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James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
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SCENE II. France. Before Roüen. Enter La Pucelle disguised, and Soldiers dressed like Countrymen, with Sacks upon their Backs.

Puc.
These are the city gates, the gates of Roüen4 note


,
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.
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.

1 Sold.
Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city5 note,
And we be lords and rulers over Roüen;
Therefore we'll knock.
[Knocks.

Guard. [Within.]
Qui est là6 note

?

-- 89 --

Puc.
Paisans, pauvres gens de France:
Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn.

Guard.
Enter, go in; the market-bell is rung.
[Opens the gates.

Puc.
Now, Roüen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground.
[Pucelle, &c. enter the City. Enter Charles, Bastard of Orleans, Alençon, and Forces.

Char.
Saint Dennis bless this happy stratagem!
And once again we'll sleep secure in Roüen.

Bast.
Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants7 note


;
Now she is there, how will she specify
Where is8 note the best and safest passage in?

Alen.
By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower;
Which, once discerned, shows, that her meaning is,—
No way to that9 note


, for weakness, which she enter'd. Enter La Pucelle on a Battlement: holding out a Torch burning.

Puc.
Behold, this is the happy wedding torch,
That joineth Roüen unto her countrymen;
But burning fatal to the Talbotites.

-- 90 --

Bast.
See, noble Charles! the beacon of our friend,
The burning torch in yonder turret stands.

Char.
Now shine it like a comet of revenge,
A prophet to the fall of all our foes!

Alen.
Defer no time, Delays have dangerous ends;
Enter, and cry—The Dauphin!—presently,
And then do execution on the watch.
[They enter. Alarums. Enter Talbot, and certain English.

Tal.
France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears1 note
,
If Talbot but survive thy treachery.—
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escap'd the pride of France2 note







. [Exeunt to the Town.

-- 91 --

Alarum: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, Bedford, brought in sick, in a Chair, with Talbot, Burgundy, and the English Forces. Then, enter on the Walls, La Pucelle, Charles, Bastard, Alençon3 note, and Others.

Puc.
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 darnel4 note




; Do you like the taste?

Bur.
Scoff on, vile fiend, and shameless courtezan!
I trust, ere long, to choke thee with thine own,
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn.

Char.
Your grace may starve, perhaps, before that time.

Bed.
O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason!

-- 92 --

Puc.
What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance,
And run a tilt at death within a chair?

Tal.
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?
Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.

Puc.
Are you so hot, sir?—Yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;
If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.— [Talbot, and the rest, consult together.
God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?

Tal.
Dare ye come forth, and meet us in the field?

Puc.
Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools,
To try if that our own be ours, or no.

Tal.
I speak not to that railing Hecaté,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?

Alen.
Signior, no.

Tal.
Signior, hang!—base muleteers of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc.
Captains, away: 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 you5 note
That we are here.
[Exeunt La Pucelle, &c. from the Walls.

Tal.
And there will we be too, ere it be long,

-- 93 --


Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!—
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
(Prick'd on by publick wrongs, sustain'd in France,)
Either to get the town again, or die;
And I,—as sure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror;
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Cœur-de-lion's heart was buried;
So sure I swear, to get the town, or die.

Bur.
My vows are equal partners with thy vows.

Tal.
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.

Bed.
Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:
Here will I sit before the walls of Roüen,
And will be partner of your weal, or woe,

Bur.
Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you.

Bed.
Not to be gone from hence: for once I read,
That stout Pendragon, in his litter6 note








, sick,

-- 94 --


Came to the field, and vanquished his foes:
Methinks, I should revive the soldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal.
Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!—
Then be it so:—Heavens keep old Bedford safe!—
And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand,
And set upon our boasting enemy.
[Exeunt Burgundy, Talbot, and Forces, leaving Bedford, and Others. Alarum: Excursions. Enter Sir John Fastolfe, and a Captain.

Cap.
Whither away, sir John Fastolfe, in such haste?

Fast.
Whither away? to save myself by flight7 note;
We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap.
What! will you fly, and leave lord Talbot?

Fast.
Ay,
All the Talbots in the world, to save my life.
[Exit.

Cap.
Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee!
[Exit. Retreat: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, La Pucelle, Alençon, Charles, &c. and Exeunt, flying.

Bed.
Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please,
For I have seen our enemies' overthrow.

-- 95 --


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. [Dies8 note, and is carried off in his Chair. Alarum. Enter Talbot, Burgundy, amd Others.

Tal.
Lost, and recover'd in a day again!
This is a double honour, Burgundy:
Yet, heavens have glory for this victory!

Bur.
Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy
Enshrines thee in his heart; and there erects
Thy noble deeds, as valour's monument.

Tal.
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 a-mort9 note
? Roüen hangs her head for grief,
That such a valiant company are fled.
Now will we take some order1 note


in the town,
Placing therein some expert officers;
And then depart to Paris to the king;
For there young Harry, with his nobles, lies.

Bur.
What wills lord Talbot, pleaseth Burgundy.

Tal.
But yet, before we go, let's not forget
The noble duke of Bedford, late deceas'd,
But see his exequies fulfill'd in Roüen;

-- 96 --


A braver soldier never couched lance2 note




,
A gentler heart did never sway in court:
But kings, and mightiest potentates, must die;
For that's the end of human misery. [Exeunt.
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James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
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