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

Автор книги: William Shakespeare

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4.6 Alarum. Excursions, wherein Lord Talbot’s son John is hemmed about by French soldiers and Talbot rescues him. ⌈The English drive off the French⌉

TALBOT

Saint George and victory! Fight, soldiers, fight!

The Regent hath with Talbot broke his word,

And left us to the rage of France his sword.

Where is John Talbot? (To John) Pause and take thy

breath.

I gave thee life, and rescued thee from death.

JOHN

O twice my father, twice am I thy son:

The life thou gav‘st me first was lost and done

Till with thy warlike sword, despite of fate,

To my determined time thou gav’st new date.

TALBOT

When from the Dauphin’s crest thy sword struck fire

It warmed thy father’s heart with proud desire

Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age,

Quickened with youthful spleen and warlike rage,

Beat down Alençon, Orléans, Burgundy,

And from the pride of Gallia rescued thee.

The ireful Bastard Orléans, that drew blood

From thee, my boy, and had the maidenhood

Of thy first fight, I soon encountered,

And interchanging blows, I quickly shed

Some of his bastard blood, and in disgrace

Bespoke him thus: ‘Contaminated, base,

And misbegotten blood I spill of thine,

Mean and right poor, for that pure blood of mine

Which thou didst force from Talbot, my brave boy.’

Here, purposing the Bastard to destroy,

Came in strong rescue. Speak thy father’s care:

Art thou not weary, John? How dost thou fare?

Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,

Now thou art sealed the son of chivalry?

Fly to revenge my death when I am dead;

The help of one stands me in little stead.

O, too much folly is it, well I wot,

To hazard all our lives in one small boat.

If I today die not with Frenchmen’s rage,

Tomorrow I shall die with mickle age.

By me they nothing gain, and if I stay

‘Tis but the short’ning of my life one day.

In thee thy mother dies, our household’s name,

My death’s revenge, thy youth, and England’s fame.

All these and more we hazard by thy stay;

All these are saved if thou wilt fly away.

JOHN

The sword of Orléans hath not made me smart;

These words of yours draw life-blood from my heart.

On that advantage, bought with such a shame,

To save a paltry life and slay bright fame,

Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly

The coward horse that bears me fall and die;

And like me to the peasant boys of France,

To be shame’s scorn and subject of mischance !

Surely, by all the glory you have won,

An if I fly I am not Talbot’s son.

Then talk no more of flight; it is no boot.

If son to Talbot, die at Talbot’s foot.

TALBOT

Then follow thou thy desp’rate sire of Crete,

Thou Icarus; thy life to me is sweet.

If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father’s side,

And commendable proved, let’s die in pride. Exeunt

4.7 Alarum. Excursions. Enter old Lord Talbot led by a Servant

TALBOT

Where is my other life? Mine own is gone.

O where’s young Talbot, where is valiant John?

Triumphant death smeared with captivity,

Young Talbot’s valour makes me smile at thee.

When he perceived me shrink and on my knee,

His bloody sword he brandished over me,

And like a hungry lion did commence

Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience.

But when my angry guardant stood alone,

Tend‘ring my ruin and assailed of none,

Dizzy-eyed fury and great rage of heart

Suddenly made him from my side to start

Into the clust’ring battle of the French,

And in that sea of blood my boy did drench

His over-mounting spirit; and there died

My Icarus, my blossom, in his pride.

Enter English soldiers with John Talbot’s body, borne

SERVANT

O my odear lord, lo where your son is borne.

TALBOT

Thou antic death, which laugh‘st us here to scorn,

Anon from thy insulting tyranny,

Coupled in bonds of perpetuity,

Two Talbots winged through the lither sky

In thy despite shall scape mortality.

(To John) O thou whose wounds become hard-favoured

death,

Speak to thy father ere thou yield thy breath.

Brave death by speaking, whether he will or no;

Imagine him a Frenchman and thy foe.—

Poor boy, he smiles, methinks, as who should say

‘Had death been French, then death had died today’.

Come, come, and lay him in his father’s arms.

Soldiers lay John in Talbot’s arms

My spirit can no longer bear these harms.

Soldiers, adieu. I have what I would have,

Now my old arms are young John Talbot’s grave.

He dies. ⌈Alarum.⌉ Exeunt soldiers leaving the bodies

Enter Charles the Dauphin, the dukes of Alencon and Burgundy, the Bastard of Orléans, and Joan la Pucelle

CHARLES

Had York and Somerset brought rescue in,

We should have found a bloody day of this.

BASTARD

How the young whelp of Talbot’s, raging wood,

Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen’s blood!

JOAN

Once I encountered him, and thus I said:

‘Thou maiden youth, be vanquished by a maid.’

But with a proud, majestical high scorn

He answered thus: ‘Young Talbot was not born

To be the pillage of a giglot wench.’

So rushing in the bowels of the French,

He left me proudly, as unworthy fight.

BURGUNDY

Doubtless he would have made a noble knight.

See where he lies inhearsèd in the arms

Of the most bloody nurser of his harms.

BASTARD

Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder,

Whose life was England’s glory, Gallia’s wonder.

CHARLES

O no, forbear; for that which we have fled

During the life, let us not wrong it dead.

Enter Sir William Lucy ⌈with a French herald⌉

LUCY

Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin’s tent

To know who hath obtained the glory of the day.

CHARLES

On what submissive message art thou sent?

LUCY

Submission, Dauphin?‘Tis a mere French word.

We English warriors wot not what it means.

I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta’en,

And to survey the bodies of the dead.

CHARLES

For prisoners ask‘st thou ? Hell our prison is.

But tell me whom thou seek’st.

LUCY

But where’s the great Alcides of the field,

Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,

Created for his rare success in arms

Great Earl of Wexford, Waterford, and Valence,

Lord Talbot of Goodrich and Urchinfield,

Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,

Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,

The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge,

Knight of the noble order of Saint George,

Worthy Saint Michael and the Golden Fleece,

Great Maréchal to Henry the Sixth

Of all his wars within the realm of France?

JOAN

Here’s a silly, stately style indeed.

The Turk, that two-and-fifty kingdoms hath,

Writes not so tedious a style as this.

Him that thou magnifi’st with all these titles

Stinking and flyblown lies here at our feet.

LUCY

Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen’s only scourge,

Your kingdom’s terror and black Nemesis?

O, were mine eye-balls into bullets turned,

That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!

O, that I could but call these dead to life!—

It were enough to fright the realm of France.

Were but his picture left amongst you here

It would amaze the proudest of you all.

Give me their bodies, that I may bear them hence

And give them burial as beseems their worth.

JOAN (to Charles)

I think this upstart is old Talbot’s ghost,

He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit.

For God’s sake let him have them. To keep them here

They would but stink and putrefy the air.

CHARLES Go, take their bodies hence.

LUCY

I’ll bear them hence, but from their ashes shall be

reared

A phoenix that shall make all France afeard.

CHARLES

So we be rid of them, do with them what thou wilt.

⌈Exeunt Lucy and herald with the bodies⌉

And now to Paris in this conquering vein.

All will be ours, now bloody Talbot’s slain. Exeunt

5.1 Sennet. Enter King Henry, the Dukes of Gloucester and Exeter, ⌈and others⌉

KING HENRY (to Gloucester)

Have you perused the letters from the Pope,

The Emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?

GLOUCESTER

I have, my lord, and their intent is this:

They humbly sue unto your excellence

To have a godly peace concluded of

Between the realms of England and of France.

KING HENRY

How doth your grace affect their motion?

GLOUCESTER

Well, my good lord, and as the only means

To stop effusion of our Christian blood

And ’stablish quietness on every side.

KING HENRY

Ay, marry, uncle; for I always thought

It was both impious and unnatural

That such immanity and bloody strife

Should reign among professors of one faith.

GLOUCESTER

Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect

And surer bind this knot of amity,

The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles—

A man of great authority in France—

Proffers his only daughter to your grace

In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.

KING HENRY

Marriage, uncle? Alas, my years are young,

And fitter is my study and my books

Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.

Yet call th’ambassadors, ⌈Exit one or more⌉

and as you please,

So let them have their answers every one.

I shall be well content with any choice

Tends to God’s glory and my country’s weal.

Enter the Bishop of Winchester, now in cardinal’s habit, and three ambassadors, one a Papal Legate

EXETER (aside)

What, is my lord of Winchester installed

And called unto a cardinal’s degree?

Then I perceive that will be verified

Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy:

‘If once he come to be a cardinal,

He’ll make his cap co-equal with the crown.’

KING HENRY

My lords ambassadors, your several suits

Have been considered and debated on.

Your purpose is both good and reasonable,

And therefore are we certainly resolved

To draw conditions of a friendly peace,

Which by my lord of Winchester we mean

Shall be transported presently to France.

GLOUCESTER ⌈to ambassadors⌉

And for the proffer of my lord your master,

I have informed his highness so at large

As, liking of the lady’s virtuous gifts,

Her beauty, and the value of her dower,

He doth intend she shall be England’s queen.

KING HENRY ⌈to ambassadors⌉

In argument and proof of which contract

Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.

(To Gloucester) And so, my lord Protector, see them

guarded

And safely brought to Dover, wherein shipped,

Commit them to the fortune of the sea.

Exeunt ⌈severally⌉ all but Winchester and ⌈Legate⌉

WINCHESTER

Stay, my lord legate; you shall first receive

The sum of money which I promised

Should be delivered to his holiness

For clothing me in these grave ornaments.

LEGATE

I will attend upon your lordship’s leisure. ⌈Exit⌉

WINCHESTER

Now Winchester will not submit, I trow,

Or be inferior to the proudest peer.

Humphrey of Gloucester, thou shalt well perceive

That nor in birth or for authority

The Bishop will be overborne by thee.

I’ll either make thee stoop and bend thy knee,

Or sack this country with a mutiny. ⌈Exit⌉

5.2 Enter Charles the Dauphin ⌈reading a letter⌉, the Dukes of Burgundy and Alençon, the Bastard of Orléans, René Duke of Anjou, and ⌉oan la Pucelle

CHARLES

These news, my lords, may cheer our drooping spirits.

‘Tis said the stout Parisians do revolt

And turn again unto the warlike French.

ALENÇON

Then march to Paris, royal Charles of France,

And keep not back your powers in dalliance.

JOAN

Peace be amongst them if they turn to us;

Else, ruin combat with their palaces!

Enter a Scout

SCOUT

Success unto our valiant general,

And happiness to his accomplices.

CHARLES

What tidings send our scouts? I prithee speak.

SCOUT

The English army, that divided was

Into two parties, is now conjoined in one,

And means to give you battle presently.

CHARLES

Somewhat too sudden, sirs, the warning is;

But we will presently provide for them.

BURGUNDY

I trust the ghost of Talbot is not there.

⌈JOAN⌉

Now he is gone, my lord, you need not fear.

Of all base passions, fear is most accursed.

Command the conquest, Charles, it shall be thine;

Let Henry fret and all the world repine.

CHARLES

Then on, my lords; and France be fortunate! Exeunt

5.3 Alarum. Excursions. Enter Joan la Pucelle

JOAN

The Regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.

Now help, ye charming spells and periapts,

And ye choice spirits that admonish me

And give me signs of future accidents.

Thunder

You speedy helpers, that are substitutes

Under the lordly monarch of the north,

Appear, and aid me in this enterprise.

Enter Fiends

This speed and quick appearance argues proof

Of your accustomed diligence to me.

Now, ye familiar spirits that are culled

Out of the powerful regions under earth,

Help me this once, that France may get the field.

They walk and speak not

O, hold me not with silence overlong!

Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,

I’ll lop a member off and give it you

In earnest of a further benefit,

So you do condescend to help me now.

They hang their heads

No hope to have redress? My body shall

Pay recompense if you will grant my suit.

They shake their heads

Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice

Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?

Then take my soul—my body, soul, and all—

Before that England give the French the foil.

They depart

See, they forsake me. Now the time is come

That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest

And let her head fall into England’s lap.

My ancient incantations are too weak,

And hell too strong for me to buckle with.

Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust. Exit

5.4 Excursions. The Dukes of Burgundy and York fight hand to hand. The French fly. Joan la Pucelle is taken

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

Damsel of France, I think I have you fast.

Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms,

And try if they can gain your liberty.

A goodly prize, fit for the devil’s grace!

⌈To his soldiers⌉ See how the ugly witch doth bend her

brows, 5

As if with Circe she would change my shape.

JOAN

Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man.

No shape but his can please your dainty eye.

JOAN

A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee,

And may ye both be suddenly surprised

By bloody hands in sleeping on your beds!

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy tongue.

JOAN

I prithee give me leave to curse awhile.

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.

Exeunt

5.5 Alarum. Enter the Earl of Suffolk with Margaret in his hand

SUFFOLK

Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner.

He gazes on her

O fairest beauty, do not fear nor fly,

For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,

And lay them gently on thy tender side.

I kiss these fingers for eternal peace.

Who art thou? Say, that I may honour thee.

MARGARET

Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,

The King of Naples, whosoe’er thou art.

SUFFOLK

An earl I am, and Suffolk am I called.

Be not offended, nature’s miracle,

Thou art allotted to be ta’en by me.

So doth the swan his downy cygnets save,

Keeping them prisoner underneath his wings.

Yet if this servile usage once offend,

Go, and be free again, as Suffolk’s friend.

She is going

O stay! (Aside) I have no power to let her pass.

My hand would free her, but my heart says no.

As plays the sun upon the glassy stream,

Twinkling another counterfeited beam,

So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.

Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak.

I’ll call for pen and ink, and write my mind.

Fie, de la Pole, disable not thyself!

Hast not a tongue? Is she not here to hear?

Wilt thou be daunted at a woman’s sight?

Ay, beauty’s princely majesty is such

Confounds the tongue, and makes the senses rough.

MARGARET

Say, Earl of Suffolk—if thy name be so—

What ransom must I pay before I pass?

For I perceive I am thy prisoner.

SUFFOLK (aside)

How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit

Before thou make a trial of her love?

MARGARET

Why speak’st thou not? What ransom must I pay?

SUFFOLK (aside)

She’s beautiful, and therefore to be wooed;

She is a woman, therefore to be won.

MARGARET

Wilt thou accept of ransom, yea or no?

SUFFOLK (aside)

Fond man, remember that thou hast a wife;

Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?

MARGARET (aside)

I were best to leave him, for he will not hear.

SUFFOLK (aside)

There all is marred; there lies a cooling card.

MARGARET (aside)

He talks at random; sure the man is mad.

SUFFOLK (aside)

And yet a dispensation may be had.

MARGARET

And yet I would that you would answer me.

SUFFOLK (aside)

I’ll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?

Why, for my king—tush, that’s a wooden thing.

MARGARET (aside)

He talks of wood. It is some carpenter.

SUFFOLK (aside)

Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,

And peace established between these realms.

But there remains a scruple in that too,

For though her father be the King of Naples,

Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,

And our nobility will scorn the match.

MARGARET

Hear ye, captain? Are you not at leisure?

SUFFOLK (aside)

It shall be so, disdain they ne’er so much.

Henry is youthful, and will quickly yield.

(To Margaret) Madam, I have a secret to reveal.

MARGARET (aside)

What though I be enthralled, he seems a knight

And will not any way dishonour me.

SUFFOLK

Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.

MARGARET (aside)

Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French,

And then I need not crave his courtesy.

SUFFOLK

Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause.

MARGARET (aside)

Tush, women have been captivate ere now.

SUFFOLK Lady, wherefore talk you so?

MARGARET

I cry you mercy, ’tis but quid for quo.

SUFFOLK

Say, gentle Princess, would you not suppose

Your bondage happy to be made a queen?

MARGARET

To be a queen in bondage is more vile

Than is a slave in base servility,

For princes should be free.

SUFFOLK

And so shall you,

If happy England’s royal king be free.

MARGARET

Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?

SUFFOLK

I’ll undertake to make thee Henry’s queen,

To put a golden sceptre in thy hand,

And set a precious crown upon thy head,

If thou wilt condescend to be my—

MARGARET What?

SUFFOLK His love.

MARGARET

I am unworthy to be Henry’s wife.

SUFFOLK

No, gentle madam, I unworthy am

To woo so fair a dame to be his wife

(Aside) And have no portion in the choice myself.—

How say you, madam; are ye so content?

MARGARET

An if my father please, I am content.

SUFFOLK

Then call our captains and our colours forth,

⌈Enter captains, colours, and trumpeters⌉

And, madam, at your father’s castle walls

We’ll crave a parley to confer with him.

Sound a parley. Enter René Duke of Anjou on the walls

See, Rene, see thy daughter prisoner.

RENÉ

To whom ?

SUFFOLK To me.

RENÉ Suffolk, what remedy?

I am a soldier, and unapt to weep

Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness.

SUFFOLK

Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord.

Assent, and for thy honour give consent

Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,

Whom I with pain have wooed and won thereto;

And this her easy-held imprisonment

Hath gained thy daughter princely liberty.

RENÉ

Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?

SUFFOLK Fair Margaret knows

That Suffolk doth not flatter, face or feign.

RENÉ

Upon thy princely warrant I descend

To give thee answer of thy just demand.

SUFFOLK

And here I will expect thy coming. ⌈Exit Rene above⌉

Trumpets sound. Enter René

RENE

Welcome, brave Earl, into our territories.

Command in Anjou what your honour pleases.

SUFFOLK

Thanks, René, happy for so sweet a child,

Fit to be made companion with a king.

What answer makes your grace unto my suit?

RENÉ

Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth

To be the princely bride of such a lord,

Upon condition I may quietly

Enjoy mine own, the countries Maine and Anjou,

Free from oppression or the stroke of war,

My daughter shall be Henry’s, if he please.

SUFFOLK

That is her ransom. I deliver her,

And those two counties I will undertake

Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.

RENÉ

And I again in Henry’s royal name,

As deputy unto that gracious king,

Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith.

SUFFOLK

René of France, I give thee kingly thanks,

Because this is in traffic of a king.

(Aside) And yet methinks I could be well content

To be mine own attorney in this case.

(To René) I’ll over then to England with this news,

And make this marriage to be solemnized.

So farewell, René; set this diamond safe

In golden palaces, as it becomes.

RENÉ

I do embrace thee as I would embrace

The Christian prince King Henry, were he here.

MARGARET (to Suffolk)

Farewell, my lord. Good wishes, praise, and prayers

Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.

She is going

SUFFOLK

Farewell, sweet madam; but hark you, Margaret—

No princely commendations to my king?

MARGARET

Such commendations as becomes a maid,

A virgin, and his servant, say to him.

SUFFOLK

Words sweetly placed, and modestly directed.

⌈She is going ⌉

But madam, I must trouble you again—

No loving token to his majesty?

MARGARET

Yes, my good lord : a pure unspotted heart,

Never yet taint with love, I send the King.

SUFFOLK And this withal.

He kisses her

MARGARET

That for thyself; I will not so presume

To send such peevish tokens to a king.

⌈Exeunt René and Margaret⌉

SUFFOLK ⌈aside⌉

O, wert thou for myself!—but Suffolk, stay.

Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth.

There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.

Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise.

Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount,

Mad natural graces that extinguish art.

Repeat their semblance often on the seas,

That when thou com’st to kneel at Henry’s feet

Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder.

⌈Exeunt⌉