Hark! By the sound of drum you may perceive

  Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward30.

  Here sound an English march

  There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread31,

  And all the troops of English after him.

  [Here sound a] French march

  Now in the rearward comes the duke and his:

  Fortune in34 favour makes him lag behind.

  Summon a parley35: we will talk with him.

  Trumpets sound a parley

  CHARLES    A parley with the Duke of Burgundy.

  [Enter Burgundy with soldiers]

  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 enchant40 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-tedious43.

  PUCELLE    Look on thy country, look on fertile France,

  And see the cities and the towns defaced

  By wasting46 ruin of the cruel foe,

  As looks the mother on her lowly47 babe

  When death doth close his tender-dying48 eyes.

  See, see the pining malady of France49:

  Behold the wounds, the most unnatural50 wounds,

  Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast.

  O turn thy edgèd52 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 stainèd57 spots.

  BURGUNDY    Either she hath bewitched me with her words,

  Or nature59 makes me suddenly relent.

  PUCELLE    Besides, all French and France exclaims on60 thee,

  Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny61.

  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 fashioned 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 but68 this for proof:

  Was not the Duke of Orléans 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 them75 will be thy slaughtermen.

  Come, come, return; return, thou wandering76 lord:

  Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.

  Aside

  BURGUNDY    I am vanquished: these haughty78 words of hers

  Have battered me like roaring cannon-shot,

  And made me almost yield upon my knees.

  Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen:

  And, lords, accept this hearty82 kind embrace.

  My forces and my power83 of men are yours.

  So farewell, Talbot: I’ll no longer trust thee.

  Aside

  PUCELLE    Done like a Frenchman: turn and turn again.

  CHARLES    Welcome, brave duke: thy friendship makes us fresh86.

  BASTARD    And doth beget87 new courage in our breasts.

  ALENÇON    Pucelle hath bravely88 played her part in this,

  And doth deserve a coronet89 of gold.

  CHARLES    Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,

  And seek how we may prejudice91 the foe.

  Exeunt

  Act 3 Scene 4

  running scene 12

  Enter King [Henry VI], Gloucester, [Bishop of] Winchester, [Richard Plantagenet, now Duke of] York, Suffolk, Somerset, Warwick, Exeter, [Vernon, Basset and others]. To them, with his Soldiers, Talbot

  TALBOT    My gracious prince, and honourable peers,

  Hearing of your arrival in this realm,

  I have awhile given truce unto my wars,

  To do my duty4 to my sovereign:

  In sign whereof, this arm, that hath reclaimed5

  To your obedience fifty fortresses,

  Twelve cities and seven walled towns of strength,

  Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem8,

  Lets fall his sword before your highness’ feet,

  And with submissive loyalty of heart

  Ascribes the glory of his conquest got

  He kneels

  First to my God and next unto your grace.

  KING HENRY VI    Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Gloucester,

  That hath so long been resident in France?

  GLOUCESTER    Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.

  To Talbot

  KING HENRY VI    Welcome, brave captain and victorious lord.

  When I was young, as yet I am not old,

  I do remember how my father said

  A stouter champion19 never handled sword.

  Long since we were resolvèd of your truth20,

  Your faithful service and your toil in war,

  Yet never have you tasted our reward,

  Or been reguerdoned23 with so much as thanks,

  Because till now we never saw your face.

  Talbot rises

  Therefore stand up, and for these good deserts25

  We here create you Earl of Shrewsbury,

  And in our coronation take your place.

  Sennet. Flourish

  Exeunt all but Vernon and Basset

  VERNON    Now sir, to you that were so hot28 at sea,

  Disgracing of these colours29 that I wear

  In honour of my noble lord of York,

  Dar’st thou maintain the former words thou spak’st?

  BASSET    Yes, sir, as well as you dare patronage32

  The envious barking of your saucy33 tongue

  Against my lord the Duke of Somerset.

  VERNON    Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is35.

  BASSET    Why, what is he? As good a man as York.

  VERNON    Hark ye, not so: in witness, take ye that.

  Strikes him

  BASSET    Villain, thou know’st the law of arms38 is such

  That whoso draws a sword ’tis present39 death,

  Or else this blow should broach40 thy dearest blood.

  But I’ll unto his majesty, and crave41

  I may have liberty42 to venge this wrong,

  When thou shalt see I’ll meet thee to thy cost.

  VERNON    Well, miscreant44, I’ll be there as soon as you,

  And after45 meet you sooner than you would.

  Exeunt

  Act 4 Scene 1

  running scene 13

  Enter King [Henry VI], Gloucester, [Bishop of] Winchester, York, Suffolk, Somerset, Warwick, Talbot, and [the] Governor [of Paris and] Exeter

  GLOUCESTER    Lord Bishop, set the crown upon his head.

  Crowns King Henry

  WINCHESTER    God save King Henry, of that name the sixth!

  GLOUCESTER    Now, Governor of Paris, take your oath,

  That you elect4 no other king but him;

  Esteem5 none friends but such as are his friends,

  And none your foes but such as shall pretend6

  Malicious practices against his state:

  This shall ye do, so help you righteous God.

  Enter Falstaff

  FALSTAFF    My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais

  To haste unto your coronation,

  He shows the letter

  A letter was delivered to my hands,

  Writ to your grace from th’Duke of Burgundy.

  TALBOT    Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!

  I vowed, base knight, when I did meet thee next,

  Plucks it off

  To tear the Garter from thy craven’s15 leg,

  Which I have done, because unworthily

  Thou wast installèd in that high degree.

  Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:

  This dastard19, at the battle of Patay,

  When but in all I was six thousand strong

  And that the French were almost ten to one,

  Before we met or that a stroke was given,

  Like to a trusty squire did run away:

  In which assault we lost twelve hundred men.

  Myself and divers25 gentlemen beside

  Were there surprised and taken prisoners.

  Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss:

  Or whether that such cowards ought to wear

  This ornament of knighthood: yea or no?

  GLOUCESTER    To say the truth, this fact30 was infamous

  And ill beseeming any common31 man,

  Much more a knight, a captain32 and a leader.

  TALBOT    When first this order was ordained, my lords,

  Knights of the Garter were of noble birth,

  Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage35,

  Such as were grown to credit36 by the wars:

  Not fearing death, nor shrinking for37 distress,

  But always resolute in most extremes.

  He then that is not furnished in this sort39

  Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,

  Profaning this most honourable order,

  And should, if I were worthy to be judge,

  Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain43

  That doth presume to boast of gentle44 blood.

  KING HENRY VI    Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear’st thy doom45:

  Be packing46, therefore, thou that wast a knight:

  Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.

  [Exit Falstaff]

  And now, my Lord Protector, view the letter

  Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.

  GLOUCESTER    What means his grace, that he hath changed his style50?

  No more but51 plain and bluntly ‘To the king’?

  Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?

  Or doth this churlish superscription53

  Pretend54 some alteration in good will?

  Reads

  What’s here? — ‘I have upon especial cause,

  Moved with compassion of my country’s wrack56,

  Together with the pitiful complaints

  Of such as your oppression feeds upon,

  Forsaken your pernicious59 faction

  And joined with Charles, the rightful King of France.’

  O monstrous treachery! Can this be so?

  That in alliance, amity and oaths,

  There should be found such false dissembling guile?

  KING HENRY VI    What? Doth my uncle Burgundy revolt64?

  GLOUCESTER    He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.

  KING HENRY VI    Is that the worst this letter doth contain?

  GLOUCESTER    It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.

  KING HENRY VI    Why then Lord Talbot there shall talk with him

  And give him chastisement69 for this abuse.

  How say you, my lord? Are you not content?

  TALBOT    Content, my liege? Yes: but that I am prevented71,

  I should have begged I might have been employed.

  KING HENRY VI    Then gather strength and march unto him straight73:

  Let him perceive how ill we brook74 his treason

  And what offence it is to flout75 his friends.

  TALBOT    I go, my lord, in heart desiring still76

  You may behold confusion77 of your foes.

  [Exit]

  Enter Vernon and Basset

  VERNON    Grant me the combat78, gracious sovereign.

  BASSET    And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.

  Pointing to Vernon

  RICHARD DUKE OF YORK    This is my servant80: hear him, noble prince.

  Pointing to Basset

  SOMERSET    And this is mine, sweet Henry, favour him.

  KING HENRY VI    Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.

  Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim83,

  And wherefore crave you combat, or with whom?

  VERNON    With him, my lord, for he hath done me wrong.

  BASSET    And I with him, for he hath done me wrong.

  KING HENRY VI    What is that wrong whereof you both complain?

  First let me know, and then I’ll answer you.

  BASSET    Crossing the sea from England into France,

  This fellow here with envious90 carping tongue,

  Upbraided me about the rose I wear,

  Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves92

  Did represent my master’s blushing cheeks,

  When stubbornly he did repugn94 the truth

  About a certain question in the law95

  Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him:

  With other vile and ignominious terms:

  In confutation of which rude98 reproach

  And in defence of my lord’s worthiness,

  I crave the benefit100 of law of arms.

  VERNON    And that is my petition101, noble lord:

  For though he seem with forgèd quaint conceit102

  To set a gloss upon103 his bold intent,

  Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him,

  And he first took exceptions at105 this badge,

  Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower

  Bewrayed the faintness107 of my master’s heart.

  RICHARD DUKE OF YORK    Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?

  SOMERSET    Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,

  Though ne’er so cunningly you smother it.

  KING HENRY VI    Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick111 men,

  When for so slight and frivolous a cause

  Such factious emulations113 shall arise?

  Good cousins114 both of York and Somerset,

  Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.

  RICHARD DUKE OF YORK    Let this dissension first be tried by fight,

  And then your highness shall command a peace.

  SOMERSET    The quarrel toucheth118 none but us alone:

  Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

  RICHARD DUKE OF YORK    There is my pledge120: accept it, Somerset.

  VERNON    Nay, let it rest121 where it began at first.

  BASSET    Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.

  GLOUCESTER    Confirm it so? Confounded123 be your strife,

  And perish ye with your audacious prate124:

  Presumptuous vassals125, are you not ashamed

  With this immodest126 clamorous outrage

  To trouble and disturb the king and us?

  And you, my lords, methinks you do not well

  To bear with their perverse objections129:

  Much less to take occasion130 from their mouths

  To raise a mutiny131 betwixt yourselves.

  Let me persuade you take a better course.

  EXETER    It grieves his highness: good my lords, be friends.

  KING HENRY VI    Come hither, you that would be combatants:

  Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour,

  Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.

  And you, my lords, remember where we are:

  In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:

  If they perceive dissension in our looks

  And that within ourselves140 we disagree,

  How will their grudging stomachs141 be provoked

  To wilful disobedience, and rebel142!

  Beside, what infamy will there arise,

  When foreign princes shall be certified144,

  That for a toy, a thing of no regard145,

  King Henry’s peers and chief nobility

  Destroyed themselves, and lost the realm of France!

  O, think upon the conquest of my father,

  My tender years, and let us not forgo149

  That for a trifle that150 was bought with blood.

  Let me be umpire in this doubtful151 strife:

  Putting on a red rose

  I see no reason, if I wear this rose,

  That any one should therefore be suspicious153

  I more incline to154 Somerset than York:

  Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both.

  As well they may156 upbraid me with my crown,

  Because, forsooth157, the King of Scots is crowned.

  But your discretions158 better can persuade

  Than I am able to instruct or teach:

  And therefore, as we hither came in peace,

  So let us still continue peace and love.

  Cousin of York, we institute162 your grace

  To be our regent in these parts163 of France: