DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. .

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.
DUKE OF GLOSTER, Uncle to the King, and Protector.
DUKE OF BEDFORD, Uncle to the King, Regent of France.
DUKE OF EXETER.
HENRY BEAUFORT, Bishop of Winchester.
JOHN BEAUFORT, Earl of Somerset.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET, Duke of York.
EARLS OF WARWICK, SALISBURY, and SUFFOLK.
TALBOT, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury,
JOHN TALBOT, his Son.
EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March.
Mortimer's Keeper, and a Lawyer.
SIR JOHN FASTOLFE. SIR WILLIAM LUCY. SIR WILLIAM GLANS-

DALE. SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE.
WOODVILLE, Lieutenant of the Tower. Mayor of London.
VERNON, of the White Rose, or York Faction.
BASSET, of the Red Rose, or Lancaster Faction.

CHARLES, Dauphin, and afterwards King of France.
REIGNIER, Duke of Anjou, and King of Naples.
DUKES OF BURGUNDY and ALENÇON. BASTARD OF ORLEANS.
Governor of Paris. Master-Gunner of Orleans, and his Son.
General of the French Forces in Bordeaux.
A French Sergeant. A Porter. An old Shepherd, Father to Joan la Pucelle.

.

MARGARET, Daughter to Reignier.
COUNTESS OF AUVERGNE.
JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc.

Fiends appearing to La Pucelle, Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and several Attendants both on the English and French.

SCENE, partly in England, and partly in France. 1

ACT 1.

SCENE I.

Westminster Abbey.

Dead March. The Corpse of King HENRY the Fifth is discovered, lying in state; 2 attended on by the Dukes of BEDFORD, GLOSTER, and EXETER;

the Earl of WARWICK, the Bishop of Winchester, Heralds, &c.

Bed. Hung be the heavens with black, 3 yield day to night!
Comets, importing change of times and states,
Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky,
And with them scourge the bad revolting stars,
That have consented 5 unto Henry's death!
King Henry the fifth, too famous to live long!
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.

2 Diese Bühnenweisung ist von den späteren Hggn, in Uebereinstimmung mit der Thea

terconvenienz entworfen. Die Fol. hat dafür nach Massgabe der alten Bühnenaufführung Folgendes: Dead March. Enter the Funerall of King Henry the Fift, attended on by the Duke of Bedfort, Regent of France; the Duke of Gloster, Protector; the Duke of Ereter; Warwick; the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset. Ritson macht auf die von Sh. selbst vielleicht nicht beachtete Thatsache ayfmerksam, dass der hier auftretende Graf Warwick, Richard Beauchamp genannt, ein anderer ist, als der im Verlaufe des Dramas erscheinende Graf Warwick, Richard Nevil, der erst durch

Verheirathung mit einer Anna Beauchamp diesen Titel bekam. 3) Wie Steevens und Malone annehmen, dachte Sh. zugleich an die innere Decke des

Theaters über der Bühne, die mit dem technischen Ausdruck the heavens bezeichnet wurde. So in Heywood's Apology for Actors (1612) the coverings of the stage, which we call the heavens, were geometrically supported, Steevens citirt dazu aus Sidney's Arcadia eine Stelle, die gleichfalls darauf hinzudeuten scheint, dass man den Plafond der Sh.'schen Bübno bei vorkommenden Fällen schwarz verbängte: There arose, even with the sun, a veil of dark clouds before his face, which shortly had blacked over all the face of heaven, preparing as it were, a mournful stage for a

7

Glo. England ne'er had 6 a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command:
His brandish'd sword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings; ?
His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire,
More dazzled and drove back his enemies,
Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces.
What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:
He ne'er lift up his hand, but conquered.

Exe. We mourn in black: why mourn we not in blood ? 9
Henry is dead, and never shall revive.
Upon a wooden coffin we attend;
And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What! shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow ?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of him,
By magic verses 10 have contriv'd his end?

Win. He was a king, bless'd of the King of kings.
Unto the French the dreadful judgment-day
So dreadful will not be, as was his sight.
The battles of the Lord of hosts he fought :
The church's prayers made him so prosperous.

Glo. The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray'd,
His thread of life had not so soon decay'd :
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.

Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art protector,
And lookest to command the prince, and realm.
Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,
More than God or religious churchmen may.

Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh;
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st,
Except it be to pray against thy foes.

6) had = besass, erlangte, ist Gegensatz zu dem vorhergehenden lost und deshalb nach

drücklich zu betonen. 7) his beams geht auf sword das blitzende Leuchten des gezückten Schwertes. 8) So in Troilus and Cressida (A. 5, Sc. 9) the dragon wing of night oʻerspreads

the earth. 9) indem wir für seinen Tod an den Franzosen blutige Rache nehmen. 10) Sh. fand in dem von ihm auch anderweitig benutzten Buche von Reginald Scot,

Discovery of Witchcraft (1584): The Irishmen will I'not stick to affirm that they can rime either man or beast to death.

12

Bed. Cease, cease 11 these jars, and rest your minds in peace!
Let 's to the altar: Heralds, wait on us.
Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms,
Since arms avail not, now that Henry 's dead.
Posterity, await for wretched years ,
When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck,
Our isle be made a nourish 13 of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.
Henry the fifth! thy ghost. I invocate:
Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils !
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright 14

Enter a Messenger.
Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all.
Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,
Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture:
Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, 15 Orleans,
Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost.

Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's corse?
Speak softly, or the loss of those great towns
Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death.

Glo. Is Paris lost? is Roan 16 yielded up?
If Henry were recall'd to life again,
These news would cause him once more yield the ghost.

Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was us'd?

Mess. No treachery; but want of men and money. Among the soldiers this is muttered,

11) to cease = aufhören lassen, als transitives Verbum. 12) Die Säuglinge, die an den Brüsten ihrer Mütter keine Nahrung mehr finden, saugen

statt dessen an deren bethränten Augen. moist liest die Fol. von 1632 für das moisten'd der ersten Fol., das dem sonst so regelmässigen Verse dieses Dramas zu

wider ist. 13) nourish, eine veraltete Form für nurse, kommt u. A. bei Lydgate vor: Athenes

when it was in his floures || Was called nourish of philosophers wise. Das Wort uud der Satz ist in Verbindung mit dem vorigen Verse aufzufassen. Manche Hgg.

18

19

That here you maintain several factions;
And, whilst a field should be despatch'd and fought,
You are disputing of your generals. 17
One would have lingering wars with little cost;
Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings;
A third man thinks, without expense at all,
By guileful fair words peace may be obtain'd.
Awake, awake, English nobility!
Let not sloth dim your honours new-begot:
Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms;
Of England's coat one half is cut away.

Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral,
These tidings would call forth her 20 flowing tides.

Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of France.
Give me my steeled coat! I 'll fight for France.
Away with these disgraceful wailing robes !
Wounds will I lend the French, instead of eyes,
To weep their intermissive miseries. 21

Enter another Messenger.
2 Mess. Lords, view these letters, full of bad mischance.
France is revolted from the English quite,
Except some petty towns of no import:
The Dauphin Charles is crowned king in Rheims;
The bastard of Orleans with him is join'd;
Reignier, 22 duke of Anjou, doth take his part;
The duke of Alençon flieth to his side.

Exe. The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to him!
O! whither shall we fly from this reproach?

Glo. We will not fly, but to our enemies' throats.
Bedford, if thou be slack, I 'll fight it out.

Bed. Gloster, why doubt'st thou of my forwardness?
An army have I muster'd in my thoughts,
Wherewith already France is over-run.

17) Ihr streitet unter einander in Betreff der Heerführer, die Ihr haben wollt. 18) Mit man, das in der Fol. fehlt, vervollständigt die zweite Fol. von 1632 den Vers.

Vielleicht wäre statt dessen das thinkes der Fol. thinketh zu lesen. 19) Indem nach dem Verluste Frankreichs die Engländer die französischen Lilien nicht

mehr im Wappen führen dürfen, ist von dem englischen Wappenrock gleichsam die

eine Hälfte abgeschnitten. 20) her bezieht Malone auf England. Vielleicht sollte their in Bezug auf tears stehen,

wie im älteren Englisch hir für their gesetzt wird. 21) Bedford will die Franzosen so zu Boden schlagen, dass sie aus ihren Wunden, statt

aus ihren Augen, ihr zu wiederholten Malen, erst unter Heinrich V., nun unter dem

Regenten, sie überfallendes Elend beweinen sollen. 22) Den Druckfehler Reynold, der durch alle Folioausgaben geht, verbesserte zuerst Rowe.