Puc. 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.

Char. 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 2 from our provinces.

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd 3 from France,

And not have title of an earldom here.

Puc. Your honours shall perceive how I will work,

To bring this matter to the wished end.
Hark! by the sound of drum you may perceive

Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward. 4

[Drums heard afar off.

An English March. Enter, and pass over, TALBOT and his Forces. There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread,

And all the troops of English after him.

A French March. Enter the Duke of 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.

[Trumpets sound a parley.

Char. A parley with the duke of Burgundy.
Bur. Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
Puc. The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.

Bur. What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence.
Char. Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words.

Puc. Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France,

Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.

Bur. Speak on; but be not over-tedious.

Puc. Look on thy country, look on fertile France,

And see the cities and the towns defac'd

By wasting ruin of the cruel foe.

As looks the mother on her lowly babe, 5

When death doth close his tender dying eyes,

2) to extirp = ausrotten, vertilgen. Im abstracten Sinn kommt das Wort in Measure for Measure (A. 3, Sc. 1) vor: it is impossible to extirp it quite.

3) to expulse vertreiben, verjagen ein bei Sh.'s Zeitgenossen sehr gebräuchliches

Verbum.

*) in der Richtung gegen Paris. Diese doppelte Bezeichnung mit to and ward hat Sh. auch sonst, z. B. in Coriolanus (A. 1, Sc. 6) to bedward.

5) lowly, wofür Warburton lovely lesen wollte, erklärt Johnson lying low in death. Es ist vielleicht eher still, schwach.

See, see, the pining malady of France: 6
Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast.
0! 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:
Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,

And wash away thy country's stained spots.

Bur. Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words, Or nature makes me suddenly relent.

Puc. Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee, Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.

8

Whom join'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,
Who then but English Henry will be lord,
And thou be thrust out like a fugitive? 9
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?
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, 10
And join'st with them will be thy slaughter-men.
Come, come, return; return, thou wand'ring lord:
Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.
Bur. I am vanquished: these haughty 11 words of hers
Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot,
And made me almost yield upon my knees.
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.

das Siechthum, an

6) malady of France steht hier in allgemeinem, weiteren Sinno welchem Frankreich krankt, nicht in dem speziellen Sinne, wie in K. Henry V. (A. 5, Sc. 1).

7) nature = die natürliche Empfindung, die ihn zu seinen Landsleuten zieht.

10) countrymen und slaughter-men stehen in einem auch lautlichen Gegensatze zu einander. 11) Vgl. A. 2, Sc. 5, Anm. 14.

Zu der Rede der Pucelle vgl. Einleitung pag. V.

Puc. Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn again! 12

Bast.

Char. Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh.
And doth beget new courage in our breasts.
Alen. Pucelle hath bravely played her part in this,

And doth deserve a coronet 13 of gold.

Char. Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers, And seek how we may prejudice the foe.

SCENE IV.

Paris. A Room in the Palace.

[Exeunt.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, and other Lords, VERNON, BASSET, &c. To them TALBOT, and some of his Officers.

Tal. My gracious prince, and honourable peers,

Hearing of your arrival in this realm,

I have a while given truce unto my wars,

To do my duty to my sovereign:

In sign whereof, this arm that hath reclaim'd

To your obedience fifty fortresses,

Twelve cities, and seven walled towns of strength,
Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem, 1

Lets fall his sword before your highness' feet;

And with submissive loyalty of heart,

Ascribes the glory of his conquest got,

First to my God, 2 and next unto your grace.

K. Hen. Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Gloster,

That hath so long been resident in France?

Glo. Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.

K. Hen. Welcome, brave captain, and victorious lord.

When I was young, (as yet I am not old)

I do remember how my father said, 3

A stouter champion never handled sword.
Long since we were resolved of your truth,
Your faithful service, and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tasted our reward,

4

12) Wankelmuth und Unbeständigkeit führt Sh auch sonst als charakteristisch für die Franzosen an. So in K. John (A. 3, Sc. 1) O foul revolt of French inconstancy, und in vorliegendem Drama (A. 4, Sc. 1) in France among a fickle wavering nation.

13) coronet ist eine Grafen- oder Herzogskrone.

1) Kriegsgefangene von Rang und Würde.

2) Die Construction würde, genau genommen, his God verlangen. Da aber Sh. hier nicht mehr Talbots Arm im Sinne hat, sondern Talbot, den Redenden selbst, so vertauscht er mit einem ihm geläufigen Wechsel das eine Pronomen mit dem andern.

3) Malone erinnert dabei, dass Heinrich VI. bei dem Tode seines Vaters erst neun

Monate alt war.

4) Wir waren lange schon überzeugt von Eurer Treue u. s. w. Vgl. A. 1, Sc. 2, Anm. 17.

Or been reguerdon'd with so much as thanks, 5
Because till now we never saw your face:

Therefore, stand up; and, for these good deserts,
We here create you earl of Shrewsbury,

And in our coronation take your place.

[Flourish. Exeunt King HENRY, GLOSTER, TALBOT, and Nobles. Ver. Now, Sir, to you, that were so hot at sea, Disgracing of these colours, 7 that I wear

In honour of my noble lord of York,

Dar'st thou maintain the former words thou spak'st?
Bas. Yes, Sir; as well as you dare patronage
The envious barking of your saucy tongue

Against my lord, the duke of Somerset.

Ver. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.

Bas. Why, what is he? as good a man as York.
Ver. Hark ye; not so: in witness, take ye that.
Bas. Villain, thou know'st, the law of arms is such,

That, whoso draws a sword, 't is present death, 8

[Striking him.

Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood. 9

But I'll unto his majesty, and crave

I may have liberty to venge this wrong,

When thou shalt see, I'll meet thee to thy cost.

Ver. Well, miscreant, I'll be there 10 as soon as you And, after, meet you sooner than you would.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

The Same. A Room of State.

[Exeunt.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WIN-
CHESTER, WARWICK, TALBOT, The Governor of Paris, and Others.
Glo. Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.
Win. God save king Henry, of that name the sixth!

Glo. Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,

That you elect no other king but him,

[Governor kneels.

5) to reguerdon belohnen, als Vergeltung ertheilen. Vgl. A. 3, Sc. 1, Anm. 33. thanks ist = mündlich ausgesprochner Dank.

6) Der König ist im Begriff, sich als König von Frankreich krönen zu lassen.

7) Vernon meint die weisse Rose, die er in einer frühern Scene (A. 2, Sc. 5) als Anhänger Plantagenet's sich zum Abzeichen gewählt.

Nach dem Waffenrecht hat wer in der Residenz des Königs das Schwert zieht, augenblicklich den Tod verdient. Zu present death ist etwa to him zu suppliren.

9) dearest blood Herzblut.

10) there bezieht sich auf unto his majesty, und to meet bezeichnet in Basset's wie in Vernon's Munde ein feindliches Begegnen im Zweikampf.

Esteem none friends, but such as are his friends,
And none your foes, but such as shall pretend
Malicious practices against his state.

This shall ye do, so help you righteous God! [Exeunt Gov. and his Train.

Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE.

Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais,

To haste unto your coronation,

A letter was deliver'd to my hands,

Writ to your grace from the duke of Burgundy.

3

Tal. Shame to the duke of Burgundy, and thee!
I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven's leg; 2
Which I have done, because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest.
This dastard, at the battle of Patay,
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away:
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
Myself, and divers gentlemen beside,
Were there surpris'd, and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;

Or whether that such cowards ought to wear

This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no?

Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous,

And ill beseeming any common man,

Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.

Tal. When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,

Knights of the garter were of noble birth,

Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage, 4

Such as were grown to credit by the wars;

Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,

=

[Plucking it off.

vorhaben, erstreben: die welche böse Anschläge gegen sein Königthum

1) to pretend
im Sinne haben.

2) Der Hosenbandorden, der höchste Orden Englands, weshalb Talbot ihn als that high degree bezeichnet, wird am Bein oberhalb des Knie's getragen.

3) So verbesserte, mit Bezugnahme auf Holinshed's Angabe, Steevens den Text der Fol., der Poictiers liest. Vielleicht rührt die Verwechslung von Sh. selbst her. A village in Beauce, called Patay, sagt Holinshed, der erzählt, dass der Herzog von Bedford dem Fastolfe wegen seiner dort bewiesenen Feigheit den Orden abgenommen habe.

4) haughty courage stolze Gesinnung hoher Muth.