| ACT III SCENE II | France. Before Rouen. | |
| [
Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE disguised, with four Soldiers
with sacks upon their backs
] |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen, |
| Through which our policy must make a breach: |
| Take heed, be wary how you place your words; |
| Talk like the vulgar sort of market men |
| That come to gather money for their corn. | 5 |
| If we have entrance, as I hope we shall, |
| And that we find the slothful watch but weak, |
| I'll by a sign give notice to our friends, |
| That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them. |
| First Soldier | Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city, | 10 |
| And we be lords and rulers over Rouen; |
| Therefore we'll knock. |
| [Knocks] |
| Watch | [Within] Qui est la?
|
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Paysans, pauvres gens de France; |
| Poor market folks that come to sell their corn. | 15 |
| Watch | Enter, go in; the market bell is rung. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground. |
| [Exeunt] |
| [
Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON,
REIGNIER, and forces
] |
| CHARLES | Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem! |
| And once again we'll sleep secure in Rouen. |
| BASTARD OF ORLEANS | Here enter'd Pucelle and her practisants; | 20 |
| Now she is there, how will she specify |
| Where is the best and safest passage in? |
| REIGNIER | By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower; |
| Which, once discern'd, shows that her meaning is, |
| No way to that, for weakness, which she enter'd. | 25 |
| [
Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE on the top, thrusting out a
torch burning
] |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Behold, this is the happy wedding torch |
| That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen, |
| But burning fatal to the Talbotites! |
| [Exit] |
| BASTARD OF ORLEANS | See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend; |
| The burning torch in yonder turret stands. | 30 |
| CHARLES | Now shine it like a comet of revenge, |
| A prophet to the fall of all our foes! |
| REIGNIER | Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends; |
| Enter, and cry 'The Dauphin!' presently, |
| And then do execution on the watch. | 35 |
| [Alarum. Exeunt] |
| [An alarum. Enter TALBOT in an excursion] |
| TALBOT | France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears, |
| If Talbot but survive thy treachery. |
| Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress, |
| Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares, |
| That hardly we escaped the pride of France. | 40 |
| [Exit] |
| [
An alarum: excursions. BEDFORD, brought in sick
in a chair. Enter TALBOT and BURGUNDY without:
within JOAN LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, BASTARD OF ORLEANS,
ALENCON, and REIGNIER, on the walls
] |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Good morrow, gallants! want ye corn for bread? |
| I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast |
| Before he'll buy again at such a rate: |
| 'Twas full of darnel; do you like the taste? |
| BURGUNDY | Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtezan! | 45 |
| I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own |
| And make thee curse the harvest of that corn. |
| CHARLES | Your grace may starve perhaps before that time. |
| BEDFORD | O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason! |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance, | 50 |
| And run a tilt at death within a chair? |
| TALBOT | Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite, |
| Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours! |
| Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age
|
| And twit with cowardice a man half dead? | 55 |
| Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again, |
| Or else let Talbot perish with this shame. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Are ye so hot, sir? yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace; |
| If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow. |
[The English whisper together in council] |
| God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? | 60 |
| TALBOT | Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field? |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Belike your lordship takes us then for fools, |
| To try if that our own be ours or no. |
| TALBOT | I speak not to that railing Hecate, |
| But unto thee, Alencon, and the rest; | 65 |
| Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out? |
| ALENCON | Signior, no. |
| TALBOT | Signior, hang! base muleters of France! |
| Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls |
| And dare not take up arms like gentlemen. | 70 |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Away, captains! let's get us from the walls; |
| For Talbot means no goodness by his looks. |
| God be wi' you, my lord! we came but to tell you |
| That we are here. |
| [Exeunt from the walls] |
| TALBOT | And there will we be too, ere it be long, | 75 |
| Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame! |
| Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house, |
| Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd in France, |
| Either to get the town again or die: |
| And I, as sure as English Henry lives | 80 |
| And as his father here was conqueror, |
| As sure as in this late-betrayed town |
| Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried, |
| So sure I swear to get the town or die. |
| BURGUNDY | My vows are equal partners with thy vows. | 85 |
| TALBOT | But, ere we go, regard this dying prince, |
| The valiant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord, |
| We will bestow you in some better place, |
| Fitter for sickness and for crazy age. |
| BEDFORD | Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me: | 90 |
| Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen |
| And will be partner of your weal or woe. |
| BURGUNDY | Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you. |
| BEDFORD | Not to be gone from hence; for once I read |
| That stout Pendragon in his litter sick | 95 |
| Came to the field and vanquished his foes: |
| Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts, |
| Because I ever found them as myself. |
| TALBOT | Undaunted spirit in a dying breast! |
| Then be it so: heavens keep old Bedford safe! | 100 |
| And now no more ado, brave Burgundy, |
| But gather we our forces out of hand |
| And set upon our boasting enemy. |
| [Exeunt all but BEDFORD and Attendants] |
| [
An alarum: excursions. Enter FASTOLFE and
a Captain
] |
| Captain | Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste? |
| FASTOLFE | Whither away! to save myself by flight: | 105 |
| We are like to have the overthrow again. |
| Captain | What! will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot? |
| FASTOLFE | Ay, |
| All the Talbots in the world, to save my life! |
| [Exit] |
| Captain | Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee! | 110 |
| [Exit] |
| [
Retreat: excursions. JOAN LA PUCELLE, ALENCON,
and CHARLES fly
] |
| BEDFORD | Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please, |
| For I have seen our enemies' overthrow. |
| What is the trust or strength of foolish man? |
| They that of late were daring with their scoffs |
| Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves. | 115 |
| [BEDFORD dies, and is carried in by two in his chair] |
| [An alarum. Re-enter TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and the rest] |
| TALBOT | Lost, and recover'd in a day again! |
| This is a double honour, Burgundy: |
| Yet heavens have glory for this victory! |
| BURGUNDY | Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy |
| Enshrines thee in his heart and there erects | 120 |
| Thy noble deeds as valour's monuments. |
| TALBOT | Thanks, gentle duke. But where is Pucelle now? |
| I think her old familiar is asleep: |
| Now where's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks? |
| What, all amort? Rouen hangs her head for grief | 125 |
| That such a valiant company are fled. |
| Now will we take some order in the town, |
| Placing therein some expert officers, |
| And then depart to Paris to the king, |
| For there young Henry with his nobles lie. | 130 |
| BURGUNDY | What wills Lord Talbot pleaseth Burgundy. |
| TALBOT | But yet, before we go, let's not forget |
| The noble Duke of Bedford late deceased, |
| But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen: |
| A braver soldier never couched lance, | 135 |
| A gentler heart did never sway in court; |
| But kings and mightiest potentates must die, |
| For that's the end of human misery. |
| [Exeunt] |
The Essential Student History Quiz (with answers and illustrations)