Lords, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and several Attendants both on the English and French. The SCENE is partly in England, and partly in France.

SCENE

Westminster-Abbey.

ACT

I.

the

Dead March. Enter the funeral of King Henry Fifth, attended on by the Duke of Bedford, Re-5 gent of France; the Duke of Gloster, Protector; the Duke of Exeter, and the Earl of Warwick; the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset, &c.

I.

Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky;
And with them scourge the bad revolting stars,
That have consented unto Henry's death!
Henry the fifth, too famous to live long!
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.
Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command:
His brandish'dsword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;

Bed. HUNG be the heavens with black, 10 His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire,
yield day to night!
Comets, importing change of times and states,

1

More dazzled and drove back his enemies,
Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces.

Mr. Theobald observes, that, "the historical transactions contained in this play, take in the coinpass of above thirty years. I must observe, however, that our author, in the three parts of Henry VI. has not been very precise to the date and disposition of his facts; but shuffled them, backwards and forwards, out of time. For instance; the lord Talbot is kill'd at the end of the fourth act of this play, who in reality did not fall till the 13th of July 1453; and The Second Part of Henry VI. opens with the marriage of the king, which was solemniz'd eight years before Talbot's death, in the year 1445. Again, in the second part, dame Eleanor Cobham is introduced to insult queen Margaret; though her penance and banishment for sorcery happened three years before that princess came over to England. I could point out many other transgressions against history, as far as the order of time is concerned. Indeed, though there are several master-strokes in these three plays, which incontestably betray the workmanship of Shakspeare; yet I am almost doubtful whether they were entirely of his writing. g. And unless they were wrote by him very early, I should rather imagine them to have been brought to him as a director of the stage; and so have received some finishing beauties at his hand. An accurate observer will easily see, the diction of them is more obsolete, and the numbers more mean and prosaical, than in the generality of his genuine compositions."

What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech: | | Among the soldiers this is muttered,-
He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered.

Exe. We mourn in black; Why mourn we not
in blood?

Henry is dead, and never shall revive:
Upon a wooden coffin we attend;
And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triamphant car.
What? shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of him,
By magic verses have contriv'd his end?

That here you maintain several factions;
And, whilst a field should be dispatch'd and fought,
You are disputing of your generals.

5 One would have ling'ring wars with little cost;
Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings;
A third man thinks, without expence at all,
By guileful fair words peace may be obtain'd.
Awake, awake, English nobility;

10 Let not sloth dim your honours, new-begot:
Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms;
Of England's coat one half is cut away.

Ere. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, These tidings would call forth their flowing tides.

Win. He was a king blest of the King of Kings. 15 Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of France:--

Unto the French the dreadful judgment-day
So dreadful will not be, as was his sight.
The battles of the Lord of Hosts he fought:

The church's prayers made him so prosperous.

Glo. The church! where is it? Had not church-20

Let's

in peace!

to the altar:-Heralds, wait on us:-
Instead of gold, we'll offe, up our arms;
Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead.-
Posterity, await for wretched years,

When at their mothers' moisteyes babes shall suck;
Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.-
Henry the fifth! thy ghost I invocate;
Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils!
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright

Enter a Messenger.

Give me my steeled coat, I'll fight for France.-
Away with these disgraceful wailing robes!
Wounds I will lend the French instead of eyes,
To weep their intermissive miseries.

Enter to them another Messenger.

2 Mess. Lords, view these letters, full of bad
mischance.

France is revolted from the English quite;
Except some petty towns of no import:
The Dauphin Charles is crowned king in Rheims;
The bastard of Orleans with him is join'd;
Reignier, duke of Anjou, doth take his párt;
The duke of Alençon flieth to his side.

[Exit.

Exe. The Dauphin crowned king! all ily to 300, whither shall we fly from this reproach? [him ! Glo. We will notfly butto our enemies' throats!Bedford, if thou be slack, I'll fight it out.

Bed. Gloster, why doubt'st thou of my for

wardness?

35 An army have I muster'd in my thoughts,
Wherewith already France is over-run.
Enter a third Messenger.

3 Mess. My gracious lords, -to add to your la-
ments,

40 Wherewith you now bedew king Henry's hearse, -
I must inform you of a dismal tight,
Betwixt the stout lord Talbot and the French.
Win. What! wherein Talbot overcame? is't so?
3 Mess. O, no; wherein lord Talbot was o'er-
thrown:
The circumstance I'll tell you more at large.
The tenth of August last, this dreadful lord,

45

Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all! Retiring from the siege of Orleans,

Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,

Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture:

Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans,
Paris, Guisors, Poitiers, are all quite lost.

Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Hen

ry's corse?

Having full scarce' six thousand in his troop,
50 By three and twenty thousand of the French
Was round encompassed and set upon:
No leisure had he to enrank his men;
He wanted pikes to set before his archers;
Instead whereof, sharpstakes, pluck'dout of hedges,

55 They pitched in the ground confusedly,
To keep the horsemen off from breaking in.
More than three hours the fight continued;
Where valiant Talbot, above human thought,
Enacted wonders with his sword and lance.

Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns
Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death.
Glo. Is Paris lost? Is Roan yielded up?
If Henry were recall'd to life again, [ghost.
These news would cause him once more yield the
Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was 60 Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand bim;

us'd?

[money. Mess. No treachery; but want of men and

Here, there, and every where, enrag'd he flew :
The French exclaim'd, The devil was in arms;

Nourish here signifies a nurse. 2i. e. their miseries which have had only a short intermission from Henry the Fifth's death to my coming amongst them. i. e. scarcely.

3

All

All the whole army stood agaz'd on him:
His soldiers, spying his undaunted spirit,
A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain,
And rush'd into the bowels of the battle.
Here had the conquest fully been seal'd up,
If Sir John Fastolfe had not play'd the coward:
He being in the vaward (plac'd behind,
With purpose to relieve and follow them)
Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke.
Hence grew the general wreck and massacre;
Enclosed were they with their enemies:
A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace,
Thrust Talbot with a spear into the back;
Whomall France, withherchiefassembledstrength,
Durst not presume to look once in the face.

Bed. Is Talbot slain? then I will slay myself,
For living idly here, in pomp and ease,
Whilst such a worthy leader, wanting aid,
Unto his dastard foc-men is betray'd.

10 Either they must be dieted, like mules,
And have their provender ty'd to their mouths,
Or piteous they will look like drowned mice.
Reig. Let'sraise the siege; Whyliveweidlyhere?
Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear:

15 Remaineth none, but mad-brain'd Salisbury;
And he may well in fretting spend his gall,
Nor men, nor money, hath he to make war.
Char. Sound, sound alarum; we will rush on
them.

3 Mess. O no, he lives; but is took prisoner, 20 Now for the honour of the forlorn French:And lord Scales with him, and lord Hungerford: Most of the rest slaughter'd, or took, likewise.

Bed. Hisransom there is none but I shall pay:
I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne,
His crown shall be the ransom of my friend;
Four of their lords I'll change for one of ours.-
Farewell, my masters; to my task will I;
Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make,
To keep our great Saint George's feast withal:
Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take,
Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake.
3 Mess. So you had need; for Orleans is besieg'd;
The English army is grown weak and faint:
The earl of Salisbury craveth supply;
And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,
Since they, so few, watch such a multitude.

Exe. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry

25

30

Him I forgive my death, that killeth me,

When he sees mego back one foot, or fly. [Exeunt. [Here alarum, they are beaten back by the English, with great loss.

Re-enter Charles, Alençon, and Reignier.
Char. Who ever saw the like? what men have

[fled,
Dogs! cowards! dastards!-I would ne'er have
But that they left me 'midst my enemies.
Reig. Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey.

Alen. Froisard, a countryman of ours, records,

3 England all Olivers and Rowlands 2 bred,
During the time Edward the third did reign.
More truly now may this be verified;
For none but Sampsons, and Goliasses,
It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!
40 Leanraw-bon'drascals! who would e'er suppose
They had such courage and audacity?

Char. Let's leave this town; for they are hairbrain'd slaves,

To view the artillery and munition;

And hunger will enforce them to be more eager:

And then I will proclaimyoung Henry king. [Exit. 45 Of old I know them; rather with their teeth

Exe. To Eltham will I, where the young king is,

Being ordain'd his special governor;

And for his safety there I'll best advise.

[Exit.

Win. Each hath his place and function to attend:

The walls they'll tear down, than forsake the siege.
Reig. I think, by some odd gimmals 3 or device,
Their arms are set, like clocks, still to strike on;
Else they could ne'er hold out so, as they do.

I am left out; for me nothing remains.
But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office;
The king from Eltham I intend to send,

50 By my consent, we'll e'en let them alone.
Alen. Be it so.

And sit at chiefest stern of public weal.

SCENE II.

Before Orleans in France. Enter Charles, Alençon, and Reignier, marching with a Drum and Soldiers.

Char. Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens,

Enter the Bastard of Orleans.

55 Dau. Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us.
Bast. Methinks, your looks are sad, your chear +
appall'd;

Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?
Be not dismay'd, for succour is at hand:

i. e. the back part of the van or front. 2 These were two of the most famous in the list of, Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are render'dsoridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers, that from thence arose that saying amongst our plain and sensible ancestors, of giving one a Rowland for his Oliver, to signify the matching one incredible lye with another; or, as in the modern acceptation of the proverb, to give a person as good a one as he brings. 3 Agimmal is a api piece of jointed work, where one piece moves within another, whence it is taken at large for an engine. It is now vulgarly called a gimcrack. + Chear is countenance, appearance.

What's past, and what's to come, she can descry.
Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my 2 words,

For they are certain and unfallible.

Pucel. And, while I live, I'll never fly no man. [Herethey fight, and Joan la Pucelle overcomes. Dau. Stay, stay thy hands; thou art an Amazon, And fightest with the sword of Deborah. Pucel. Christ's mother helps me, else I were too [help me;

weak.

Dau. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that must

Dau. Go, call her in: But first, to try her skill, 10 Impatiently I burn with thy desire;

Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place:
Question her proudly, let thy looks be stern;-
By this means shall we sound what skill she hath.

Enter Joan la Pucelle.

My heart and hands thou hast at once subdu'd.
Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,
Let me thy servant, and not sovereign, be;
Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus.

Reig. Fairmaid, is't thouwiltdo thesewond'rous 15 Pucel. I must not yield to any rites of love,

feats?
[me?
Pucel. Reignier, is't thou that thinkest to beguile
Where is the Dauphin? come, come from behind;
I know thee well, though never seen before.
Be not amaz'd, there's nothing hid from me :
In private will I talk with thee apart;-
Stand back, you lords, and give us leave awhile.
Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.
Pucel. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's

daughter,

My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.
Heaven, and our Lady gracious, hath it pleas'd
To shine on my contemptible estate:

Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,

20

For my profession's sacred from above:
When I have chased all thy foes from hence,
Then will I think upon a recompence.

Dau. Mean time, look gracious on thy pro

strate thrall.

Reig. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk. Alen. Doubtless, he shrives this woman to her sinock;

Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. 23 Reig. Shall we disturb him, since he keeps no

mean?

know:

Alen. He may mean more than we poor men do [tongues. These women are shrewd tempters with their

And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks, 30 Reig. My lord, where are you? what devise

God's mother deigned to appear to me;
And, in a vision full of majesty,

Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
And free my country from calamity:
Her aid she promis'd, and assur'd success:
In complete glory she reyeal'd herself;
And, whereas I was black and swart before,
With those clear rays which she infus'd on ine,
That beauty am I blest with, which you see.
Ask me what question thou canst possible,
And I will answer unpremeditated:

My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st,
And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
Resolve on this: Thou shalt be fortunate,
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

Dau. Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high

terms:

Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,-
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me;

Pucel. Assign'd I am to be the Englishscourge.
This night the siege assuredly I'll raise:
Expect St. Martin's summer 3, halcyon days,

40 Since I have enter'd thus into these wars.
Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,
Till, by broad spreading, it disperse to nought.
With Henry's death the English circle ends;

45 Dispersed are the glories it included.
Now am I like that proud insulting ship,
Which Cæsar and his fortune bare at once.
Dau. Was Mahomet inspired with a dove +?
Thou with an eagle art inspired then.

And, if thou vanquishest, thy words are true; 50 Helen, the mother of great Constantine,
Otherwise, I renounce all confidence.

■ There were no nine sibyls of Rome! but our author confounds things, and mistakes this for the nine books of Sibylline oracles, brought to one of the Tarquins. 2 It should be read, believe her words. 3 That is, expect prosperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after winter has begun. 4 Mahomet had a dove, which he used to feed with wheat out of his ear; which dove, when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomet's shoulder, and thrust its bill in to find its breakfast; Mahomet persuading the rude and simple Arabians, that it was the Holy Ghost that gave him advice. 5 Meaning, the four daughters of Philip mentioned in the Acts.

Dau.

Dau. Presently we'll try: -Come, let's away about it:

No prophet will I trust, if she prove false.

SCENE III.
Torver-Gates in London.

[Exeunt.

Glo. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator; Thou, that contriv'dst to murder our dead lord; Thou, that giv'st whores indulgences to sin 4: I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat 5,

5 If thou proceed in this thy insolence.

Enter Gloster, with his Serving-men.
Glo. I am come to survey the Tower this day;
Since Henry's death, I fear, there is convey-10

ance.

Where be these warders, that they wait not here?
Open the gates: it is Gloster that calls.

1 Ward. Who's there, that knocketh so im-
periously?

1 Man. It is the noble duke of Gloster.
2 Ward. Whoe'er he be, you may not be let in.
1 Man. Villains, answer you so the lord pro-

tector?

1 Ward. The Lord protect him! SO answer hinı :

We do no otherwise than we are will'd.

[foot:

Win. Nay, stand thou back, I will not budge a
This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain 6,
To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt.

Glo. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back:
Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearing-cloth
I'll use, to carry thee out of this place.
[face.
Win. Do what thou dar'st; I beard thee to thy
Glo. What? am I dar'd, and bearded to my
Draw, men, for all this privileged place; [face?-
15 Blue-coats to tawny-coats. Priest, beware thy
beard;

I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly:
Under my feet I'll stamp thy cardinal's hat;
In spite of pope, or dignities of church,

we 20 Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.
Win. Gloster, thou'lt answer this before thepope.
Glo. Winchester goose?! I cry-A rope! a
[stay?
Now beat them hence, Why do you let them

Glo. Who will'd you? or whose will stands, but mine?

rope!

There's none protector of the realm, but I.- 23 Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolfin sheep's array.-
Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize:
Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?
Gloster's Menrush at the Tower-Gates, and Wood-

vile, the Lieutenant, speaks within.

Out, tawny-coats!-out, scarlet hypocrite! Here Gloster's Men beat out the Cardinal's; and enter in the hurly-burly, the Mayor of London and his Officers.

magistrates,

Wood. What noise is this? what traitors have 30 Mayor. Fic, lords! that you, being supreme we here? Glo. Lieutenant, is it you, whose voice I hear? Open the gates; here's Gloster, that would enter. Wood. Have patience, noble duke; I may not

Thus contumeliously should break the peace! Glo. Peace, mayor; for thou know'st little of my wrongs:

35 Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king,
Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.

Win. Here's Gloster too, a foe to citizens;
One that still motions war, and never peace,
O'er-charging your free purses with large fines;
40 That seeks to overthrow religion,
Because he is protector of the realm;
And would have armour here out of the Tower,
To crown himself king, and suppress the prince.

Thou art no friend to God, or to the king:
Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly.
Serv. Open the gates there to the lord protector: 45
We'll burst them open, if that you come not
quickly.

Glo. I will not answer thee with words, but blows. [Here they skirmish again. Mayor. Nought rests for me, in this tumultuous strife, But to make open proclamation: Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou canst.

Enter to the Protector, at the Tower-Gates, Winchester and his men in tawny coats 2. Win. How now, ambitious Humphry? what 50 Off: All manner of men, assembled here in arms this

means this?

day, against God's peace and the king's, we charge and command you, in his highness' name to repair to your several dwelling places; and not wear, handle, or use, any sword, weapon, 55 or dagger, henceforward, upon pain of death.

• Conveyance means theft. 2 A tawny coat was the dress of the officer whose business it was to summon offenders to an ecclesiastical court. These are the proper attendants therefore on the bishop of Winchester. Alluding to his shaven crown. In Weever's Funeral Monuments, p. 154, Robert Baldocke, bishop of London, is called a peeled priest, pilide clerk, seemingly in allusion to his shaven crown alone. So, bald-head was a term of scorn and mockery, + The public stews were formerly under the district of the bishop of Winchester. $ This means, I believe, I'll tumble thee into thy great hat, and shake thee, as bran and meal are shaken in a sieve. 6 Maundrel, in his Travels, says, that about four miles from Damascus is a high hill, reported to be the same on which Çain slew his brother Abel, 7 A strumpet, or the consequences of her love, was a Winchester goose.