THE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

THE WORKS

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

EDITED BY

WILLIAM GEORGE CLARK, M.A.

FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, AND PUBLIC ORATOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE;

AND WILLIAM ALDIS WRIGHT, M.A.

LIBRARIAN OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

VOLUME V.

Cambridge and London: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1864.

CAMBRIDGE:
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

CONTENTS.

THE [Preface.]
THE [FIRST] PART OF KING HENRY VI.
[Linenotes] [Notes]
THE [SECOND] PART OF KING HENRY VI.
[Linenotes] [Notes]
THE [THIRD] PART OF KING HENRY VI.
[Linenotes] [Notes]
THE FIRST PART OF THE [CONTENTION,] &c.
[Linenotes] [Notes]
THE [TRUE TRAGEDIE] OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORKE, AND THE GOOD KING HENRY THE SIXT.
[Linenotes] [Notes]
[KING RICHARD III.]
[Linenotes] [Notes]

PREFACE.

[toc]

The First Part of King Henry the Sixth was printed for the first time, so far as we know, in the Folio of 1623. The same edition contained also for the first time in their present form, ‘The second Part of King Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Good Duke Humfrey,’ and ‘The third Part of King Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Duke of Yorke.’

The play upon which the Second part of Henry the Sixth was founded was first printed in quarto (Q₁), in 1594, with the following title:

The only copy known of this edition is in the Bodleian Library (Malone, Add. 870), and is probably the same which was once in Malone’s possession, and which he collated with the second Quarto printed in 1600. Mr Halliwell, in the preface to ‘The first sketches of the second and third parts of King Henry the Sixth,’ edited by him for the Shakespeare Society, is inclined to doubt this, on the ground that Malone quotes, from the copy in his possession, a reading which does not exist in that now in the Bodleian. The passage in question is in Scene IX. line 12, p. 370 of the present volume, ‘Honouring him as if he were their king:’ on which Mr Halliwell in his note observes, ‘Malone, who has collated his copy of the edition of 1600, “printed by W. W.,” with a copy of the 1594 edition formerly in his possession, distinctly writes—

“Thinking him as if he were their king,”

as the reading of his copy of the first edition. If so, it must have been a different copy from that now in the Bodleian, from which the present text is reprinted, and another instance of the curious variations in different copies of the same editions, which were first discovered by Steevens (Boswell’s Malone, Vol. X. p. 73), and recently applied to good use by Mr Collier.’ Mr Halliwell has here inadvertently fallen into error. Malone’s collation is made in a copy of the edition of 1600, in which the line stands thus:

‘Honouring him as if he were a king.’

At the foot of the page he wrote ‘their king,’ which is the reading of the edition of 1594 for the two last words, but which Mr Halliwell misread ‘thinking’ and regarded as a various reading for ‘Honouring.’ It is still possible, therefore, that Malone’s copy and that at present in the Bodleian may be identical.

The second edition (Q₂) of the First Part of the Contention appeared in quarto in 1600, with the following title:

Copies with this title are in the Library of the Duke of Devonshire, and in the Bodleian (Malone, 867). An imperfect copy, wanting the last seven leaves, is in the Capell collection. Another impression bearing the same date, ‘Printed by W. W. for Thomas Millington,’ is said to exist, but we have been unable to find it. The MS. title quoted by Mr Halliwell from a copy in the Bodleian (Malone, 36) is prefixed to what appears to us unquestionably the same edition as the above. The minute correspondence of misplaced and defective letters between this copy and Capell’s, with which, as well as with the other copy in the Bodleian, we have compared it, proves beyond question that all three must have been printed from the same form, and that the MS. title inserted in Malone’s copy is out of place. So far therefore from Capell’s imperfect copy of this edition being unique, as Mr Halliwell states, there are at least two other perfect copies in existence, besides one which only wants the title-page. In Lowndes’s Bibliographer’s Manual (ed. Bohn, p. 2281), another is said to be in the possession of Mr Tite. The late Mr George Daniel is stated, on the same authority, to have had the editions printed by Valentine Simmes and by W. W. in one volume, but they were not sold at his sale, and we have been unable to trace them.

In 1619, a third edition (Q₃) without date, printed by Isaac Jaggard, and including also ‘The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York,’ appeared with the following title:

On the title-page of his copy of this edition, Capell has added in MS. the date ‘1619.—at the same time with the Pericles that follows; as appears by the continuation of the signatures.’ The signatures of ‘The whole Contention’ are from A to Q in fours, while in Pericles, ‘Printed for T. P. 1619,’ the first page has signature R, which shows that the two must have formed part of the same volume.

‘The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York,’ which formed the ground-work of The Third part of King Henry the Sixth, was first printed in small 8vo. in 1595, with the following title:

A unique copy of this edition is in the Bodleian Library (Malone, 876). Although printed in 8vo. we have quoted it as Q₁, in order to avoid introducing a new notation.

The second edition (Q₂) was printed in 1600, with the following title:

Copies of this edition are in the Duke of Devonshire’s Library, the Bodleian (Malone, 36), and the British Museum. In Malone’s Shakespeare (ed. 1790, Vol. I. Pt. I. p. 235), among the ‘Dramatick Pieces on which plays were formed by Shakespeare,’ an edition of The True Tragedy is mentioned, bearing date ‘1600, V. S. for Thomas Millington,’ but in a note to the ‘Third Part of King Henry VI.’ (Vol. VI. p. 261) he confesses, ‘I have never seen the quarto copy of the Second part of The whole Contention, &c. printed by Valentine Simmes for Thomas Millington, 1600;’ and it is extremely doubtful whether such a one exists. A copy of The True Tragedy, and not, as stated in Bohn’s Lowndes, of The First Part of the Contention, printed by W. W. 1600, was sold at Rhodes’s sale in 1825 (No. 2113). The only authority therefore for the existence of an edition of The First Part of the Contention, printed by W. W. in 1600, is the MS. title-page of Malone’s copy in the Bodleian Library. Capell merely quotes it on the authority of Pope, and all that Pope says in the Table at the end of his first edition, after giving the title of The Whole Contention printed in 1619, is, ‘Since Printed under the same Title by W. W. for Tho. Millington, with the true Tragedy of Richard D. of York, and the Death of good King Henry the 6th, acted by the Earl of Pembroke his servants 1600.’ This clearly refers to the second Quarto of The True Tragedy, not to that of The First Part of the Contention, and appears to us to be the origin of the error†.

† This view is further confirmed by a manuscript note at the back of the title-page of Steevens’s copy of The True Tragedy, ed. 1600, now in the British Museum. It shews that Pope is the only authority for the statement, and is as follows: ‘This is only the third part of K. Henry VI. The second part, according to Pope, was likewise printed in 1600, by W. W. for Thos. Millington. MALONE.’

The third edition (Q₃) of The True Tragedy formed the second part of The Whole Contention described above. It has no separate title-page, but merely the heading:

We have reprinted the text of The First Part of the Contention and of The True Tragedy from the first edition of each, giving in notes at the foot of the page the various readings of the second and third editions. For this purpose we collated Mr Halliwell’s reprint for the Shakespeare Society with the originals in the Bodleian Library. The accuracy of Mr Halliwell’s work materially facilitated our labours, and we can only hope that the errors of our own reprint may be as few and as unimportant as those we have discovered in his. For the readings of the second Quartos of The First Part of the Contention and The True Tragedy we collated the copies in the Bodleian and the Duke of Devonshire’s Library, using also for the former the imperfect copy in the Capell collection. The readings of The Whole Contention (Q₃) have been given from Capell’s copy verified by reference to that in the Devonshire Library.

With regard to the authorship of The First Part of the Contention and The True Tragedy, while we cannot agree with Malone on the one hand that they contain nothing of Shakespeare’s, nor with Mr Knight on the other that they are entirely his work, there are so many internal proofs of his having had a considerable share in their composition, that, in accordance with our principle, we have reprinted them in a smaller type.

The first edition of KING RICHARD is a Quarto printed in 1597, with the following title-page:

This edition is referred to, in our notes, as Q₁.

We have collated a complete copy belonging to the Duke of Devonshire and also an imperfect copy formerly belonging to Malone and now in the Bodleian. Malone had supplied the missing leaves by the insertion of some from the second Quarto†. There is no copy in the Capell collection.

† He says in a MS. note: ‘This copy of the original edition of King Richard III. was imperfect, when I purchased it, wanting signat. C 1 and 2, D 4, L 4, and M 1, 2, and 3. These seven leaves I have supplied from a later copy (that of 1598), and have collated with the edition of 1597. The variations are set down in the margin.’ He adds: ‘Mr Penn Ashton Curzon and Mr Kemble are possessed of copies of this original edition of this play: I know of no other, except that in this volume.’ Mr Kemble’s copy is now in the Devonshire Library, and Mr Curzon’s is probably the same which was sold at Mr Daniel’s sale and is now in the possession of Mr Huth. Besides the leaves of Malone’s copy which are missing, signatures C 3 and C 4 are imperfect, the upper half of each being supplied from the edition of 1598.

The second edition, also in Quarto, which we call Q₂, was published in the following year, with the name of the author. It is in other respects a reprint of the first. The title-page is as follows:

The third Quarto, our Q₃, has the following title-page:

Notwithstanding the words ‘newly augmented,’ this edition contains nothing that is not found in the second Quarto, from which it is reprinted, except some additional errors of the press.

The fourth Quarto, our Q₄, was printed from the third, by the same printer for a different bookseller, as appears by the title-page:

There is no copy of Q₄ in the Capell collection. We have collated one in the Bodleian which formerly belonged to Malone. It is numbered 880.

The fifth Quarto, Q₅, was printed in 1612, not from its immediate predecessor, but from the Quarto of 1602, although it was printed by the same printer and for the same bookseller as that of 1605. The title-page of Q₅ is as follows:

The edition of 1622 is so rare that its very existence has been called in question†. There is however a copy in the Capell collection, of which the title-page is as follows:

† ‘An impression of 1622 is mentioned in some lists, but the existence of a copy of that date is more than doubtful.’ Collier, Ed. 2, Vol. iv. p. 217.

This edition we call Q₆. It is printed from Q₅.

Another edition in Quarto was printed in 1629, not from the first Folio, but from the sixth Quarto. It was printed by Iohn Norton for Matthew Law. Except in the name of the printer and the substitution of the word ‘tiranous’ for ‘tyrannicall’ the title-page does not differ from that of Q₆. We call it Q₇.

The eighth and last Quarto, our Q₈, copied from the seventh, was printed by Iohn Norton in 1634. There is no bookseller’s name on the title-page, if we may trust that which Capell has supplied in MS. ‘from a copy in the possession of Messrs Tonsons and Draper.’

In quoting the readings of the Quartos and Folios, we have, in all cases where the spelling is unimportant, given that of the earliest copy.

In 1766 Steevens published a reprint of the Quarto of 1612, ‘collated’—to use his own words—‘with the following editions.’

1598. Thomas Creede, for Andrew Wise.

1602. Ditto.

1624. Thomas Purfoot, Thomas Purfoot, &c.

1629. John Norton, &c.

1634. John Norton, &c. and another imperfect Copy, differing from the rest, but without a Title Page.

The date 1624 is probably a mistake for 1622. At the foot of each page he gives various readings, but without specifying the editions to which they respectively belong. Several of these are not found in any of the Quartos with which we are acquainted. We have therefore recorded them as ‘quoted in Steevens’s reprint.’ So many of the other readings which he gives are found only in the first Quarto that we have no doubt that the imperfect copy which he mentions was of that edition.

We have made, and, as we believe, for the first time, a complete collation of all the extant Quartos. Those of 1597 and 1605 were unknown to Capell when he collated the other six.

The respective origin and authority of the first Quarto and first Folio texts of Richard III. is perhaps the most difficult question which presents itself to an editor of Shakespeare. In the case of most of the plays a brief survey leads him to form a definite judgement; in this, the most attentive examination scarcely enables him to propose with confidence a hypothetical conclusion.

The Quarto, Q₁, contains passages not found in the Folio, F₁, which are essential to the understanding of the context: the Folio, on the other hand, contains passages equally essential, which are not found in the Quarto.

Again, passages which in the Quarto are complete and consecutive, are amplified in the Folio, the expanded text being quite in the manner of Shakespeare. The Folio, too, contains passages not in the Quartos, which though not necessary to the sense yet harmonize so well, in sense and tone, with the context that we can have no hesitation in attributing them to the author himself.

On the other hand, we find in the Folio some insertions and many alterations which we may with equal certainty affirm not to be due to Shakespeare. Sometimes the alterations seem merely arbitrary, but more frequently they appear to have been made in order to avoid the recurrence of the same word, even where the recurrence adds to the force of the passage, or to correct a supposed defect of metre, although the metre cannot be amended except by spoiling the sense.

Occasionally we seem to find indications that certain turns of phrase, uses of words or metrical licences, familiar enough to Shakespeare and his earlier contemporaries, had become obsolete in the time of the corrector, and the passages modified accordingly. In short, Richard III. seems even before the publication of the Folio to have been tampered with by a nameless transcriber who worked in the spirit, though not with the audacity, of Colley Cibber.

The following scheme will best explain the theory which we submit as a not impossible way of accounting for the phenomena of the text:

A₁ is the Author’s original MS.

B₁ is a transcript by another hand with some accidental omissions and, of course, slips of the pen. From this transcript was printed the Quarto of 1597, Q₁.

A₂ is the Author’s original MS. revised by himself, with corrections and additions, interlinear, marginal, and on inserted leaves.

B₂ is a copy of this revised MS., made by another hand, probably after the death of the Author and perhaps a very short time before 1623. As the stage directions of the Folio, which was printed from B₂, are more precise and ample as a rule than those of the Quarto, we may infer that the transcript, B₂, was made for the library of the theatre, perhaps to take the place of the original which had become worn by use, for Richard III. continued to be a popular acting play. Some curious, though not frequent, coincidences between the text of the Folio and that of the Quarto of 1602, Q₃, lead us to suppose that the writer of B₂ had occasionally recourse to that Quarto to supplement passages which, by its being frayed or stained, had become illegible in A₂.

Assuming the truth of this hypothesis, the object of an Editor must be to give in the text as near an approximation as possible to A, rejecting from F₁ all that is due to the unknown writer of B₂ and supplying its place from Q₁, which, errors of pen and press apart, certainly came from the hand of Shakespeare. In the construction of our text we have steadily borne this principle in mind, only deviating from it in a few instances where we have retained the expanded version of the Folio in preference to the briefer version of the Quarto, even when we incline to think that the earlier form is more terse and therefore not likely to have been altered by its Author. Our reason is this: as the Folio version contains substantially that of the Quarto and as the question does not admit of a positive decision we prefer the risk of putting in something which Shakespeare did not to that of leaving out something which he did write. Cæteris paribus, we have adopted the reading of the Quarto.

In conclusion we commend a study of the text of Richard III. to those, if such there be, who imagine that it is possible by the exercise of critical skill to restore with certainty what Shakespeare actually wrote.

We have great pleasure in repeating our thanks to the curators of the British Museum and of the Bodleian Library and in adding to the number of those who have laid us under obligation the names of the Rev. Joseph Power, Fellow of Clare College, Mr Huth, and Mr Lilly.

It is only right to add that it is the constant kindness of the Duke of Devonshire which enables us to publish this volume without further delay and with such an approach to completeness as it may be found to possess.

W. G. C.
W. A. W.

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.

[toc]

First Part of Henry VI.

I. 1. 43. For Except it to be read Except it be.

Second Part of Henry VI.

I. 3. 115. Add note, his] this F₄.
I. 3. 144. Add note, master] masters Halliwell conj.
I. 3. 146. Add note, I will] I’ll Pope.
II. 1. 130. Add note, and] om. Hanmer.
III. 1. 222. Add to stage direction, Somerset remains apart.
IV. 2. 176. For tis read ’tis.

Third Part of Henry VI.

V. 4. 36. Dele the.

Richard III.

I. 4. 167. Add note, To, to, to—] To, to, to, to— Capell conj.

THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ†.

[toc]

KING HENRY the Sixth.
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, uncle to the King, and Protector.
DUKE OF BEDFORD, uncle to the King, and Regent of France.
THOMAS BEAUFORT, Duke of Exeter, great-uncle to the King.
HENRY BEAUFORT, great-uncle to the King, Bishop of Winchester, and afterwards Cardinal.
JOHN BEAUFORT, Earl, afterwards Duke, of Somerset.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET, son of Richard late Earl of Cambridge, afterwards Duke of York.
EARL OF WARWICK.
EARL OF SALISBURY.
EARL OF SUFFOLK.
LORD TALBOT, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury.
JOHN TALBOT, his son.
EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March.
SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.
SIR WILLIAM LUCY.
SIR WILLIAM GLANSDALE.
SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE.
Mayor of London.
WOODVILE, Lieutenant of the Tower.
VERNON, of the White-rose or York Faction.
BASSET, of the Red-Rose or Lancaster faction.
A Lawyer. Mortimer’s Keepers.
CHARLES, Dauphin, and afterwards King, of France.
REIGNIER, Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Naples.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY.
DUKE OF ALENÇON.
BASTARD OF ORLEANS.
Governor of Paris.
Master-Gunner of Orleans, and his Son.
General of the French forces in Bourdeaux.
A French Sergeant. A Porter.
An old Shepherd, father to Joan la Pucelle.
MARGARET, daughter to Reignier, afterwards married to King Henry.
COUNTESS OF AUVERGNE.
JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc.

Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants.

Fiends appearing to La Pucelle.

SCENE: Partly in England, and partly in France.

† First given, imperfectly, by Rowe. See note (I).

THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI. ACT I.

aaa SCENE I. Westminster Abbey.

Dead March. Enter the Funeral of KING HENRY the Fifth, attended on by the DUKE of BEDFORD, Regent of France; the DUKE of GLOUCESTER, Protector; the DUKE of EXETER, the EARL of WARWICK, the BISHOP of WINCHESTER, Heralds, &c.

[♦] Bed. Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!

Comets, importing change of times and states,

[♦] Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky,

And with them scourge the bad revolting stars

[5] That have consented unto Henry’s death!

[♦] King Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long!

England ne’er lost a king of so much worth.

Glou. England ne’er had a king until his time.

Virtue he had, deserving to command:

[10] His brandish’d sword did blind men with his beams:

His arms spread wider than a dragon’s wings;

[♦] His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire,

More dazzled and drove back his enemies

Than mid-day sun fierce bent against their faces.

15 What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:

[♦] 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,

20 And death’s dishonourable victory

We with our stately presence glorify,

Like captives bound to a triumphant car.

What! shall we curse the planets of mishap

That plotted thus our glory’s overthrow?

25 Or shall we think the subtle-witted French

Conjurers and sorcerers, that afraid of him

[♦] By magic verses have contrived his end?

Win. He was a king bless’d of the King of kings.

Unto the French the dreadful judgement-day

30 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.

[♦] Glou. The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray’d,

His thread of life had not so soon decay’d:

35 None do you like but an effeminate prince,

Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.

Win. Gloucester, whate’er we like, thou art Protector

And lookest to command the prince and realm.

Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,

40 More than God or religious churchmen may.

Glou. Name not religion, for thou lovest the flesh,

And ne’er throughout the year to church thou go’st

Except it be to pray against thy foes.

Bed. Cease, cease these jars and rest your minds in peace:

45 Let’s to the altar: heralds, wait on us:

Instead of gold, we’ll offer up our arms;

Since arms avail not now that Henry’s dead.

Posterity, await for wretched years,

[♦] When at their mothers’ moist eyes babes shall suck,

[50] 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!

55 A far more glorious star thy soul will make

[♦] Than Julius Cæsar or bright ——

Enter a Messenger.

[♦] Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all!

Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,

Of loss, of slaughter and discomfiture:

[60]Guienne, Champagne, Rheims, Orleans,

Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost.

[♦] Bed. What say’st thou, man, before dead Henry’s corse?

Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns

Will make him burst his lead and rise from death.

[65] Glou. Is Paris lost? is Rouen yielded up?

If Henry were recall’d to life again,

These news would cause him once more yield the ghost.

Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was used?

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

70Amongst the soldiers this is muttered,

That here you maintain several factions,

And whilst a field should be dispatch’d and fought,

You are disputing of your generals:

One would have lingering wars with little cost;

75Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings;

[♦] A third thinks, without expense at all,

By guileful fair words peace may be obtain’d.

[♦] Awake, awake, English nobility!

Let not sloth dim your honours new-begot:

[80] Cropp’d are the flower-de-luces in your arms;

Of England’s coat one half is cut away.

Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral,

[♦] These tidings would call forth their flowing tides.

Bed. Me they concern; Regent I am of France.

[85] Give me my steeled coat. I’ll fight for France.

Away with these disgraceful wailing robes!

[♦] Wounds will I lend the French instead of eyes,

To weep their intermissive miseries.

Enter to them another Messenger.

[♦] Mess. Lords, view these letters full of bad mischance.

90France 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 part;

[95]The Duke of Alençon flieth to his side.

[♦] Exe.The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to him!

O, whither shall we fly from this reproach?

Glou. We will not fly, but to our enemies’ throats.

Bedford, if thou be slack, I’ll fight it out.

100 Bed. Gloucester, why doubt’st thou of my forwardness?

An army have I muster’d in my thoughts,

Wherewith already France is overrun.

Enter another Messenger.

[♦] Mess. My gracious lords, to add to your laments,

Wherewith you now bedew King Henry’s hearse,

105I must inform you of a dismal fight

Betwixt the stout Lord Talbot and the French.

Win. What! wherein Talbot overcame? is’t so?

[♦] Mess. O, no; wherein Lord Talbot was o’erthrown:

The circumstance I’ll tell you more at large.

110The tenth of August last this dreadful lord,

Retiring from the siege of Orleans,

[♦]Having full scarce six thousand in his troop,

By three and twenty thousand of the French

Was round encompassed and set upon.

115No leisure had he to enrank his men;

He wanted pikes to set before his archers;

Instead whereof sharp stakes pluck’d out of hedges

They pitched in the ground confusedly,

To keep the horsemen off from breaking in.

120More than three hours the fight continued;

Where valiant Talbot above human thought

Enacted wonders with his sword and lance:

Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand him;

[♦]Here, there, and every where, enraged he flew:

125The French exclaim’d, the devil was in arms;

[♦]All the whole army stood agazed on him:

His soldiers spying his undaunted spirit

[♦]A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain

And rush’d into the bowels of the battle.

130Here had the conquest fully been seal’d up,

[♦]If Sir John Fastolfe had not play’d the coward:

[♦]He, being in the vaward, placed behind

With purpose to relieve and follow them,

Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke.

135Hence 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,

[♦]Whom all France with their chief assembled strength

140Durst 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 foemen is betray’d.

145 Mess. O no, he lives; but is took prisoner,

And Lord Scales with him and Lord Hungerford:

Most of the rest slaughter’d or took likewise.

Bed. His ransom there is none but I shall pay:

I’ll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne:

150His 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:

155Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take,

[♦]Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake.

[♦] Mess. So you had need; for Orleans is besieged;

The English army is grown weak and faint:

The Earl of Salisbury craveth supply,

160And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,

Since they, so few, watch such a multitude.

[♦] Exe. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry sworn,

Either to quell the Dauphin utterly,

Or bring him in obedience to your yoke.

[165] Bed. I do remember it; and here take my leave,

[♦] To go about my preparation. [Exit.

Glou. I’ll to the Tower with all the haste I can,

[♦]To view the artillery and munition;

[♦] And then I will proclaim young Henry king. [Exit.

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

Being ordain’d his special governor,

And for his safety there I’ll best devise. [Exit.

Win. Each hath his place and function to attend:

I am left out; for me nothing remains.

[175] But long I will not be Jack out of office:

[♦] The king from Eltham I intend to steal

[♦] And sit at chiefest stern of public weal. [Exeunt.

aab SCENE II. France. Before Orleans.

Sound a Flourish. Enter CHARLES, ALENÇON, and REIGNIER, marching with Drum and Soldiers.

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

So in the earth, to this day is not known:

Late did he shine upon the English side;

Now we are victors; upon us he smiles.

5 What towns of any moment but we have?

At pleasure here we lie near Orleans;

[♦] Otherwhiles the famish’d English, like pale ghosts,

Faintly besiege us one hour in a month.

Alen. They want their porridge and their fat bull-beeves:

10 Either they must be dieted like mules

[♦] And have their provender tied to their mouths

Or piteous they will look, like drowned mice.

[♦] Reig. Let’s raise the siege: why live we idly here?

Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear:

15Remaineth 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.

[♦] Now for the honour of the forlorn French!

20 Him I forgive my death that killeth me

[♦] When he sees me go 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 I!

Dogs! cowards! dastards! I would ne’er have fled,

But that they left me ’midst my enemies.

25 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. Froissart, a countryman of ours, records,

[30] England all Olivers and Rowlands bred

During the time Edward the Third did reign.

More truly now may this be verified;

[♦] For none but Samsons and Goliases

It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!

35 Lean raw-boned rascals! who would e’er suppose

They had such courage and audacity?

[♦] Char. Let’s leave this town; for they are hare-brain’d slaves,

[♦] And hunger will enforce them to be more eager:

Of old I know them; rather with their teeth

40 The walls they’ll tear down than forsake the siege.

[♦] Reig. I think, by some odd gimmors or device

Their arms are set like clocks, still to strike on;

Else ne’er could they hold out so as they do.

By my consent, we’ll even let them alone.

45 Alen. Be it so.

Enter the BASTARD of Orleans.

Bast. Where’s the Prince Dauphin? I have news for him.

Char. Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us.

Bast. Methinks your looks are sad, your cheer appall’d:

Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?

50 Be not dismay’d, for succour is at hand:

A holy maid hither with me I bring,

Which by a vision sent to her from heaven

Ordained is to raise this tedious siege

And drive the English forth the bounds of France.

55 The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,

Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome:

What’s past and what’s to come she can descry.

[♦] Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,

[♦] For they are certain and unfallible.

[60] Char. Go, call her in. [Exit Bastard.] But first, to try her skill,

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.

Re-enter the BASTARD of Orleans, with JOAN LA PUCELLE.

[♦] Reig. Fair maid, is’t thou wilt do these wondrous feats?

65 Puc. Reignier, is’t thou that thinkest to beguile me?

Where is the Dauphin? Come, come from behind;

I know thee well, though never seen before.

Be not amazed, there’s nothing hid from me:

In private will I talk with thee apart.

70Stand back, you lords, and give us leave awhile.

Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.

Puc. 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 pleased

75To shine on my contemptible estate:

Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,

And to sun’s parching heat display’d my cheeks,

God’s mother deigned to appear to me

And in a vision full of majesty

80Will’d me to leave my base vocation

And free my country from calamity:

Her aid she promised and assured success:

In complete glory she reveal’d herself;

And, whereas I was black and swart before,

85With those clear rays which she infused on me

[♦]That beauty am I bless’d with which you see.

Ask me what question thou canst possible,

And I will answer unpremeditated:

My courage try by combat, if thou darest,

[90]And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.

Resolve on this, thou shalt be fortunate,

If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

Char. Thou hast astonish’d me with thy high terms:

Only this proof I’ll of thy valour make,

95In single combat thou shalt buckle with me,

And if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;

[♦]Otherwise I renounce all confidence.

Puc. I am prepared: here is my keen-edged sword,

[♦]Deck’d with five flower-de-luces on each side;

[100]The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine’s churchyard,

[♦]Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth.

[♦] Char. Then come, o’ God’s name; I fear no woman.

[♦] Puc. And while I live, I’ll ne’er fly from a man. [Here they fight, and Joan La Pucelle overcomes.

Char. Stay, stay thy hands! thou art an Amazon,

105And fightest with the sword of Deborah.

Puc. Christ’s mother helps me, else I were too weak.

Char. Whoe’er helps thee, ’tis thou that must help me:

Impatiently I burn with thy desire;

My heart and hands thou hast at once subdued.

110Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,

Let me thy servant and not sovereign be:

[♦]’Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus.

[♦] Puc. I must not yield to any rites of love,

For my profession’s sacred from above:

115When I have chased all thy foes from hence,

Then will I think upon a recompense.

Char. Meantime look gracious on thy prostrate thrall.

Reig. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk.

Alen. Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock;

120Else ne’er could he so long protract his speech.

Reig. Shall we disturb him, since he keeps no mean?

Alen. He may mean more than we poor men do know:

These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues.

Reig. My lord, where are you? what devise you on?

[125]Shall we give over Orleans, or no?

Puc. Why, no, I say, distrustful recreants!

[♦]Fight till the last gasp; I will be your guard.

Char. What she says I’ll confirm: we’ll fight it out.

[♦] Puc. Assign’d am I to be the English scourge.

130This night the siege assuredly I’ll raise:

[♦]Expect Saint Martin’s summer, halcyon days,

[♦]Since I have entered into these wars.

Glory is like a circle in the water,

Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself

135Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.

With Henry’s death the English circle ends;

Dispersed are the glories it included.

[♦]Now am I like that proud insulting ship

[♦]Which Cæsar and his fortune bare at once.

140 Char. Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?

Thou with an eagle art inspired then.

Helen, the mother of great Constantine,

Nor yet Saint Philip’s daughters, were like thee.

[♦]Bright star of Venus, fall’n down on the earth,

[145]How may I reverently worship thee enough?

Alen. Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege.

Reig. Woman, do what thou canst to save our honours;

[♦]Drive them from Orleans and be immortalized.

[♦] Char. Presently we’ll try: come, let’s away about it:

[150] No prophet will I trust, if she prove false. [Exeunt.

aac SCENE III. London. Before the Tower.

Enter the DUKE of GLOUCESTER, with his Serving-men in blue coats.

[♦] Glou. I am come to survey the Tower this day:

Since Henry’s death, I fear, there is conveyance.

Where be these warders, that they wait not here?

[♦]Open the gates; ’tis Gloucester that calls.

[5] First Warder. [Within] Who’s there that knocks so imperiously?

[♦] First Serv. It is the noble Duke of Gloucester.

[♦] Second Warder. [Within] Whoe’er he be, you may not be let in.

[♦] First Serv. Villains, answer you so the lord protector?

First Warder. [Within] The Lord protect him! so we answer him:

10 We do no otherwise than we are will’d.

[♦] Glou. Who willed you? or whose will stands but mine?

There’s none protector of the realm but I.

[♦]Break up the gates, I’ll be your warrantize:

Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms? [Gloucester’s men rush at the Tower Gates, and Woodvile the Lieutenant speaks within.

15 Woodv. What noise is this? what traitors have we here?

Glou. Lieutenant, is it you whose voice I hear?

Open the gates; here’s Gloucester that would enter.

Woodv. Have patience, noble duke; I may not open;

The Cardinal of Winchester forbids:

[20]From him I have express commandment

That thou nor none of thine shall be let in.

Glou. Faint-hearted Woodvile, prizest him ’fore me?

[♦]Arrogant Winchester, that haughty prelate,

Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne’er could brook?

25Thou art no friend to God or to the king:

Open the gates, or I’ll shut thee out shortly.

[♦] Serving-men. Open the gates unto the lord protector,

[♦]Or we’ll burst them open, if that you come not quickly.

Enter to the Protector at the Tower Gates WINCHESTER and his men in tawny coats.

[♦] Win. How now, ambitious Humphry! what means this?

[30] Glou. Peel’d priest, dost thou command me to be shut out?

Win. I do, thou most usurping proditor,

And not protector, of the king or realm.

Glou. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator,

[♦]Thou that contrivedst to murder our dead lord;

[35]Thou that givest whores indulgences to sin:

I’ll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal’s hat,

If thou proceed in this thy insolence.

Win. Nay, stand thou back; I will not budge a foot:

This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,

40To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt.

[♦] Glou. 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.

Win. Do what thou darest; I beard thee to thy face.

45 Glou. What! am I dared and bearded to my face?

[♦]Draw, men, for all this privileged place;

[♦]Blue coats to tawny coats. Priest, beware your beard;

I mean to tug it and to cuff you soundly:

[♦]Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal’s hat:

50In spite of pope or dignities of church,

Here by the cheeks I’ll drag thee up and down.

[♦] Win. Gloucester, thou wilt answer this before the pope.

Glou. Winchester goose, I cry, a rope! a rope!

Now beat them hence; why do you let them stay?

55Thee I’ll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep’s array.

[♦]Out, tawny coats! out, scarlet hypocrite!

Here Gloucester’s men beat out the Cardinal’s men, and enter in the hurly-burly the Mayor of London and his Officers.

May. Fie, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates,

Thus contumeliously should break the peace!

[♦] Glou. Peace, mayor! thou know’st little of my wrongs:

[60]Here’s Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king,

Hath here distrain’d the Tower to his use.

[♦] Win. Here’s Gloucester, a foe to citizens,

One that still motions war and never peace,

O’ercharging your free purses with large fines,

65That 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.

Glou. I will not answer thee with words, but blows. [Here they skirmish again.

70 May. Nought rests for me in this tumultuous strife

But to make open proclamation:

[♦]Come, officer; as loud as e’er thou canst:

Cry.

[♦] Off. All manner of men assembled here in arms this day against 75 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 to wear, handle, or use any sword, weapon, or dagger, henceforward, upon pain of death.

Glou. Cardinal, I’ll be no breaker of the law:

[80]But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.

[♦] Win. Gloucester, we will meet; to thy cost, be sure:

Thy heart-blood I will have for this day’s work.

May. I’ll call for clubs, if you will not away.

[♦]This cardinal’s more haughty than the devil.

[85] Glou. Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou mayst.

Win. Abominable Gloucester, guard thy head;

[♦] For I intend to have it ere long. [Exeunt, severally, Gloucester and Winchester with their Serving-men.

May. See the coast clear’d, and then we will depart.

[♦]Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!

90 I myself fight not once in forty year. [Exeunt.

aad SCENE IV. Orleans.

Enter, on the walls, a Master Gunner and his Boy.

[♦] M. Gun. Sirrah, thou know’st how Orleans is besieged,

And how the English have the suburbs won.

Boy. Father, I know; and oft have shot at them,

Howe’er unfortunate I miss’d my aim.

5 M. Gun. But now thou shalt not. Be thou ruled by me:

Chief master-gunner am I of this town;

Something I must do to procure me grace.

[♦]The prince’s espials have informed me

[♦]How the English, in the suburbs close intrench’d,

[10]Wont through a secret grate of iron bars

In yonder tower to overpeer the city

And thence discover how with most advantage

They may vex us with shot or with assault.

To intercept this inconvenience,

15A piece of ordnance ’gainst it I have placed;

[♦]And even these three days have I watch’d,

If I could see them.

[♦]Now do thou watch, for I can stay no longer.

If thou spy’st any, run and bring me word;

20 And thou shalt find me at the governor’s. [Exit.

Boy. Father, I warrant you; take you no care;

[♦] I’ll never trouble you, if I may spy them. [Exit.

Enter, on the turrets, the LORDS SALISBURY and TALBOT, SIR WILLIAM GLANSDALE, SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE, and others.

[♦] Sal. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return’d!

How wert thou handled being prisoner?

[25]Or by what means got’st thou to be released?

Discourse, I prithee, on this turret’s top.

[♦] Tal. The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner

[♦]Call’d the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles;

[♦]For him was I exchanged and ransomed.

30But with a baser man of arms by far

Once in contempt they would have barter’d me:

Which I disdaining scorn’d and craved death

[♦]Rather than I would be so vile-esteem’d.

In fine, redeem’d I was as I desired.

[35]But, O! the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart,

Whom with my bare fists I would execute,

If I now had him brought into my power.

Sal. Yet tell’st thou not how thou wert entertain’d.

Tal. With scoffs and scorns and contumelious taunts.

40In open market-place produced they me,

To be a public spectacle to all:

Here, said they, is the terror of the French,

[♦]The scarecrow that affrights our children so.

Then broke I from the officers that led me,

45And with my nails digg’d stones out of the ground,

To hurl at the beholders of my shame:

My grisly countenance made others fly;

None durst come near for fear of sudden death.

In iron walls they deem’d me not secure;

[50]So great fear of my name ’mongst them was spread

That they supposed I could rend bars of steel

And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:

Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had

[♦]That walked about me every minute while;

55And if I did but stir out of my bed,

[♦]Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.

Enter the Boy with a linstock.

Sal. I grieve to hear what torments you endured,

But we will be revenged sufficiently.

Now it is supper-time in Orleans:

[60]Here, through this grate, I count each one

And view the Frenchmen how they fortify:

Let us look in; the sight will much delight thee.

Sir Thomas Gargrave, and Sir William Glansdale,

Let me have your express opinions

[65]Where is best place to make our battery next.

[♦] Gar. I think, at the north gate; for there stand lords.

Glan. And I, here, at the bulwark of the bridge.

Tal. For aught I see, this city must be famish’d,

[♦] Or with light skirmishes enfeebled. [Here they shoot. Salisbury and Gargrave fall.

70 Sal. O Lord, have mercy on us, wretched sinners!

Gar. O Lord, have mercy on me, woful man!

Tal. What chance is this that suddenly hath cross’d us?

[♦]Speak, Salisbury; at least, if thou canst speak:

How farest thou, mirror of all martial men?

[75]One of thy eyes and thy cheek’s side struck off!

Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand

That hath contrived this woful tragedy!

[♦]In thirteen battles Salisbury o’ercame;

Henry the Fifth he first train’d to the wars;

80Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up,

His sword did ne’er leave striking in the field.

Yet livest thou, Salisbury? though thy speech doth fail,

One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:

[♦]The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.

85Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,

If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands!

Bear hence his body; I will help to bury it.

Sir Thomas Gargrave, hast thou any life?

Speak unto Talbot; nay, look up to him.

[90]Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort;

[♦]Thou shalt not die whiles—

He beckons with his hand and smiles on me,

As who should say ‘When I am dead and gone,

Remember to avenge me on the French.’

[95]Plantagenet, I will; and like thee, Nero,

Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:

[♦] Wretched shall France be only in my name. [Here an alarum, and it thunders and lightens.

What stir is this? what tumult’s in the heavens?

[♦]Whence cometh this alarum, and the noise?

Enter a Messenger.

100 Mess. My lord, my lord, the French have gather’d head:

[♦]The Dauphin, with one Joan la Pucelle join’d,

A holy prophetess new risen up,

Is come with a great power to raise the siege. [Here Salisbury lifteth himself up and groans.

Tal. Hear, hear how dying Salisbury doth groan!

105It irks his heart he cannot be revenged.

Frenchmen, I’ll be a Salisbury to you:

[♦]Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish,

Your hearts I’ll stamp out with my horse’s heels,

And make a quagmire of your mingled brains.

[110]Convey me Salisbury into his tent,

[♦] And then we’ll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare. [Alarum. Exeunt.

aae SCENE V. The same.

Here an Alarum again: and TALBOT pursueth the DAUPHIN, and driveth him: then enter JOAN LA PUCELLE, driving Englishmen before her, and exit after them: then re-enter TALBOT.

[♦] Tal. Where is my strength, my valour, and my force?

Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them;

[♦]A woman clad in armour chaseth them.

Re-enter LA PUCELLE.

Here, here she comes. I’ll have a bout with thee;

5Devil or devil’s dam, I’ll conjure thee:

Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch,

And straightway give thy soul to him thou servest.

Puc. Come, come, ’tis only I that must disgrace thee. [Here they fight.

[♦] Tal. Heavens, can you suffer hell so to prevail?

10My breast I’ll burst with straining of my courage

And from my shoulders crack my arms asunder,

But I will chastise this high-minded strumpet. [They fight again.

Puc. Talbot, farewell; thy hour is not yet come:

[♦] I must go victual Orleans forthwith. [A short alarum: then enter the town with soldiers.

15 O’ertake me, if thou canst; I scorn thy strength.

[♦] Go, go, cheer up thy hungry-starved men;

Help Salisbury to make his testament:

This day is ours, as many more shall be. [Exit.

Tal. My thoughts are whirled like a potter’s wheel;

20I know not where I am, nor what I do:

A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibal,

Drives back our troops and conquers as she lists:

So bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench

Are from their hives and houses driven away.

25They call’d us for our fierceness English dogs;

[♦] Now, like to whelps, we crying run away. [A short alarum.

Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight,

Or tear the lions out of England’s coat;

Renounce your soil, give sheep in lions’ stead:

[30]Sheep run not half so treacherous from the wolf,

Or horse or oxen from the leopard,

As you fly from your oft-subdued slaves. [Alarum. Here another skirmish.

It will not be: retire into your trenches:

You all consented unto Salisbury’s death,

35For none would strike a stroke in his revenge.

Pucelle is enter’d into Orleans,

In spite of us or aught that we could do.

O, would I were to die with Salisbury!

The shame hereof will make me hide my head. [Exit Talbot. Alarum; retreat; flourish.

aaf SCENE VI. The same.

Enter, on the walls, LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, REIGNIER, ALENÇON, and Soldiers.

[♦] Puc. Advance our waving colours on the walls;

[♦]Rescued is Orleans from the English:

Thus Joan la Pucelle hath perform’d her word.

[♦] Char. Divinest creature, Astræa’s daughter,

5How shall I honour thee for this success?

[♦]Thy promises are like Adonis’ gardens

That one day bloom’d and fruitful were the next.

France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess!

Recover’d is the town of Orleans:

10More blessed hap did ne’er befall our state.

[♦] Reig. Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town?

Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires

And feast and banquet in the open streets,

To celebrate the joy that God hath given us.

15 Alen. All France will be replete with mirth and joy,

When they shall hear how we have play’d the men.

Char. ’Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;

For which I will divide my crown with her,

And all the priests and friars in my realm

20Shall in procession sing her endless praise.

[♦]A statelier pyramis to her I’ll rear

[♦]Than Rhodope’s or Memphis’ ever was:

[♦] In memory of her when she is dead,

[♦] Her ashes, in an urn more precious

[25] Than the rich-jewel’d coffer of Darius,

Transported shall be at high festivals

[♦] Before the kings and queens of France.

No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,

But Joan la Pucelle shall be France’s saint.

30 Come in, and let us banquet royally,

After this golden day of victory. [Flourish. Exeunt.