Enter CHARLES, the Bastard, ALENÇON, LA PUCELLE, and Forces.

Puc. Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered:
Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,
For things that are not to be remedied.
Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while,
And like a peacock sweep along his tail;
We'll pull his plumes, and take away his train,
If Dauphin, and the rest, will be but rul'd.

Char. We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence;
One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.

Bast. Search out thy wit for secret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
Alen. We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenc'd like a blessed saint;
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
Puc. Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:
By fair persuasions, mix'd with sugar'd words,
We will entice the duke of Burgundy

To leave the Talbot, and to follow us.

Char. Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that, France were no place for Henry's warriors;

Nor should that nation boast it so with us,

But be extirped from our provinces.*

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd from France,5 And not have title of an earldom here.

Puc. Your honour shall perceive how I will work, To bring this matter to the wished end. [Drums heard. Hark! by the sound of drum, you may perceive Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.

4 But be extirped from our provinces.] To extirp is to root out. So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603:

"The world shall gather to extirp our name." Steevens. 5 — expuls'd from France,] i. e. expelled. So, in Ben Jonson's Sejanus:

The expulsed Apicata finds them there." Steevens.

An English March. Enter, and pass over at a distance,
TALBOT, and his Forces.

There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread;
And all the troops of English after him.

A French March. Enter the Duke of BURGUNDY, and Forces.

Now, in the rearward, comes the duke, and his;
Fortune, in favour, makes him lag behind.
Summon a parley, we will talk with him.

[A Parley sounded.
Char. A parley with the duke of Burgundy.
Bur. Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
Puc. The princely Charles of France, thy country-

man.

Bur. What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching

hence.

Char. Speak, Pucelle; and enchant him with thy

words.

Puc. Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France! Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.

Bur. Speak on; but be not over-tedious.

Puc. Look on thy country, look on fertile France, And see the cities and the towns defac'd

By wasting ruin of the cruel foe!

As looks the mother on her lowly babe,*
When death doth close his tender dying eyes,
See, see, the pining malady of France;

Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woful breast!
O, turn thy edged sword another way;

Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help!
One drop of blood, drawn from thy country's bosom,
Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore;
Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,

And wash away thy country's stained spots!

6 As looks the mother on her lowly babe,] It is plain Shakspeare wrote-lovely babe, it answering to fertile France above, which this domestic image is brought to illustrate. Warburton.

The alteration is easy and probable, but perhaps the poet by lowly babe meant the babe lying low in death. Lowly answers as well to towns defaced and wasting ruin, as lovely to fertile. Johnson.

Bur. Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words, Or nature makes me suddenly relent.

Puc. Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee, Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.

Who join'st thou with, but with a lordly nation,
That will not trust thee, but for profit's sake?
When Talbot hath set footing once in France,
And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill,
Who then, but English Henry, will be lord,
And thou be thrust out, like a fugitive?

Call we to mind,—and mark but this, for proof;-
Was not the duke of Orleans thy foe?
And was he not in England prisoner?
But, when they heard he was thine enemy,
They set him free, without his ransome paid,
In spite of Burgundy, and all his friends.

See then! thou fight'st against thy countrymen,
And join'st with them will be thy slaughter-men.
Come, come, return; return, thou wand'ring lord;
Charles, and the rest, will take thee in their arms.
Bur. I am vanquished; these haughty words of hers
Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot, 8
And made me almost yield upon my knees.-
Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen!
And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace:

7 They set him free, &c.] A mistake. The Duke was not liberated till after Burgundy's decline to the French interest; which did not happen, by the way, till some years after the execution of this very Joan la Pucelle; nor was that during the regency of York, but of Bedford. Ritson.

8

these haughty words of hers

Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot,] How these lines came hither I know not; there was nothing in the speech of Joan haughty or violent, it was all soft entreaty and mild expostulation. Johnson.

Haughty does not mean violent in this place, but elevated, highspirited. It is used in a similar sense, in two other passages in this very play. In a preceding scene Mortimer says:

"But mark; as in this haughty, great attempt,

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"They laboured to plant the rightful heir —”

And again, in the next scene, Talbot says:

"Knights of the Garter were of noble birth,
"Valiant, and virtuous; full of haughty courage."

M. Mason.

My forces and my power of men are yours;-
So, farewel, Talbot; I'll no longer trust thee.

Puc. Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn again!' Char. Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh.

Bast. And doth beget new courage in our breasts. Alen. Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in this, And doth deserve a coronet of gold.

Char. Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers; And seek how we may prejudice the foe.

SCENE IV.

Paris. A Room in the Palace.

Exeunt.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, and other Lords, VER

NON,

BASSET, &c.

Officers.

To them TALBOT, and some of his

Tal. 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 reclaim'd

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.

K. Hen. Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Gloster,1

9 Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn again!] The inconstancy of the French was always the subject of satire. I have read a dissertation written to prove that the index of the wind upon our steeples was made in form of a cock, to ridicule the French for their frequent changes. Johnson.

So, afterwards:

In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation." Malone. In Othello we have the same phrase:

"Sir, she can turn, and turn, and yet go on,

"And turn again." Steevens.

1 Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Gloster,] Sir Thomas Hanmer supplies the apparent deficiency in this line, by reading—

Is this the fam'd lord Talbot, &c.

So, in Troilus and Cressida:

"My well fam'd lord of Troy -." Steevens.

That hath so long been resident in France?

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

K. Hen. Welcome, brave captain, and victorious lord! When I was young, (as yet I am not old) I do remember how my father said,2 A stouter champion never handled sword. Long since we were resolved of your truth,3 Your faithful service, and your toil in war; Yet never have you tasted our reward, Or been reguerdon'd4 with so much as thanks, Because till now we never saw your face: Therefore, stand up; and, for these good deserts, We here create you earl of Shrewsbury; And in our coronation take your place.

[Exeunt Ling HEN. GLO. TAL. and Nobles. Ver. Now, sir, to you, that were so hot at sea, Disgracing of these colours that I wears

In honour of my noble lord of York,—

Dar'st thou maintain the former words thou spak'st?
Bas. Yes, sir; as well as you dare patronage

The envious barking of your saucy tongue
Against my lord, the duke of Somerset.

Ver. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.

Bas. Why, what is he? as good a man as York. Ver. Hark ye; not so: in witness, take ye that. [Strikes him. Bas. Villain, thou know'st, the law of arms is such, That, who so draws a sword, 'tis present death;

2 I do remember how my father said,] The author of this play was not a very correct historian. Henry was but nine months old when his father died, and never saw him. Malone.

3 resolved of your truth,] i. e. confirmed in opinion of it. So, in the Third Part of this play:

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I am resolv'd

"That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue." Steevens. 4 Or been reguerdon'd] i. e. rewarded. The word was obsolete even in the time of Shakspeare. Chaucer uses it in the Boke of Boethius. Steevens.

5

these colours that I wear ---] This was the badge of a rose, and not an officer's scarf. So, in Love's Labour's Lost, Act III,scene the last:

"And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop." Tollet. 6 That, who so draws a sword, 'tis present death;] Shakspeare

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