And fully even these three days have I watch'd
If I could see them. Now, boy, do thou watcha,
For I can stay no longer.

If thou spy'st any, run and bring me word;
And thou shalt find me at the governor's.
SON. Father, I warrant you; take you no care;

I'll never trouble you if I may spy them.

[Exit

Enter, in an upper chamber of a tower, the LORDS SALISBURY and TALBOT, Sir WILLIAM GLANSDALE, Sir THOMAS GARGRAVE, and others.

SAL. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!

How wert thou handled, being prisoner?

Or by what means gott'st thou to be releas'd?
Discourse, I prithee, on this turret's top.
TAL. The duke of Bedford had a prisoner,
Called the brave lord Ponton de Santrailles;
For him was I exchang'd and ransomed.
But with a baser man of arms by far,

Once, in contempt, they would have barter'd me;
Which I, disdaining, scorn'd; and craved death,
Rather than I would be so pil'd-esteem'd.

In fine, redeem'd I was as I desir'd.

But, O! the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart!
Whom with my bare fists I would execute,

If I now had him brought into my power.

SAL. Yet tell'st thou not how thou wert entertain'd.
TAL. With scoffs, and scorns, and contumelious taunts.
In open market-place produc'd they me,

To be a public spectacle to all:

Here, said they, is the terror of the French,
The scarecrow that affrights our children so.

Then broke I from the officers that led me;

And with my nails digg'd stones out of the ground,

To hurl at the beholders of my shame.

My grisly countenance made others fly;

None durst come near, for fear of sudden death.

In iron walls they deem'd me not secure;

So great fear of my name 'mongst them was spread,

That they suppos'd I could rend bars of steel,

a We follow the reading of the second folio. In the first the passage stands thus:

"And even these three days have I watch'd

If I could see them. Now do thou watch."

Duke. The original has earl.

• Pil'd esteem'd in the original. Malone's correction to vile-esteem'd is natural and unforced. It has been suggested to us that pil'd is from pili—“ Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili.”

And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:
Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,
That walk'd about me every minute-while;
And if I did but stir out of my bed,
Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.
SAL. I grieve to hear what torments you endur'd;
But we will be reveng'd sufficiently.

Now it is supper-time in Orleans:

Here, thorough this grate, I count each onea,
And view the Frenchmen how they fortify;

Let us look in, the sight will much delight thee.
Sir Thomas Gargrave, and sir William Glansdale,
Let me have your express opinions,

Where is best place to make our battery next.
GAR. I think, at the north gate; for there stand lords.
GLAN. And I, here, at the bulwark of the bridge.
TAL. For aught I see, this city must be famish'd,
Or with light skirmishes enfeebled.

[Shot from the town.

SALISBURY and GARGRAVE fall.

SAL. O Lord, have mercy on us, wretched sinners!
GAR. O Lord, have mercy on me, woeful man!

TAL. What chance is this that suddenly hath cross'd us?—

Speak, Salisbury; at least, if thou canst speak;

How far'st thou, mirror of all martial men?

One of thy eyes, and thy cheek's side, struck off!

Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand,

That hath contriv'd this woeful tragedy!

In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame;

Henry the fifth he first train'd to the wars;

Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up,
His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field.
Yet liv'st thou, Salisbury? though thy speech doth fail,
One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.
Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,
If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hand!
Bear hence his body, I will help to bury it.
Sir Thomas Gargrave, hast thou any life?
Speak unto Talbot; nay, look up to him.
Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort;
Thou shalt not die, whiles-

He beckons with his hånd, and smiles on me;
As who should say, "When I am dead and gone,

a The second folio, which is generally followed, reads,―

"Here, through this grate, I can count every one."

Remember to avenge me on the French."-
Plantagenet, I will; and like thee, Nero,
Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:
Wretched shall France be only in my name.

[Thunder heard; afterwards an alarum.

What stir is this? What tumult 's in the heavens?
Whence cometh this alarum, and the noise?

Enter a Messenger.

MESS. My lord, my lord, the French have gather'd head:

The dauphin, with one Joan la Pucelle join'd,

A holy prophetess, new risen up,

Is come with a great power to raise the siege.
TAL. Hear, hear, how dying Salisbury doth groan!
It irks his heart he cannot be reveng'd.—
Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you :-
Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish,

Your hearts I'll stamp out with my horse's heels,
And make a quagmire of your mingled brains.

Convey me Salisbury into his tent,

And then we 'll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare.

[SALISBURY groans.

[Exeunt, bearing out the bodies.

SCENE V.-The same. Before one of the Gates.

Alarum. Skirmishings. TALBOT pursueth the Dauphin, and driveth him in; then enter JOAN LA PUCELLE, driving Englishmen before her. Then enter TALBOT.

TAL. Where is my strength, my valour, and my force?

Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them;

A woman, clad in armour, chaseth them.

Enter LA PUCELLE.

Here, here she comes:-I'll have a bout with thee;
Devil, or devil's dam, I 'll conjure thee:

Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch,

And straightway give thy soul to him thou serv'st.

a The original folio reads,

"Plantagenet, I will; and like thee."

The second folio has,

"Plantagenet, I will, and Nero-like, will."

We prefer to add Nero to the end of the line, according to Malone's suggestion, for nothing is. more common, in printing with moveable types, than for a letter or a word at the end of a line of poetry to drop out, from the careless filling up of the space by the compositor. Puzzel-a dirty drab.

The superstitious belief was, that to draw blood from a witch was to destroy her power.

Puo. Come, come, 't is only I that must disgrace thee.
TAL. Heavens, can you suffer hell so to prevail?

My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage,
And from my shoulders crack my arms asunder,
But I will chastise this high-minded strumpet.
Puc. Talbot, farewell; thy hour is not yet come:
I must go victual Orleans forthwith.
O'ertake me, if thou canst; I scorn thy strength.
Go, go, cheer up thy hunger-starved men;
Help Salisbury to make his testament:
This day is ours, as many more shall be.

[They fight.

[PUCELLE enters the Town, with Soldiers.

TAL. My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel;
I know not where I am, nor what I do:
A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibala,
Drives back our troops, and conquers as she lists:
So bees with smoke, and doves with noisome stench,
Are from their hives and houses driven away.
They call'd us, for our fierceness, English dogs;
Now, like to whelps, we crying run away.
Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight,
Or tear the lions out of England's coat;
Renounce your soil, give sheep in lions' stead:
Sheep run not half so timorousb from the wolf,
Or horse, or oxen, from the leopard,
As you fly from your oft-subdued slaves.

It will not be :-Retire into your trenches:
You all consented unto Salisbury's death,
For none would strike a stroke in his revenge.-
Pucelle is enter'd into Orleans,

In spite of us, or aught that we could do.

O, would I were to die with Salisbury!

The shame hereof will make me hide my head!

[A short alarum.

[Alarum. Another skirmish.

[Alarum. Retreat. Exeunt TALBOT and his forces, &c.

SCENE VI.-The same.

Enter, on the walls, PUCELLE, CHARLES, REIGNIER, ALENÇON, and Soldiers.

Puc. Advance our waving colours on the walls;

Rescued is Orleans from the English wolves :

a An allusion to Hannibal's stratagem, recorded in Livy, of fixing lighted twigs on the horns of

oxen.

Timorous. The original has treacherous. Perhaps the line was,

"Sheep run not half so, from the treacherous wolf."

So the second folio; the first omits wolves.

Thus Joan la Pucelle hath perform'd her word. CHAR. Divinest creature, bright Astræa's daughter, How shall I honour thee for this success?

Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens,

That one day bloom'd, and fruitful were the next.—
France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess!-

Recover'd is the town of Orleans:

More blessed hap did ne'er befall our state.

REIG. Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town?
Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires,

And feast and banquet in the open streets,
To celebrate the joy that God hath given us.
ALEN. All France will be replete with mirth and joy,
When they shall hear how we have play'd the men.
CHAR. "T is Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;
For which, I will divide my crown with her:
And all the priests and friars in my realm
Shall, in procession, sing her endless praise.
A statelier pyramis to her I'll rear,
Than Rhodope's, or Memphis', ever was:
In memory of her, when she is dead,
Her ashes, in an urn more precious
Than the rich jewell'd coffer of Darius,
Transported shall be at high festivals
Before the kings and queens of France.
No longer on saint Dennis will we cry,
But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint.
Come in and let us banquet royally,
After this golden day of victory.

a Bright is omitted in the first folio, but is in the second.

b We should probably read:

"Than Rhodope's, of Memphis."

[Flourish. Exeunt.

The pyramid of Rhodope, near Memphis, is mentioned by Pliny:-"The fairest and most commended for workmanship was built at the cost and charges of one Rhodope, a very strumpet." Herodotus (ii. 134) maintains that the pyramid was not built by Rhodope (Rhodopis).

• The expression of the text, and the explanation, are found in a passage of Puttenham's 'Arte of English Poesie,' 1589:-" In what price the noble poems of Homer were holden with Alexander the Great, insomuch that every night they were laid under his pillow, and by day were carried in the rich jewel-coffer of Darius, lately before vanquished by him in battle."