Hell's

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?

Bur. 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.

Char. Your grace may starve, perhaps, before that
time.

Bed. O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason!
Puc. What will you do, good grey-beard? break a

lance,

And run a tilt at death within a chair?

Tal. 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.

Puc. Are you so hot, sir?-Yet, Pucelle, hold thy

peace;

If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.

[TAL. and the rest, consult together.
God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?
Tal. Dare ye come forth, and meet us in the field?
Puc. Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools,
To try if that our own be ours, or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecaté,

But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;

Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
Alen. Signior, no.

stead of Reignier, because Alencon, not Reignier, appears in the
ensuing scene. Johnson.

darnel;] So, in King Lear:

"Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow

"In our sustaining corn.'

"Darnel (says Gerard) hurteth the eyes, and maketh them dim, if it happen either in corne for breade, or drinke." Hence the old proverb-Lolio victitare, applied to such as were dim-sighted. Thus also, Ovid, Fast. I, 691:

"Et careant lolüs oculos vitiantibus agri.”

Pucelle means to intimate, that the corn she carried with her, had produced the same effect on the guards of Rouen; otherwise they would have seen through her disguise, and defeated her stratagem. Steevens.

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

Puc. Captains, away: let's get us from the walls;
For Talbot means no goodness, by his looks.-

God be wi' you, my lord! we came, sir, but to tell you'
That we are here. [Exeunt La Puc. &c. from the Walls.
Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!—
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
(Prick'd on by publick 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-betray'd town
Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried;
So sure I swear, to get the town, or die.

Bur. My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
Tal. 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.

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

Bur. Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you. Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read, That stout Pendragon, in his litter, sick,

5

we came, sir, but to tell you] The word-sir, which is wanting in the first folio, was judiciously supplied by the second.

Steevens.

That stout Pendragon, in his litter, &c.] This hero was Uther Pendragon, brother to Aurelius, and father to King Arthur.

Shakspeare has imputed to Pendragon an exploit of Aurelius, who, says Holinshed, "even sicke of a flixe as he was, caused himselfe to be carried forth in a litter: with whose presence his people were so incouraged, that encountering with the Saxons they wan the victorie." Hist. of Scotland, p. 99.

Harding, however, in his Chronicle (as I learn from Dr. Grey) gives the following account of Uther Pendragon:

"For which the king ordain'd a horse-litter
"To bear him so then unto Verolame,
"Where Ocea lay, and Oysa also in fear,

Came to the field, and vanquished his foes:
Methinks, I should revive the soldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal. 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 BUR. TAL. and Forces, leaving BED. and Others.

Alarum: Excursions. Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE, and a Captain.

Cap. Whither away, sir John Fastolfe, in such haste? Fast. Whither away? to save myself by flight;7

We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap. What! will you fly, and leave lord Talbot?
Fast.

Ay,

[Exit.

All the Talbots in the world, to save my life.
Cap. Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee! [Exit.
Retreat: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, LA PUCELLE,
ALENÇON, CHARLES, &c. and Exeunt, flying.

Bed. 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,

7

"That saint Albones now hight of noble fame, "Bet down the walles; but to him forth they came, "Where in battayle Ocea and Oysa were slayn. "The fielde he had, and thereof was full fayne." Steevens. save myself by flight;] I have no doubt that it was the exaggerated representation of Sir John Fastolfe's cowardice which the author of this play has given, that induced Shakspeare to give the name of Falstaff to his knight. Sir John Fastolfe did indeed fly at the battle of Patay in the year 1429; and is reproached by Talbot in a subsequent scene, for his conduct on that occasion; but no historian has said that he fled before Rouen. The change of the name had been already made, for throughout the old copy of this play, this flying general is erroneously called Falstaffe. Malone.

8 Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please;

For I have seen -] So, in St. Luke, ii, 29: "Lord, now lettest thoù thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Steevens.

Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves. [Dies, and is carried off in his Chair.

9

Alarum: Enter TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and Others.

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

Bur. Warlike and martial "Talbot, Burgundy matchlefr

Enshrines thee in his heart; and there erects

Thy noble deeds, as valour's monument.

Tal. 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 a-mort?1 Roüen hangs her head for grief,
That such a valiant company are fled.

Now will we take some order2 in the town,
Placing therein some expert officers;
And then depart to Paris, to the king;

For there young Henry, with his nobles, lies.
Bur. What wills lord Talbot, pleaseth Burgundy.
Tal. But yet, before we go, let's not forget
The noble duke of Bedford, late deceas'd,
But see his exequies fulfill'd in Roüen;
A braver soldier never couched lance,3
A gentler heart did never sway in court:
But kings, and mightiest potentates, must die;
For that's the end of human misery.

[Exeunt.

9 Dies, &c.] The Duke of Bedford died at Rouen in September, 1435, but not in any action before that town. Malone.

1 What, all a-mort?] i. e. quite dispirited; a frequent Gallicism. So, in The Taming of the Shrew:

2

"What, sweeting! all a-mort?" Steevens.

take some order -] i. e. make some necessary dispositions. So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"Whilst to take order for the wrong I went."

See also Othello, sc. ult. Steevens.

3 A braver soldier never couched lance,] So, in a subsequent scene, p. 76:

"A stouter champion never handled sword."

The same praise is expressed with more animation in the Third
Part of this play:

"Ne'er spur'd their coursers at the trumpet's sound."

Steevens.

Enter CHARLES, the Bastard, ALENÇON, LA PUCELLE, and Forces.

Puc. 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 rul'd.

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

Bast. Search out thy wit for secret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
Alen. We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenc'd like a blessed saint;
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
Pue. 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.

Char. Ay, 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.

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd from France,5 And not have title of an earldom here.

Puc. Your honour shall perceive how I will work, To bring this matter to the wished end. [Drums heard. Hark! by the sound of drum, you may perceive Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.

But be extirped from our provinces.] To extirp is to root out. So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603:

5

"The world shall gather to extirp our name." Steevens. expuls'd from France,] i. e. expelled. So, in Ben Jonson's Sejanus:

"The expulsed Apicata finds them there." Steevens.