The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  120

  [to Margaret] Madam, I have a secret to reveal.

  [100]

  MARGARET [to herself]

  What though I be enthralled? He seems a knight,

  And will not any way dishonour me.

  SUFFOLK Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.

  MARGARET [to herself]

  Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French,

  125

  And then I need not crave his courtesy.

  SUFFOLK Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause.

  MARGARET [to herself]

  Tush, women have been captivate ere now.

  SUFFOLK Lady, wherefore talk you so?

  MARGARET I cry you mercy, ’tis but quid for quo.

  130

  SUFFOLK

  Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose

  [110]

  Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?

  MARGARET To be a queen in bondage is more vile

  Than is a slave in base servility;

  For princes should be free.

  SUFFOLK And so shall you,

  135

  If happy England’s royal king be free.

  MARGARET Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?

  SUFFOLK I’ll undertake to make thee Henry’s queen,

  To put a golden sceptre in thy hand

  And set a precious crown upon thy head,

  140

  If thou wilt condescend to be my –

  MARGARET What?

  [120]

  SUFFOLK His love.

  MARGARET I am unworthy to be Henry’s wife.

  SUFFOLK No, gentle madam; I unworthy am

  To woo so fair a dame to be his wife –

  145

  And have no portion in the choice myself.

  How say you, madam, are ye so content?

  MARGARET An if my father please, I am content.

  SUFFOLK Then call our captains and our colours forth,

  And, madam, at your father’s castle walls

  150

  We’ll crave a parley to confer with him.

  [130]

  [Sound trumpets, at Suffolk’s command.]

  Enter REIGNIER on the walls.

  See, Reignier, see, thy daughter prisoner.

  REIGNIER To whom?

  SUFFOLK To me.

  REIGNIER Suffolk, what remedy?

  I am a soldier, and unapt to weep,

  Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness.

  155

  SUFFOLK Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord.

  Consent – and for thy honour give consent –

  Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,

  Whom I with pain have wooed and won thereto,

  And this, her easy-held imprisonment,

  160

  Hath gained thy daughter princely liberty.

  [140]

  REIGNIER Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?

  SUFFOLK Fair Margaret knows

  That Suffolk doth not flatter, face or feign.

  REIGNIER Upon thy princely warrant I descend

  To give thee answer of thy just demand.

  165

  Exit Reignier from the walls.

  SUFFOLK And here I will expect thy coming.

  [Trumpets sound.]

  Enter REIGNIER.

  REIGNIER Welcome, brave earl, into our territories.

  Command in Anjou what your honour pleases.

  SUFFOLK

  Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,

  Fit to be made companion with a king.

  170

  What answer makes your grace unto my suit?

  [150]

  REIGNIER Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth

  To be the princely bride of such a lord –

  Upon condition I may quietly

  Enjoy mine own, the country Maine and Anjou,

  175

  Free from oppression or the stroke of war –

  My daughter shall be Henry’s, if he please.

  SUFFOLK That is her ransom. I deliver her,

  And those two counties I will undertake

  Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.

  180

  REIGNIER And I – again in Henry’s royal name,

  [160]

  As deputy unto that gracious king –

  Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith.

  SUFFOLK

  Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,

  Because this is in traffic of a king.

  185

  And yet methinks I could be well content

  To be mine own attorney in this case.

  I’ll over then to England with this news,

  And make this marriage to be solemnized.

  So farewell, Reignier; set this diamond safe

  190

  In golden palaces, as it becomes.

  [170]

  REIGNIER I do embrace thee, as I would embrace

  The Christian prince King Henry were he here.

  MARGARET

  Farewell, my lord. Good wishes, praise and prayers

  Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.

  195

  Exit Reignier. She is going after him, when Suffolk stops her.

  SUFFOLK

  Farewell, sweet madam; but hark you, Margaret –

  No princely commendations to my king?

  MARGARET Such commendations as becomes a maid,

  A virgin and his servant, say to him.

  SUFFOLK Words sweetly placed, and modesty directed.

  200

  But, madam, I must trouble you again –

  [180]

  No loving token to his majesty?

  MARGARET Yes, my good lord: a pure unspotted heart,

  Never yet taint with love, I send the King.

  SUFFOLK And this withal. [Kisses her.]

  205

  MARGARET That for thyself. I will not so presume

  To send such peevish tokens to a king. Exit.

  SUFFOLK O wert thou for myself! But Suffolk, stay,

  Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth:

  There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.

  210

  Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise,

  [190]

  Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount,

  Mad natural graces that extinguish art;

  Repeat their semblance often on the seas,

  That when thou com’st to kneel at Henry’s feet

  215

  Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder.

  Exit.

  5.3 Enter YORK, WARWICK, Shepherd and JOAN Puzel.

  YORK Bring forth that sorceress condemned to burn.

  SHEPHERD

  Ah, Joan, this kills thy father’s heart outright.

  Have I sought every country far and near

  And – now it is my chance to find thee out –

  Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?

  5

  Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I’ll die with thee.

  JOAN Decrepit miser, base ignoble wretch,

  I am descended of a gentler blood.

  Thou art no father, nor no friend of mine.

  SHEPHERD

  Out, out! My lords, an please you, ’tis not so.

  10

  I did beget her, all the parish knows.

  Her mother liveth yet, can testify

  She was the first fruit of my bachelorship.

  WARWICK Graceless, wilt thou deny thy parentage?

  YORK This argues what her kind of life hath been –

  15

  Wicked and vile, and so her death concludes.

  SHEPHERD

  Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle.

  God knows, thou art a collop of my flesh,

  And for thy sake have I shed many a tear.

  Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan.

  20

  JOAN

  Peasant, avaunt! [to Y
ork] You have suborned this man

  Of purpose to obscure my noble birth.

  SHEPHERD ’Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest

  The morn that I was wedded to her mother.

  Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl.

  25

  Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time

  Of thy nativity. I would the milk

  Thy mother gave thee when thou suck’st her breast

  Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake –

  Or else, when thou didst keep my lambs a-field,

  30

  I wish some ravenous wolf had eaten thee.

  Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?

  O burn her, burn her, hanging is too good. Exit.

  YORK Take her away, for she hath lived too long,

  To fill the world with vicious qualities.

  35

  JOAN

  First let me tell you whom you have condemned:

  Not me begotten of a shepherd swain,

  But issued from the progeny of kings;

  Virtuous and holy, chosen from above

  By inspiration of celestial grace

  40

  To work exceeding miracles on earth.

  I never had to do with wicked spirits;

  But you, that are polluted with your lusts,

  Stained with the guiltless blood of innocents,

  Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,

  45

  Because you want the grace that others have,

  You judge it straight a thing impossible

  To compass wonders but by help of devils.

  No – misconceived, Joan of Aire hath been

  A virgin from her tender infancy,

  50

  Chaste and immaculate in very thought,

  Whose maiden-blood, thus rigorously effused,

  Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.

  YORK Ay, ay: away with her to execution.

  WARWICK And hark ye, sirs: because she is a maid,

  55

  Spare for no faggots, let there be enough.

  Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake

  That so her torture may be shortened.

  JOAN Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?

  Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity,

  60

  That warranteth by law to be thy privilege.

  I am with child, ye bloody homicides:

  Murder not then the fruit within my womb,

  Although ye hale me to a violent death.

  YORK Now heaven forfend, the holy maid with child?

  65

  WARWICK The greatest miracle that e’er ye wrought.

  Is all your strict preciseness come to this?

  YORK She and the Dolphin have been ingling.

  I did imagine what would be her refuge.

  WARWICK Well, go to, we’ll have no bastards live;

  70

  Especially since Charles must father it.

  JOAN You are deceived, my child is none of his.

  It was Alençon that enjoyed my love.

  YORK Alençon, that notorious Machiavel?

  It dies, an if it had a thousand lives.

  75

  JOAN O give me leave, I have deluded you.

  ’Twas neither Charles, nor yet the Duke I named,

  But Reignier, King of Naples, that prevailed.

  WARWICK A married man, that’s most intolerable.

  YORK Why, here’s a girl! I think she knows not well –

  80

  There were so many – whom she may accuse.

  WARWICK It’s sign she hath been liberal and free.

  YORK And yet, forsooth, she is a virgin pure.

  Strumpet, thy words condemn thy brat and thee.

  Use no entreaty, for it is in vain.

  85

  JOAN

  Then lead me hence – with whom I leave my curse.

  May never glorious sun reflex his beams

  Upon the country where you make abode,

  But darkness and the gloomy shade of death

  Environ you, till mischief and despair

  90

  Drive you to break your necks, or hang yourselves.

  Exit.

  Enter the Cardinal of WINCHESTER.

  YORK Break thou in pieces, and consume to ashes,

  Thou foul accursed minister of hell.

  WINCHESTER Lord Regent, I do greet your excellence

  With letters of commission from the King.

  95

  For know, my lords, the states of Christendom,

  Moved with remorse of these outrageous broils,

  Have earnestly implored a general peace

  Betwixt our nation and the aspiring French;

  And here at hand the Dolphin and his train

  100

  Approacheth, to confer about some matter.

  YORK Is all our travail turned to this effect?

  After the slaughter of so many peers,