LUCY.
The fraud of England, not the force of France,
Hath now entrapp’d the noble-minded Talbot.
Never to England shall he bear his life,
But dies betray’d 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.]
SCENE V. The English camp near Bordeaux.
Enter Talbot and John his son.
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 TALBOT.
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.