K. Hen. Stoop, then, and set your knee against my foot:

And, in reguerdon of that duty done,

I girt thee with the valiant sword of York:

Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,

And rise created princely Duke of York.

Plan. And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall!

And as my duty springs, so perish they

That grudge one thought against your majesty!

All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!
Som. [aside] Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!
Glo. Now will it best avail your majesty

To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love

Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,

As it disanimates his enemies.

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, King Henry goes; For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.

Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.

[Flourish. Exeunt all except Exeter.

Exe. Ay, we may march in England or in France,

Not seeing what is likely to ensue.

This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feignèd ashes of forg'd love,
And will at last break out into a flame :
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,(90)
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy

Which in the time of Henry nam'd the Fifth
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,—
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all,
And Henry born at Windsor should lose all: (91)

(90) degrees,] The folio has "degree."

(91) That Henry born at Monmouth should win all,
And Henry born at Windsor should lose all :]

So the second folio.--The first folio has ". borne at Windsor, loose all," which can only be right on the supposition that here "Windsor" is (as we sometimes find it used by early poets) a trisyllable: but the repetition of "should" seems necessary to give emphasis to the prophecy.

Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish

His days may finish ere that hapless time.

[Exit.

SCENE II. France. Before Rouen.

Enter LA PUCELLE disguised, and Soldiers dressed like Countrymen, with sacks upon their backs.

Puc. 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.
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 Sol. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city, And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;

Therefore we'll knock.

Guard. [within] Qui va là ?(92)

Puc. Paysans, pauvres gens de France,—

Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn.

[Knocks

Guard. [opening the gates] Enter, go in; the market-bell

is rung.

Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground. [La Pucelle, &c., enter the town.

Enter CHARLES, the Bastard of Orleans, ALENÇON, REIGNIER, and Forces.

Char. Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem!

And once again we'll sleep secure in Rouen.

Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle and her practisants; Now she is there, how will she specify

(92) Qui va là? &c.] The folio has

"Che la.

Pucell. Peasauns la pouure gens," &c.

Where (93) is the best and safest passage in?

Reig. 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.

Enter LA PUCELLE on a battlement, holding out a torch burning.

Puc. Behold, this is the happy wedding-torch

That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen,

But burning fatal to the Talbotites.

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!

Reig. Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends; Enter, and cry "The Dauphin!" presently,

And then do execution on the watch.

Alarums.

[They enter the town.

Exit La Pucelle above.

Enter, from the town, TALBOT and English Soldiers.

Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears

If Talbot but survive thy treachery.

Pucelle, that witch, that damnèd sorceress,

Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escap'd the pride of France.

[Exeunt into the town.

Alarums; 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, the Bastard of Orleans, ALENÇON, and REIGNIER.

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 darnel;-do you like the taste?

Bur. Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtezan! I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own,

(93) Where] The folio has "Here.”

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

Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite,(94)
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 ye so hot, sir?-yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace; If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.

[Talbot and the rest whisper together in council. 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 muleters of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc. Captains, away (95) let's get us from the walls; For Talbot means no goodness by his looks. God b' wi' you, my lord! we came up (96) but to tell you That we are here. [Exeunt La Pucelle, &c., from the walls. Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long,

(94) hag of all despite,] Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector substitutes "hag of hell's despite" (which he seems to have considered as equivalent to "hag of hellish despite"). But compare, in Coriolanus, act iii. sc. 3, "As he hath follow'd you, with all despite," &c. ;

and in The Third Part of King Henry VI. act ii. sc. 6,
"That I in all despite might rail at him," &c.

(95) Captains, away!] The folio has "Away Captaines."

(9) up] .e. up on the walls. So Mr. W. N. Lettsom; and his addition is better than that of the editor of the second folio, who inserted “sir.”

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,
And as his father here was conqueror,-
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was burièd,-
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 Rouen,

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 litter, sick,

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, into the town, Burgundy, Talbot, and Forces, leaving Bedford and others.

Alarums: excursions; in one of which, enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE and a Captain.

Cap. Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste? Fast. Whither away! to save myself by flight:

We are like to have the overthrow again.

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

Fast.

Ay,