Henry VI, Part I by William Shakespeare
Act 5 - Scene 4
Camp of the YORK in Anjou.
Shepherd : Ah, Joan, this kills thy father's heart outright!
[p]Have I sought
every country far and near,
[p]And, now it is my chance to find thee
out,
[p]Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?
[p]Ah, Joan, sweet
daughter Joan, I'll die with thee!
Joan la Pucelle : Decrepit miser! base ignoble wretch!
[p]I am descended of a gentler
blood:
[p]Thou art no father nor no friend of mine.
Shepherd : Out, out! My lords, an please you, 'tis not so;
[p]I did beget her,
all the parish knows:
[p]Her mother liveth yet, can testify
[p]She was
the first fruit of my bachelorship.
Shepherd : Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!
[p]God knows thou art a
collop of my flesh;
[p]And for thy sake have I shed many a
tear:
[p]Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan.
Joan la Pucelle : Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn'd this man,
[p]Of purpose to obscure
my noble birth.
Shepherd : 'Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest
[p]The morn that I was wedded
to her mother.
[p]Kneel down and take my blessing, good my
girl.
[p]Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time
[p]Of thy
nativity! I would the milk
[p]Thy mother gave thee when thou suck'dst
her breast,
[p]Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake!
[p]Or else,
when thou didst keep my lambs a-field,
[p]I wish some ravenous wolf
had eaten thee!
[p]Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?
[p]O, burn
her, burn her! hanging is too good.
Joan la Pucelle : First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd:
[p]Not me begotten of
a shepherd swain,
[p]But issued from the progeny of kings;
[p]Virtuous
and holy; chosen from above,
[p]By inspiration of celestial
grace,
[p]To work exceeding miracles on earth.
[p]I never had to do
with wicked spirits:
[p]But you, that are polluted with your
lusts,
[p]Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents,
[p]Corrupt
and tainted with a thousand vices,
[p]Because you want the grace that
others have,
[p]You judge it straight a thing impossible
[p]To compass
wonders but by help of devils.
[p]No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath
been
[p]A virgin from her tender infancy,
[p]Chaste and immaculate in
very thought;
[p]Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused,
[p]Will
cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.
Joan la Pucelle : Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?
[p]Then, Joan, discover
thine infirmity,
[p]That warranteth by law to be thy privilege.
[p]I
am with child, ye bloody homicides:
[p]Murder not then the fruit
within my womb,
[p]Although ye hale me to a violent death.
Joan la Pucelle : You are deceived; my child is none of his:
[p]It was Alencon that
enjoy'd my love.
Joan la Pucelle : O, give me leave, I have deluded you:
[p]'Twas neither Charles nor yet
the duke I named,
[p]But Reignier, king of Naples, that prevail'd.
Joan la Pucelle : Then lead me hence; with whom I leave my curse:
[p]May never glorious
sun reflex his beams
[p]Upon the country where you make abode;
[p]But
darkness and the gloomy shade of death
[p]Environ you, till mischief
and despair
[p]Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!
Charles, King of France : Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed
[p]That peaceful truce
shall be proclaim'd in France,
[p]We come to be informed by
yourselves
[p]What the conditions of that league must be.
Duke of Alencon : Must he be then as shadow of himself?
[p]Adorn his temples with a
coronet,
[p]And yet, in substance and authority,
[p]Retain but
privilege of a private man?
[p]This proffer is absurd and reasonless.
Charles, King of France : 'Tis known already that I am possess'd
[p]With more than half the
Gallian territories,
[p]And therein reverenced for their lawful
king:
[p]Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish'd,
[p]Detract so
much from that prerogative,
[p]As to be call'd but viceroy of the
whole?
[p]No, lord ambassador, I'll rather keep
[p]That which I have
than, coveting for more,
[p]Be cast from possibility of all.
Reignier : My lord, you do not well in obstinacy
[p]To cavil in the course of
this contract:
[p]If once it be neglected, ten to one
[p]We shall not
find like opportunity.
Duke of Alencon : To say the truth, it is your policy
[p]To save your subjects from such
massacre
[p]And ruthless slaughters as are daily seen
[p]By our
proceeding in hostility;
[p]And therefore take this compact of a
truce,
[p]Although you break it when your pleasure serves.
Charles, King of France : It shall;
[p]Only reserved, you claim no interest
[p]In any of our
towns of garrison.
Previous: Act 5 - Scene 3
Next: Act 5 - Scene 5
