Текст книги "William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition"

Автор книги: William Shakespeare

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3.8 ⌈Flourish.⌉ Enter King Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, the Bishop of Winchester, the Duke of Exeter; Richard Duke of York, the Earl of Warwick, and Vernon ⌈with white roses⌉; the Earl of Suffolk, the Duke of Somerset, and Basset ⌈with red roses⌉. To them, with his soldiers, enter Lord Talbot

TALBOT

My gracious prince and honourable peers,

Hearing of your arrival in this realm

I have a while given truce unto my wars

To do my duty to my sovereign;

In sign whereof, this arm that hath reclaimed

To your obedience fifty fortresses,

Twelve cities, and seven walled towns of strength,

Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem,

Lets fall his sword before your highness’ feet,

And with submissive loyalty of heart

Ascribes the glory of his conquest got

First to my God, and next unto your grace.

⌈He kneels⌉

KING HENRY

Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloucester,

That hath so long been resident in France?

GLOUCESTER

Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.

KING HENRY (to Talbot)

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 champion never handled sword.

Long since we were resolvèd of your truth,

Your faithful service and your toil in war,

Yet never have you tasted our reward,

Or been reguerdoned with so much as thanks,

Because till now we never saw your face.

Therefore stand up,

Talbot rises

and for these good deserts

We here create you Earl of Shrewsbury;

And in our coronation take your place.

Sennet. Exeunt all but Vernon and Basset

VERNON

Now sir, to you that were so hot at sea,

Disgracing of these colours 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 patronage

The envious barking of your saucy tongue

Against my lord the Duke of Somerset.

VERNON

Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.

BASSET

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

VERNON

Hark ye, not so. In witness, take ye that.

Vernon strikes him

BASSET

Villain, thou know‘st the law of arms is such

That whoso draws a sword ’tis present death,

Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood.

But I’ll unto his majesty and crave

I may have liberty to venge this wrong,

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

VERNON

Well, miscreant, I’ll be there as soon as you,

And after meet you sooner than you would.

Exeunt

4.1 ⌈Flourish.⌉ Enter King Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, the Bishop of Winchester, the Duke of Exeter,; Richard Duke of York, and the Earl of Warwick with white roses; the Earl of Suffolk and the Duke of Somerset with red roses; Lord Talbot, and the Governor of Paris

GLOUCESTER

Lord Bishop, set the crown upon his head.

WINCHESTER

God save King Henry, of that name the sixth I

Winchester crowns the King

GLOUCESTER

Now, Governor of Paris, take your oath

That you elect no other king but him;

Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,

And none your foes but such as shall pretend

Malicious practices against his state.

This shall ye do, so help you righteous God.

Enter Sir John Fastolf with a letter

FASTOLF

My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais

To haste unto your coronation

A letter was delivered to my hands,

⌈He presents the letters⌉

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,

To tear the Garter from thy craven’s leg,

He tears it off

Which I have done because unworthily

Thou wast installèd in that high degree.—

Pardon me, princely Henry and the rest.

This dastard 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 divers 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 fact was infamous

And ill beseeming any common man,

Much more a knight, a captain 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 courage,

Such as were grown to credit by the wars;

Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress,

But always resolute in most extremes.

He then that is not furnished in this sort

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 swain

That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.

KING HENRY (to Fastolf)

Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear’st thy doom.

Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight.

Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.

Exit Fastolf

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

style?

No more but plain and bluntly ‘To the King’?

Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?

Or doth this churlish superscription

Pretend some alteration in good will?

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

Moved with compassion of my country’s wrack

Together with the pitiful complaints

Of such as your oppression feeds upon,

Forsaken your pernicious 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

What? Doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?

GLOUCESTER

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

KING HENRY

Is that the worst this letter doth contain?

GLOUCESTER

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

KING HENRY

Why then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him

And give him chastisement for this abuse.

(To Talbot) How say you, my lord? Are you not

content?

TALBOT

Content, my liege? Yes. But that I am prevented,

I should have begged I might have been employed.

KING HENRY

Then gather strength and march unto him straight.

Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason,

And what offence it is to flout his friends.

TALBOT

I go, my lord, in heart desiring still

You may behold confusion of your foes. Exit

Enter Vernon wearing a white rose, and Basset wearing a red rose

VERNON (to King Henry)

Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign.

BASSET (to King Henry)

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

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK (to King Henry, pointing to Vernon)

This is my servant; hear him, noble Prince.

SOMERSET (to King Henry, pointing to Basset)

And this is mine, sweet Henry; favour him.

KING HENRY

Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.

Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim,

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

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 envious carping tongue

Upbraided me about the rose I wear,

Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves

Did represent my master’s blushing cheeks

When stubbornly he did repugn the truth

About a certain question in the law

Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him,

With other vile and ignominious terms;

In confutation of which rude reproach,

And in defence of my lord’s worthiness,

I crave the benefit of law of arms.

VERNON

And that is my petition, noble lord;

For though he seem with forged quaint conceit

To set a gloss upon his bold intent,

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

And he first took exceptions at this badge,

Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower

Bewrayed the faintness 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

Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men

When for so slight and frivolous a cause

Such factious emulations shall arise?

Good cousins 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 toucheth none but us alone;

Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

There is my pledge. Accept it, Somerset.

VERNON (to King Henry)

Nay, let it rest where it began at first.

BASSET (to King Henry)

Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.

GLOUCESTER

Confirm it so? Confounded be your strife,

And perish ye with your audacious prate!

Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed

With this immodest clamorous outrage

To trouble and disturb the King and us?

And you, my lords, methinks you do not well

To bear with their perverse objections,

Much less to take occasion from their mouths

To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves.

Let me persuade you take a better course.

EXETER

It grieves his highness. Good my lords, be friends.

KING HENRY

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 ourselves we disagree,

How will their grudging stomachs be provoked

To wilful disobedience, and rebel!

Beside, what infamy will there arise

When foreign princes shall be certified

That for a toy, a thing of no regard,

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 forgo

That for a trifle that was bought with blood.

Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.

I see no reason, if I wear this rose,

He takes a red rose

That anyone should therefore be suspicious

I more incline to Somerset than York.

Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both.

As well they may upbraid me with my crown

Because, forsooth, the King of Scots is crowned.

But your discretions 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 institute your grace

To be our regent in these parts of France;

And good my lord of Somerset, unite

Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot,

And like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,

Go cheerfully together and digest

Your angry choler on your enemies.

Ourself, my Lord Protector, and the rest,

After some respite, will return to Calais,

From thence to England, where I hope ere long

To be presented by your victories

With Charles, Alençon, and that traitorous rout.

Flourish. Exeunt all but York, Warwick,

Vernon, and Exeter

WARWICK

My lord of York, I promise you, the King

Prettily, methought, did play the orator.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

And so he did; but yet I like it not

In that he wears the badge of Somerset.

WARWICK

Tush, that was but his fancy; blame him not.

I dare presume, sweet Prince, he thought no harm.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

An if I wist he did—but let it rest.

Other affairs must now be managed.

Exeunt all but Exeter

EXETER

Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice;

For had the passions of thy heart burst out

I fear we should have seen deciphered there

More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,

Than yet can be imagined or supposed.

But howsoe‘er, no simple man that sees

This jarring discord of nobility,

This shouldering of each other in the court,

This factious bandying of their favourites,

But that it doth presage some ill event.

‘Tis much when sceptres are in children’s hands,

But more when envy breeds unkind division:

There comes the ruin, there begins confusion. Exit

4.2 Enter Lord Talbot with a trumpeter and drummer and soldiers before Bordeaux

TALBOT

Go to the gates of Bordeaux, trumpeter.

Summon their general unto the wall.

The trumpeter sounds a parley. Enter French General, aloft

English John Talbot, captain, calls you forth,

Servant in arms to Harry King of England;

And thus he would: open your city gates,

Be humble to us, call my sovereign yours

And do him homage as obedient subjects,

And I’ll withdraw me and my bloody power.

But if you frown upon this proffered peace,

You tempt the fury of my three attendants—

Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire—

Who in a moment even with the earth

Shall lay your stately and air-braving towers

If you forsake the offer of their love.

GENERAL

Thou ominous and fearful owl of death,

Our nation’s terror and their bloody scourge,

The period of thy tyranny approacheth.

On us thou canst not enter but by death,

For I protest we are well fortified

And strong enough to issue out and fight.

If thou retire, the Dauphin well appointed

Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee.

On either hand thee there are squadrons pitched

To wall thee from the liberty of flight,

And no way canst thou turn thee for redress

But death doth front thee with apparent spoil,

And pale destruction meets thee in the face.

Ten thousand French have ta‘en the sacrament

To fire their dangerous artillery

Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot.

Lo, there thou stand’st, a breathing valiant man

Of an invincible unconquered spirit.

This is the latest glory of thy praise,

That I thy enemy due thee withal,

For ere the glass that now begins to run

Finish the process of his sandy hour,

These eyes that see thee now well coloured

Shall see thee withered, bloody, pale, and dead.

Drum afar off

Hark, hark, the Dauphin’s drum, a warning bell,

Sings heavy music to thy timorous soul,

And mine shall ring thy dire departure out. Exit

TALBOT

He fables not. I hear the enemy.

Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings.

⌈Exit one or more⌉

O negligent and heedless discipline,

How are we parked and bounded in a pale!—

A little herd of England’s timorous deer

Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs.

If we be English deer, be then in blood,

Not rascal-like to fall down with a pinch,

But rather, moody-mad and desperate stags,

Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel

And make the cowards stand aloof at bay.

Sell every man his life as dear as mine

And they shall find dear deer of us, my friends.

God and Saint George, Talbot and England’s right,

Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight! Exeunt

4.3 Enter a Messenger that meets the Duke of York. Enter Richard Duke of York with a trumpeter and many soldiers

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

Are not the speedy scouts returned again

That dogged the mighty army of the Dauphin?

MESSENGER

They are returned, my lord, and give it out

That he is marched to Bordeaux with his power

To fight with Talbot. As he marched along,

By your espials were discovered

Two mightier troops than that the Dauphin led,

Which joined with him and made their march for

Bordeaux.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

A plague upon that villain Somerset

That thus delays my promised supply

Of horsemen that were levied for this siege!

Renowned Talbot doth expect my aid,

And I am louted by a traitor villain

And cannot help the noble chevalier.

God comfort him in this necessity;

If he miscarry, farewell wars in France!

Enter another messenger, Sir William Lucy

LUCY

Thou princely leader of our English strength,

Never so needful on the earth of France,

Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot,

Who now is girdled with a waste of iron

And hemmed about with grim destruction.

To Bordeaux, warlike Duke; to Bordeaux, York,

Else farewell Talbot, France, and England’s honour.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

O God, that Somerset, who in proud heart

Doth stop my cornets, were in Talbot’s place!

So should we save a valiant gentleman

By forfeiting a traitor and a coward.

Mad ire and wrathful fury makes me weep,

That thus we die while remiss traitors sleep.

LUCY

O, send some succour to the distressed lord.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

He dies, we lose; I break my warlike word;

We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get,

All ‘long of this vile traitor Somerset.

LUCY

Then God take mercy on brave Talbot’s soul,

And on his son young John, who two hours since

I met in travel toward his warlike father.

This seven years did not Talbot see his son,

And now they meet where both their lives are done.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

Alas, what joy shall noble Talbot have

To bid his young son welcome to his grave?

Away—vexation almost stops my breath

That sundered friends greet in the hour of death.

Lucy, farewell. No more my fortune can

But curse the cause I cannot aid the man.

Maine, Blois, Poitiers, and Tours are won away

’Long all of Somerset and his delay.

Exeunt all but Lucy

LUCY

Thus while the vulture of sedition

Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,

Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss

The conquest of our scarce-cold conqueror,

That ever-living man of memory

Henry the Fifth. Whiles they each other cross,

Lives, honours, lands, and all hurry to loss. ⌈Exit⌉

4.4 Enter the Duke of Somerset with his army

SOMERSET (to a Captain)

It is too late, I cannot send them now.

This expedition was by York and Talbot

Too rashly plotted. All our general force

Might with a sally of the very town

Be buckled with. The over-daring Talbot

Hath sullied all his gloss of former honour

By this unheedful, desperate, wild adventure.

York set him on to fight and die in shame

That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the name.

⌈Enter Lucy⌉

CAPTAIN

Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me

Set from our o’ermatched forces forth for aid.

SOMERSET

How now, Sir William, whither were you sent?

LUCY

Whither, my lord? From bought and sold Lord Talbot,

Who, ringed about with bold adversity,

Cries out for noble York and Somerset

To beat assailing death from his weak legions;

And whiles the honourable captain there

Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied limbs

And, unadvantaged, ling’ring looks for rescue,

You his false hopes, the trust of England’s honour,

Keep off aloof with worthless emulation.

Let not your private discord keep away

The levied succours that should lend him aid,

While he, renowned noble gentleman,

Yield up his life unto a world of odds.

Orléans the Bastard, Charles, and Burgundy,

Alençon, René, compass him about,

And Talbot perisheth by your default.

SOMERSET

York set him on; York should have sent him aid.

LUCY

And York as fast upon your grace exclaims,

Swearing that you withhold his levied horse

Collected for this expedition.

SOMERSET

York lies. He might have sent and had the horse.

I owe him little duty and less love,

And take foul scorn to fawn on him by sending.

LUCY

The fraud of England, not the force of France,

Hath now entrapped the noble-minded Talbot.

Never to England shall he bear his life,

But dies betrayed to fortune by your strife.

SOMERSET

Come, go. I will dispatch the horsemen straight.

Within six hours they will be at his aid.

LUCY

Too late comes rescue. He is ta’en or slain,

For fly he could not if he would have fled,

And fly would Talbot never, though he might.

SOMERSET

If he be dead, brave Talbot, then adieu.

LUCY

His fame lives in the world, his shame in you.

Exeunt ⌈severally⌉

4.5 Enter Lord Talbot and his son John

TALBOT

O young John Talbot, I did send for thee

To tutor thee in stratagems of war,

That Talbot’s name might be in thee revived

When sapless age and weak unable limbs

Should bring thy father to his drooping chair.

But O—malignant and ill-boding stars!—

Now thou art come unto a feast of death,

A terrible and unavoided danger.

Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse,

And I’ll direct thee how thou shalt escape

By sudden flight. Come, dally not, be gone.

JOHN

Is my name Talbot, and am I your son,

And shall I fly? O, if you love my mother,

Dishonour not her honourable name

To make a bastard and a slave of me.

The world will say he is not Talbot’s blood

That basely fled when noble Talbot stood.

TALBOT

Fly to revenge my death if I be slain.

JOHN

He that flies so will ne’er return again.

TALBOT

If we both stay, we both are sure to die.

JOHN

Then let me stay and, father, do you fly.

Your loss is great; so your regard should be.

My worth unknown, no loss is known in me.

Upon my death the French can little boast;

In yours they will: in you all hopes are lost.

Flight cannot stain the honour you have won,

But mine it will, that no exploit have done.

You fled for vantage, everyone will swear,

But if I bow, they’ll say it was for fear.

There is no hope that ever I will stay

If the first hour I shrink and run away.

Here on my knee I beg mortality

Rather than life preserved with infamy.

TALBOT

Shall all thy mother’s hopes lie in one tomb?

JOHN

Ay, rather than I’ll shame my mother’s womb.

TALBOT

Upon my blessing I command thee go.

JOHN

To fight I will, but not to fly the foe.

TALBOT

Part of thy father may be saved in thee.

JOHN

No part of him but will be shamed in me.

TALBOT

Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it.

JOHN

Yes, your renowned name—shall flight abuse it?

TALBOT

Thy father’s charge shall clear thee from that stain.

JOHN

You cannot witness for me, being slain.

If death be so apparent, then both fly.

TALBOT

And leave my followers here to fight and die?

My age was never tainted with such shame.

JOHN

And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?

No more can I be severed from your side

Than can yourself your self in twain divide.

Stay, go, do what you will: the like do I,

For live I will not if my father die.

TALBOT

Then here I take my leave of thee, fair son,

Born to eclipse thy life this afternoon.

Come, side by side together live and die,

And soul with soul from France to heaven fly. Exeunt