| ACT III SCENE III | The plains near Rouen. | |
| [
Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, JOAN
LA PUCELLE, and forces
] |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | 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 | 5 |
| 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 ruled. |
| CHARLES | We have been guided by thee hitherto, |
| And of thy cunning had no diffidence: | 10 |
| One sudden foil shall never breed distrust. |
| BASTARD OF ORLEANS | Search out thy wit for secret policies, |
| And we will make thee famous through the world. |
| ALENCON | We'll set thy statue in some holy place, |
| And have thee reverenced like a blessed saint: | 15 |
| Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | 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. | 20 |
| CHARLES | 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. |
| ALENCON | For ever should they be expulsed from France | 25 |
| And not have title of an earldom here. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Your honours shall perceive how I will work |
| To bring this matter to the wished end. |
[Drum sounds afar off] |
| Hark! by the sound of drum you may perceive |
| Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward. | 30 |
[
Here sound 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. |
[French march. Enter 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. | 35 |
| [Trumpets sound a parley] |
| CHARLES | A parley with the Duke of Burgundy! |
| BURGUNDY | Who craves a parley with the Burgundy? |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | The princely Charles of France, thy countryman. |
| BURGUNDY | What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence. |
| CHARLES | Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words. | 40 |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France! |
| Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee. |
| BURGUNDY | Speak on; but be not over-tedious. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Look on thy country, look on fertile France, |
| And see the cities and the towns defaced | 45 |
| 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, | 50 |
| 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: | 55 |
| Return thee therefore with a flood of tears, |
| And wash away thy country's stained spots.
|
| BURGUNDY | Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words, |
| Or nature makes me suddenly relent. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee, | 60 |
| Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny. |
| Who joint'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, | 65 |
| 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? | 70 |
| But when they heard he was thine enemy, |
| They set him free without his ransom paid, |
| In spite of Burgundy and all his friends. |
| See, then, thou fight'st against thy countrymen |
| And joint'st with them will be thy slaughtermen. | 75 |
| Come, come, return; return, thou wandering lord: |
| Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms. |
| BURGUNDY | I am vanquished; these haughty words of hers |
| Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot, |
| And made me almost yield upon my knees. | 80 |
| Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen, |
| And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace: |
| My forces and my power of men are yours: |
| So farewell, Talbot; I'll no longer trust thee. |
| JOAN LA PUCELLE | [Aside] Done like a Frenchman: turn, and turn again!
| 85 |
| CHARLES | Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh. |
| BASTARD OF ORLEANS | And doth beget new courage in our breasts. |
| ALENCON | Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in this, |
| And doth deserve a coronet of gold. |
| CHARLES | Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers, | 90 |
| And seek how we may prejudice the foe. |
| [Exeunt] |
The Essential Student History Quiz (with answers and illustrations)