GEN. Thou ominous and fearful owl of death, Our nation's terror, and their bloody scourge! The period of thy tyranny approacheth. On us thou canst not enter but by death: For, I protest, we are well fortified, And strong enough to issue out and fight: If thou retire, the Dauphin, well appointed, Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee: On either hand thee, there are squadrons pitch'd, To wall thee from the liberty of flight; And no way canst thou turn thee for redress, But death doth front thee with apparent spoil, And pale destruction meets thee in the face. Ten thousand French have ta'en the sacrament, To rive their dangerous artillery Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot. Lo, there thou stand'st, a breathing valiant man, Of an invincible unconquer'd spirit! This is the latest glory of thy praise, That I, thy enemy, dew thee withal; For ere the glass, that now begins to run, [Exeunt General, &c. from the walls. Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight! [Exeunt. SCENE III.-Plains in Gascony. Enter YORK with Forces; to him a Messenger. YORK. Are not the speedy scouts return'd again, That dogg'd the mighty army of the Dauphin? Dew thee withal;] So the old text; but the modern reading due, in the sense of paying a deserved tribute, is, perhaps, to be preferred. b Be, then, in blood;] See note (c), p. 71, Vol. I. e Not rascal-like,-1 Rascal has been before explained to be a MESS. They are return'd, my lord; and give it out, That he is march'd to Bourdeaux with his power, Two mightier troops than that the Dauphin led; YORK. A plague upon that villain Somerset, That thus delays my promised supply Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege! Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY. Lucy. Thou princely leader of our English strength, Never so needful on the earth of France, Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot; Who now is girdled with a waist of iron, And hemm'd about with grim destruction. To Bourdeaux, warlike duke! to Bourdeaux, York! Else, farewell Talbot, France, and England's honour. [heart YORK. O God! that Somerset-who in proud Doth stop my cornetss—were in Talbot's place! So should we save a valiant gentleman, By forfeiting a traitor and a coward. Mad ire and wrathful fury makes me weep, That thus we die, while remiss traitors sleep. LUCY. O, send some succour to the distress'd lord! [word: YORK. He dies, we lose; I break my warlike We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get; All 'long of this vile traitor Somerset. LUCY. Then God take mercy on brave Talbot's soul! And on his son young John; who two hours since Maine, Blois, Poictiers, and Tours, are won away, 'Long all of Somerset and his delay! [Exit. term of the chase for a deer, lean and altogether out of condition. d And I am lowted by a traitor villain,-] Malone interprets this: "I am treated with contempt like a lowt, or low country fellow." It means, more probably, I am left in the mire, landlurch'd, by a traitor, &c. Lucy. Thus, while the vulture of sedition Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders, Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss The conquest of our scarce-cold conqueror, That ever-living man of memory, Henry the fifth-whiles they each other cross, Lives, honours, lands, and all, hurry to loss. [Exit. SCENE IV.-Other Plains of Gascony. Enter SOMERSET, with his Forces; an Officer of TALBOT's with him. SOM. It is too late; I cannot send them now: This expedition was by York and Talbot Too rashly plotted; all our general force Might with a sally of the very town Be buckled with: the over-daring Talbot Hath sullied all his gloss of former honour, By this unheedful, desperate, wild adventure: York set him on to fight, and die in shame, That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the Who, ring'd about with bold adversity, Keep off aloof with worthless emulation. SOM. York set him on, York should have sent Lucy. And York as fast upon your grace (*) Old text, Regions. (†) First folio, Yield. (1) First folio omits, and. a Bought and sold-] A proverbial phrase applied to any one entrapped or made a victim of by treachery or mismanagement; it is found again in "The Comedy of Errors," Act III. Sc. 1, in "King John," Act V. Se. 4, and in "Richard III." Act V. Sc. 3. b And, in advantage lingering,-] Perhaps originally,"And, in disadvantage ling'ring," &c. Swearing, that you withhold his levied horse, SOM. York lies; he might have sent and had the horse: I owe him little duty, and less love, France, Hath now entrapp'd the noble-minded Talbot: Within six hours they will be at his aid. LUCY. Too late comes rescue; he is ta'en or slain : For fly he could not, if he would have fled; And fly would Talbot never, though he might. SOM. If he be dead, brave Talbot, then, adieu! Lucy. His fame lives in the world, his shame in you. [Exeunt. SCENE V.-The English Camp near Bourdeaux. Enter TALBOT and JOHN his Son. TAL. O young John Talbot! I did send for thee To tutor thee in stratagems of war; That Talbot's name might be in thee reviv'd, When sapless age and weak unable limbs, Should bring thy father to his drooping chair. But, O malignant and ill-boding stars!Now thou art come unto a feast of death, A terrible and unavoided danger: Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse, And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape By sudden flight: come, dally not, begone. JOHN. Is my name Talbot? and am I your Upon my death the French can little boast; TAL. Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one JOHN. You cannot witness for me, being slain. If death be so apparent, then both fly. TAL. And leave my followers here, to fight, and die? My age was never tainted with such shame. JOHN. And shall my youth be guilty of such blame? No more can I be sever'd from your side, TAL. Then here I take my leave of thee, fair It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire Here purposing the Bastard to destroy, care, Art thou not weary, John? how dost thou fare? To hazard all our lives in one small boat! fame : SCENE VII.-Another part of the same. Alarum excursions. Enter TALBOT wounded, supported by a Servant. TAL. Where is my other life?-mine own is gone; O, where's young Talbot? where is valiant John?- a The lither sky,-] This is always explained to signify the yielding sky; it may mean, however, the lazy, idle sky. Lither is still used in this sense in many parts of England. So in Holinshed:-"Howbeit she hath not shewed hir self so boun But when my angry guardant stood alone, SERV. O my dear lord! lo, where your son is Alarums. Exeunt Soldiers and Servant, leaving the two bodies. Enter CHARLES, ALENÇON, BURGUNDY, the Bastard, LA PUCELLE, and Forces. CHAR. Had York and Somerset brought rescue in, We should have found a bloody day of this. BAST. How the young whelp of Talbot's, ragingwood, Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's blood! Puc. Once I encounter'd him, and thus I said, Thou maiden youth, be vanquish'd by a maid: But, with a proud majestical high scorn, He answer'd thus; Young Talbot was not born To be the pillage of a giglot wench: So, rushing in the bowels of the French, He left me proudly, as unworthy fight. [knightBUR. Doubtless he would have made a noble See, where he lies inhersed in the arms Of the most bloody nurser of his harms! BAST. Hew them to pieces! hack their bones asunder! e Whose life was England's glory, Gallia's wonder. CHAR. O, no; forbear! for that which we have fled During the life, let us not wrong it dead. Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY, attended; a French Herald preceding. LUCY. Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin's tent, To know who hath obtain'd the glory of the day. CHAR. On what submissive message art thou sent? [word; Lucy. Submission, Dauphin! 'tis a mere French a Become hard-favour'd death,-] That is, adorn, beautify, hard-favour'd death. See note (a), p. 151. b Brave death by speaking, whether he will or no;] Whether, in the old copies, when required to be pronounced as a monosyllable, is sometimes, but not always, contracted to where. In the present case it should be pronounced, if not printed, whe'r, or whér. Raging-wood,-] That is, raging-mad. d4 giglot wench: A wanton wench. e The most bloody nurser of his harms!] harms." We English warriors wot not what it means. prison is. But tell me whom thou seek'st.f g [field, The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge, Of all his wars within the realm of France? Puc. Here is a silly stately style, indeed! LUCY. Is Talbot slain,-the Frenchmen's only scourge, Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis? Puc. I think this upstart is old Talbot's ghost, He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit. For God's sake, let him have 'em; to keep them here, They would but stink, and putrefy the air. And now to Paris, in this conquering vein. (*) First folio, him. [Exeunt. the chief prisoners spared were present, appears to have been omitted by the transcriber or compositor. g Washford,-] Wexford was anciently called both Weysford and Washford. h But from their ashes shall be rear'd-] The deficiency in this line Pope supplied by reading, Query" of our "But from their ashes, Dauphin," &c. Mr. Collier's annotator gives, "But from their very ashes," &c. Y |