflict my soul!
Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
 

WARWICK

 
Yield, my lord protector; yield, Winchester;
Except you mean with obstinate repulse
To slay your sovereign and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief and what murder too
Hath been enacted through your enmity;
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
 

WINCHESTER

 
He shall submit, or I will never yield.
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Compassion on the king commands me stoop;
Or I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.
 

WARWICK

 
Behold, my Lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stem and tragical?
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
 

KING

 
Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach
That malice was a great and grievous sin;
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?
 

WARWICK

 
Sweet king! the bishop hath a kindly gird.
For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent!
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?
 

WINCHESTER

 
Well, Duke of Gloucester, I will yield to thee;
Love for thy love and hand for hand I give.
 

GLOUCESTER

 
[Aside] Aye, but, I fear me, with a hollow heart. —
See here, my friends and loving countrymen;
This token serveth for a flag of truce
Betwixt ourselves and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble not!
 

WINCHESTER

 
[Aside] So help me God, as I intend it not!
 

KING

 
O loving uncle, kind Duke of Gloucester,
How joyful am I made by this contract!
Away, my masters! trouble us no more;
But join in friendship, as your lords have done.
 

FIRST SERVING-MAN

 
Content: I'll to the surgeon's.
SECOND SERVING-MAN.
And so will I.
 

THIRD SERVING-MAN

 
And I will see what physic the tavern affords.
 

[Exeunt Serving-men, Mayor, &C.]

WARWICK

 
Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign;
Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet.
We do exhibit to your majesty.
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Well urged, my Lord of Warwick: for, sweet prince,
An if your Grace mark every circumstance,
You have great reason to do Richard right:
Especially for those occasions
At Eltham place I told your majesty.
 

KING

 
And those occasions, uncle, were of force;
Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is
That Richard be restored to his blood.
 

WARWICK

 
Let Richard be restored to his blood;
So shall his father's wrongs be recompensed.
 

WINCHESTER

 
As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.
 

KING

 
If Richard will be true, not that alone
But all the whole inheritance I give
That doth belong unto the house of York,
From whence you spring by lineal descent.
 

PLANTAGENET

 
Thy humble servant vows obedience
And humble service till the point of death.
 

KING

 
Stoop then and set your knee against my foot;
And, in reguerdon of that duty done,
I girt thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,
And rise created princely Duke of York.
 

PLANTAGENET

 
And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall!
And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought against your majesty!
ALL.
Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!
 

SOMERSET

 
[Aside] Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Now will it best avail your majesty
To cross the seas and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,
As it disanimates his enemies.
 

KING

 
When Gloucester says the word, King Henry goes;
For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
 

GLOUCESTER

 
Your ships already are in readiness.
 

[Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but Exeter.]

EXETER

 
Aye, we may march in England or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue.
This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love,
And will at last break out into a flame;
As fest'red members rot but by degree,
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which in the time of Henry named the fifth
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe;
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all
And Henry born at Windsor lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time.
 

[Exit.]

SCENE II. France. Before Rouen

[Enter La Pucelle disguised, with four Soldiers with sacks upon their backs.]

PUCELLE

 
These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,
Through which our policy must make a breach:
Take heed, be wary how you place your words;
Talk like the vulgar sort of market men
That come to gather money for their corn.
If we have entrance, as I hope we shall,
And that we find the slothful watch but weak,
I 'll by a sign give notice to our friends,
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.
 

FIRST SOLDIER

 
Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,
And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;
Therefore we 'll knock. [Knocks.]
 

WATCH

 
[Within] Qui est la?
 

PUCELLE

 
Paysans, pauvres gens de France;
Poor market folks that come to sell their corn.
 

WATCH

 
Enter, go in; the market bell is rung.
 

PUCELLE

 
Now, Rouen, I 'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground.
 

[Exeunt.]

[Enter Charles, the Bastard of Orleans, Alencon, Reignier, and forces.]

CHARLES

 
Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem!
And once again we 'll sleep secure in Rouen.
 

BASTARD

 
Here enter'd Pucelle and her practisants;
Now she is there, how will she specify
Here is the best and safest passage in?
 

REIGNIER

 
By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower;
Which, once discern'd, shows that her meaning is,
No way to that, for weakness, which she enter'd.
 

[Enter La Pucelle, on the top, thrusting out a torch burning.]

PUCELLE

 
Behold, this is the happy wedding torch
That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen,
But burning fatal to the Talbotites!
 

[Exit.]

BASTARD

 
See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend;
The burning torch in yonder turret stands.
 

CHARLES

 
Now shine it like a comet of revenge,
A prophet to the fall of all our foes!
 

REIGNIER

 
Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends;
Enter, and cry, 'The Dauphin!' presently,
And then do execution on the watch.
 

[Alarum. Exeunt.]

[An alarum. Enter Talbot in an excursion.]

TALBOT

 
France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears,
If Talbot but survive thy treachery.
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escaped the pride of France.
 

[Exit.]

[An alarum: excursions.]

[Bedford, brought in sick in a chair. Enter Talbot and Burgundy without: within La Pucelle, Charles, Bastard, Alencon, and Reignier, on the walls.]

PUCELLE

 
Good morrow, gallants! want ye corn for bread?
I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast
Before he 'll buy again at such a rate:
'Twas full of darnel: do you like the taste?
 

BURGUNDY

 
Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtezan!
I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own,
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn.
 

CHARLES

 
Your Grace may starve perhaps before that time.
 

BEDFORD

 
O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason!
 

PUCELLE

 
What will you do, good graybeard? break a lance,
And run a tilt at death within a chair?
 

TALBOT

 
Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite,
Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours!
Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age,
And twit with cowardice a man half dead?
Damsel, I 'll have a bout with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
 

PUCELLE

 
Are ye so hot? yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;
If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.
 

[The English party whisper together in council. ]

 
God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?
 

TALBOT

 
Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?
 

PUCELLE

 
Belike your lordship takes us then for fools,
To try if that our own be ours or no.
 

TALBOT

 
I speak not to that railing Hecate,
But unto thee, Alencon, and the rest;
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
 

ALENCON

 
Signior, no.
 

TALBOT

 
Signior, hang! base muleters of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.
 

PUCELLE

 
Away, captains! let 's get us from the walls;
For Talbot means no goodness by his looks.
God be wi' you, my lord! we came but to tell you
That we are here.
 

[Exeunt from the walls.]

TALBOT

 
And there will we be too, ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!
Vow, Burgundy, by honor of thy house,
Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd in France,
Either to get the town again or die:
And I, as sure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror,
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried,
So sure I swear to get the town or die.
 

BURGUNDY

 
My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
 

TALBOT

 
But, ere we go, regard this dying prince,
The valiant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord,
We will bestow you in some better place,
Fitter for sickness and for crazy age.
 

BEDFORD

 
Lord Talbot, do not so dishonor me:
Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen,
And will be partner of your weal or woe.
 

BURGUNDY

 
Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you.
 

BEDFORD

 
Not to be gone from hence; for once I read
That stout Pendragon in his litter sick
Came to the field and vanquished his foes.
Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.
 

TALBOT

 
Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!
Then be it so: heavens keep old Bedford safe!
And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand
And set upon our boasting enemy.
 

[Exeunt all but Bedford and Attendants.]

[An alarum: excursions. Enter Sir John Fastolfe and a Captain.]

CAPTAIN

 
Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste?
 

FASTOLFE

 
Whither away! to save myself by flight:
We are like to have the overthrow again.
 

CAPTAIN

 
What! Will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?
 

FASTOLFE

 
Aye,
All the Talbots in the world, to save my life.
 

[Exit.]

CAPTAIN

 
Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee!
 

[Exit.]

[Retreat: excursions. La Pucelle, Alencon, and Charles fly.]

BEDFORD

 
Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please,
For I have seen our enemies' overthrow.
What is the trust or strength of foolish man?
They that of late were daring with their scoffs
Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves.
 

[Bedford dies, and is carried in by two in his chair.]

[An alarum. Re-enter Talbot, Burgundy, and the rest.]

TALBOT

 
Lost, and recover'd in a day again!
This is a double honor, Burgundy:
Yet heavens have glory for this victory!
 

BURGUNDY

 
Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy
Enshrines thee in his heart, and there erects
Thy noble deeds as valor's monuments.
 

TALBOT

 
Thanks, gentle duke. But where is Pucelle now?
I think her old familiar is asleep:
Now where 's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks?
What, all amort? Rouen hangs her head for grief
That such a valiant company are fled.
Now will we take some order in the town,
Placing therein some expert officers;
And then depart to Paris to the king,
For there young Henry with his nobles lie.
 

BURGUNDY

 
What Lord Talbot pleaseth Burgundy.
 

TALBOT

 
But yet, before we go, let 's not forget
The noble Duke of Bedford late deceased,
But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen:
A braver soldier never couched lance,
A gentler heart did never sway in court;
But kings and mightiest potentates must die,
For that's the end of human misery.
 

[Exeunt.]

SCENE III. The plains near Rouen

[Enter Charles, the Bastard of Orleans, Alencon, La Pucelle, and forces.]

PUCELLE

 
Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered:
Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,
For things that are not to be remedied.
Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while
And like a peacock sweep along his tail;
We 'll pull his plumes and take away his train,
If Dauphin and the rest will be but ruled.
 

CHARLES

 
We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence:
One sudden foil shall never breed distrust
 

BASTARD

 
Search out thy wit for secret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
 

ALENCON

 
We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenced like a blessed saint.
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
 

PUCELLE

 
Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:
By fair persuasions mix'd with sugar'd words
We will entice the Duke of Burgundy
To leave the Talbot and to follow us.
 

CHARLES

 
Aye, marry, sweeting, if we could do that,
France were no place for Henry's warriors;
Nor should that nation boast it so with us,
But be extirped from our provinces.
 

ALENCON

 
For ever should they be expulsed from France,
And not have tide of an earldom here.
 

PUCELLE

 
Your honours shall perceive how I will work
To bring this matter to the wished end.
 

[Drum sounds afar off.]

 
Hark! by the sound of drum you may perceive
Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.
Here sound an English march. Enter, and pass over
at a distance, Talbot and his forces.
There goes the Talbot, with his colors spread,
And all the troops of English after him.
 

[French march. Enter the Duke of Burgundy and forces.]

 
Now in the rearward comes the duke and his:
Fortune in favor makes him lag behind.
Summon a parley; we will talk with him.
 

[Trumpets sound a parley.]

CHARLES

 
A parley with the Duke of Burgundy!
 

BURGUNDY

 
Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
 

PUCELLE

 
The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.
 

BURGUNDY

 
What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence.
 

CHARLES

 
Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words.
 

PUCELLE

 
Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France!
Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.
 

BURGUNDY

 
Speak on; but be not over-tedious.
 

PUCELLE

 
Look on thy country, look on fertile France,
And see the cities and the towns defaced
By wasting ruin of the cruel foe.
As looks the mother on her lowly babe
When death doth close his tender dying eyes,
See, see the pining malady of France;
Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woful breast.
O, turn thy edged sword another way;
Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help.
One drop of blood drawn from thy country's bosom
Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore:
Return thee therefore with a flood of tears,
And wash away thy country's stained spots.
 

BURGUNDY

 
Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words,
Or nature makes me suddenly relent.
 

PUCELLE

 
Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee,
Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.
Who join'st thou with but with a lordly nation
That will not trust thee but for profit's sake?
When Talbot hath set footing once in France,
And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill,
Who then but English Henry will be lord,
And thou be thrust out like a fugitive?
Call we to mind, and mark but this for proof,
Was not the Duke of Orleans thy foe?
And was he not in England prisoner?
But when they heard he was thine enemy,
They set him free without his ransom paid,
In spite of Burgundy and all his friends.
See, then, thou fight'st against thy countrymen
And join'st with them will be thy slaughtermen.
Come, come, return; return, thou wandering lord;
Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.
 

BURGUNDY

 
I am vanquished; these haughty words of hers
Have batt'red me like roaring cannon-shot,
And made me almost yield upon my knees.
Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen,
And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace:
My forces and my power of men are yours:
So, farewell, Talbot; I 'll no longer trust thee.
 

PUCELLE

 
[Aside] Done like a Frenchman: turn and turn again!
 

CHARLES

 
Welcome, brave duke; thy friendship makes us fresh.
 

BASTARD

 
And doth beget new courage in our breasts.
 

ALENCON

 
Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in this,
And doth deserve a coronet of gold.
 

CHARLES

 
Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,
And seek how we may prejudice the foe.
 

[Exeunt.]