Internet Shakespeare Editions

Author: William Shakespeare
Editor:
Not Peer Reviewed

Henry VI, Part 1 (Modern)

2425 Alarum. Excursions. Enter Joan [la] Pucelle.
Pucelle
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.
2430You speedy helpers, that are substitutes
Under the lordly monarch of the north,
Appear, and aid me in this enterprise.
Enter Fiends.
This speedy and quick appearance argues proof
2435Of 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.
2440O, 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.
2445 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
2450Entreat 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
2455That France must vail her lofty plumèd 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.
2460 Excursions. [The Dukes of] Burgundy and York fight hand to hand. [The] French fly. [Joan la Pucelle is captured.]
Plantagenet
Damsel of France, I think I have you fast.
Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms,
And try if they can gain your liberty.
2465A goodly prize, fit for the devil's grace.
[To his Soldiers.] See how the ugly witch doth bend her brows,
As if with Circe she would change my shape.
Pucelle
Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be.
Plantagenet
O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man.
2470No shape but his can please your dainty eye.
Pucelle
A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee,
And may ye both be suddenly surprised
By bloody hands in sleeping on your beds.
Plantagenet
Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy 2475tongue.
Pucelle
I prithee give me leave to curse awhile.
Plantagenet
Curse, miscreant, when thou com'st to the stake.
Exeunt.
Alarum. Enter [the Earl of] Suffolk with Margaret 2480in 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,
2485I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,
And lay them gently on thy tender side.
Who art thou? Say, that I may honor thee?
Margaret
Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
The King of Naples, whoso'er thou art.
2490Suffolk
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 her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
2495Yet if this servile usage once offend,
Go, and be free again, as Suffolk's friend.
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,
2500Twinkling 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.
2505Hast not a tongue? Is she not here?
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight?
Aye, beauty's princely majesty is such
Confounds the tongue, and makes the senses rough.
Margaret
Say, Earl of Suffolk, if thy name be so,
2510What 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?
2515Suffolk
[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?
2520Margaret
[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.
2525Suffolk
[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 establishèd between these realms.
2530But 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?
2535Suffolk
[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 dishonor me.
2540Suffolk
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.
2545Suffolk
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
2550Than 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?
2555Suffolk
I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen,
To put a golden scepter in thy hand,
And set a precious crown upon thy head,
If thou wilt condescend to be my--
Margaret
What?
2560Suffolk
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
And have no portion in the choice myself.
2565How say you, madam; are ye so content?
Margaret
And if my father please, I am content.
Suffolk
Then call our captains and our colors forth,
And, madam, at your father's castle walls
We'll crave a parley, to confer with him.
2570 [Enter Captains, Colors, and Trumpeters, who] sound [a parley]. Enter Reignier [Duke of Anjou] on the walls.
See, Reignier, see thy daughter prisoner.
Reignier
To whom?
Suffolk
To me.
Reignier
Suffolk, what remedy?
2575I 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 honor give consent,
Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,
2580Whom I with pain have wooed and won thereto;
And this her easy-held imprisonment
Hath gained thy daughter princely liberty.
Reignier
Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?
Suffolk
Fair Margaret knows
2585That Suffolk doth not flatter, face or feign.
Reignier
Upon thy princely warrant I descend
To give thee answer of thy just demand.
[Exit Reignier above.]
Suffolk
And here I will expect thy coming.
Trumpets sound. Enter Reignier.
2590Reignier
Welcome, brave Earl, into our territories.
Command in Anjou what your honor pleases.
Suffolk
Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,
Fit to be made companion with a king.
What answer makes your grace unto my suit?
2595Reignier
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 country Maine and Anjou,
Free from oppression or the stroke of war,
2600My 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.
Reignier
And I again in Henry's royal name,
2605As deputy unto that gracious king,
Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith.
Suffolk
Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,
Because this is in traffic of a king.
[Aside.] And yet methinks I could be well content
2610To be mine own attorney in this case.
[To Reignier.] I'll over then to England with this news,
And make this marriage to be solemnized.
So farewell, Reignier; set this diamond safe
In golden palaces, as it becomes.
2615Reignier
I do embrace thee as I would embrace
The Christian prince King Henry, were he here.
Margaret
Farewell, my lord: good wishes, praise, and prayers
Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.
Suffolk
Farewell, sweet madam: but hark you Margaret;
2620No 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 modesty directed.
[She is going.]
But madam, I must trouble you again:
2625No 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] kiss[es] her.
Margaret
That for thyself; I will not so presume
2630To send such peevish tokens to a king.
[Exit Reignier and Margaret.]
Suffolk
[Aside.] O wert thou for myself. But Suffolk, stay.
Thou mayest not wander in that labyrinth.
There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.
Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise.
2635Bethink 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.