ACT III SCENE II

King Henry VI, Part I

ACT III SCENE II	France. Before Rouen.
[ Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE disguised, with four Soldiers with sacks upon their backs ]
JOAN LA 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.	5
	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,	10
	And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;
	Therefore we’ll knock.
[Knocks]
Watch	[Within] Qui est la?
JOAN LA PUCELLE	Paysans, pauvres gens de France;
	Poor market folks that come to sell their corn.	15
Watch	Enter, go in; the market bell is rung.
JOAN LA 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 OF ORLEANS	Here enter’d Pucelle and her practisants;	20
	Now she is there, how will she specify
	Where 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.	25
[ Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE on the top, thrusting out a torch burning ]
JOAN LA PUCELLE	Behold, this is the happy wedding torch
	That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen,
	But burning fatal to the Talbotites!
[Exit]
BASTARD OF ORLEANS	See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend;
	The burning torch in yonder turret stands.	30
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.	35
[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.	40
[Exit]
[ An alarum: excursions. BEDFORD, brought in sick in a chair. Enter TALBOT and BURGUNDY without: within JOAN LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, and REIGNIER, on the walls ]
JOAN LA 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!	45
	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!
JOAN LA PUCELLE	What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance,	50
	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?	55
	Damsel, I’ll have a bout with you again,
	Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
JOAN LA PUCELLE	Are ye so hot, sir? yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;
	If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.
[The English whisper together in council]
	God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?	60
TALBOT	Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?
JOAN LA 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;	65
	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.	70
JOAN LA 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,	75
	Or else reproach be Talbot’s greatest fame!
	Vow, Burgundy, by honour 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	80
	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.	85
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 dishonour me:	90
	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	95
	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!	100
	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 FASTOLFE and a Captain ]
Captain	Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste?
FASTOLFE	Whither away! to save myself by flight:	105
	We are like to have the overthrow again.
Captain	What! will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?
FASTOLFE	Ay,
	All the Talbots in the world, to save my life!
[Exit]
Captain	Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee!	110
[Exit]
[ Retreat: excursions. JOAN 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.	115
[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 honour, Burgundy:
	Yet heavens have glory for this victory!
BURGUNDY	Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy
	Enshrines thee in his heart and there erects	120
	Thy noble deeds as valour’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	125
	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.	130
BURGUNDY	What wills 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,	135
	A gentler heart did never sway in court;
	But kings and mightiest potentates must die,
	For that’s the end of human misery.
[Exeunt]

Continue to 1 Henry VI, Act 3, Scene 3