The Maid of Orleans

SCENE XI

The HERALD. The same.

CHARLES   Thy tidings, herald? What thy message! Speak!HERALD   Who is it, who for Charles of Valois,   The Count of Pointhieu, in this presence speaks?DUNOIS   Unworthy herald! base, insulting knave!   Dost thou presume the monarch of the French   Thus in his own dominions to deny?   Thou art protected by thine office, else —HERALD   One king alone is recognized by France,   And he resideth in the English camp.CHARLES   Peace, peace, good cousin! Speak thy message, herald!HERALD   My noble general laments the blood   Which hath already flowed, and still must flow.   Hence, in the scabbard holding back the sword,   Before by storm the town of Orleans falls,   He offers thee an amicable treaty.CHARLES   Proceed!JOHANNA (stepping forward)        Permit me, Dauphin, in thy stead,   To parley with this herald.CHARLES                  Do so, maid!   Determine thou, for peace, or bloody war.JOHANNA (to the HERALD)   Who sendeth thee? Who speaketh through thy mouth?HERALD   The Earl of Salisbury; the British chief.JOHANNA   Herald, 'tis false! The earl speaks not through thee.   Only the living speak, the dead are silent.HERALD   The earl is well, and full of lusty strength;   He lives to bring down ruin on your heads.JOHANNA   When thou didst quit the British army he lived.   This morn, while gazing from Le Tournelle's tower,   A ball from Orleans struck him to the ground.   Smilest thou that I discern what is remote?   Not to my words give credence; but believe   The witness of thine eyes! his funeral train   Thou shalt encounter as you goest hence!   Now, herald, speak, and do thine errand here.HERALD   If what is hidden thou canst thus reveal,   Thou knowest mine errand ere I tell it thee.JOHANNA   It boots me not to know it. But do thou   Give ear unto my words! This message bear   In answer to the lords who sent thee here.   Monarch of England, and ye haughty dukes,   Bedford and Gloucester, regents of this realm!   To heaven's high King you are accountable   For all the blood that hath been shed. Restore   The keys of all the cities ta'en by force   In opposition to God's holy law!   The maiden cometh from the King of Heaven   And offers you or peace or bloody war.   Choose ye! for this I say, that you may know it:   To you this beauteous realm is not assigned   By Mary's son; – but God hath given it   To Charles, my lord and Dauphin, who ere long   Will enter Paris with a monarch's pomp,   Attended by the great ones of his realm.   Now, herald, go, and speedily depart,   For ere thou canst attain the British camp   And do thine errand, is the maiden there,   To plant the sign of victory at Orleans.[She retires. In the midst of a general movement, the curtain falls.

ACT II

Landscape, bounded by rocks.

SCENE I

TALBOT and LIONEL, English generals, PHILIP, DUKE OF BURGUNDY, FASTOLFE, and CHATILLON, with soldiers and banners.

TALBOT   Here let us make a halt beneath these rocks,   And pitch our camp, in case our scattered troops,   Dispersed in panic fear, again should rally.   Choose trusty sentinels, and guard the heights!   'Tis true the darkness shields us from pursuit,   And sure I am, unless the foe have wings,   We need not fear surprisal. Still 'tis well   To practice caution, for we have to do   With a bold foe, and have sustained defeat.[FASTOLFE goes out with the soldiers.LIONEL   Defeat! My general, do not speak that word.   It stings me to the quick to think the French   To-day have seen the backs of Englishmen.   Oh, Orleans! Orleans! Grave of England's glory!   Our honor lies upon thy fatal plains   Defeat most ignominious and burlesque!   Who will in future years believe the tale!   The victors of Poictiers and Agincourt,   Cressy's bold heroes, routed by a woman?BURGUNDY   That must console us. Not by mortal power,   But by the devil have we been o'erthrown!TALBOT   The devil of our own stupidity!   How, Burgundy? Do princes quake and fear   Before the phantom which appals the vulgar?   Credulity is but a sorry cloak   For cowardice. Your people first took flight.BURGUNDY   None stood their ground. The flight was general.TALBOT   'Tis false! Your wing fled first. You wildly broke   Into our camp, exclaiming: "Hell is loose,   The devil combats on the side of France!"   And thus you brought confusion 'mong our troops.LIONEL   You can't deny it. Your wing yielded first.BURGUNDY   Because the brunt of battle there commenced.TALBOT   The maiden knew the weakness of our camp;   She rightly judged where fear was to be found.BURGUNDY   How? Shall the blame of our disaster rest   With Burgundy?LIONEL           By heaven! were we alone,   We English, never had we Orleans lost!BURGUNDY   No, truly! for ye ne'er had Orleans seen!   Who opened you a way into this realm,   And reached you forth a kind and friendly hand   When you descended on this hostile coast?   Who was it crowned your Henry at Paris,   And unto him subdued the people's hearts?   Had this Burgundian arm not guided you   Into this realm, by heaven you ne'er had seen   The smoke ascending from a single hearth!LIONEL   Were conquests with big words effected, duke,   You, doubtless, would have conquered France alone.BURGUNDY   The loss of Orleans angers you, and now   You vent your gall on me, your friend and ally.   What lost us Orleans but your avarice?   The city was prepared to yield to me,   Your envy was the sole impediment.TALBOT   We did not undertake the siege for you.BURGUNDY   How would it stand with you if I withdrew   With all my host?LIONEL             We should not be worse off   Than when, at Agincourt, we proved a match   For you and all the banded power of France.BURGUNDY   Yet much you stood in need of our alliance;   The regent purchased it at heavy cost.TALBOT   Most dearly, with the forfeit of our honor,   At Orleans have we paid for it to-day.BURGUNDY   Urge me no further, lords. Ye may repent it!   Did I forsake the banners of my king,   Draw down upon my head the traitor's name,   To be insulted thus by foreigners?   Why am I here to combat against France?   If I must needs endure ingratitude,   Let it come rather from my native king!TALBOT   You're in communication with the Dauphin,   We know it well, but we soon shall find means   To guard ourselves 'gainst treason.BURGUNDY                      Death and hell!   Am I encountered thus? Chatillon, hark!   Let all my troops prepare to quit the camp.   We will retire into our own domain.[CHATILLON goes out.LIONEL   God speed you there! Never did Britain's fame   More brightly shine than when she stood alone,   Confiding solely in her own good sword.   Let each one fight his battle for himself,   For 'tis eternal truth that English blood   Cannot, with honor, blend with blood of France.

SCENE II

The same. QUEEN ISABEL, attended by a PAGE.

ISABEL   What must I hear? This fatal strife forbear!   What brain-bewildering planet o'er your minds   Sheds dire perplexity? When unity   Alone can save you, will you part in hate,   And, warring 'mong yourselves, prepare your doom? —   I do entreat you, noble duke, recall   Your hasty order. You, renowned Talbot,   Seek to appease an irritated friend!   Come, Lionel, aid me to reconcile   These haughty spirits and establish peace.LIONEL   Not I, madame. It is all one to me.   'Tis my belief, when things are misallied,   The sooner they part company the better.ISABEL   How? Do the arts of hell, which on the field   Wrought such disastrous ruin, even here   Bewilder and befool us? Who began   This fatal quarrel? Speak! Lord-general!   Your own advantage did you so forget,   As to offend your worthy friend and ally?   What could you do without his powerful arm?   'Twas he who placed your monarch on the throne,   He holds him there, and he can hurl him thence;   His army strengthens you – still more his name.   Were England all her citizens to pour   Upon our coasts, she never o'er this realm   Would gain dominion did she stand alone;   No! France can only be subdued by France!TALBOT   A faithful friend we honor as we ought;   Discretion warns us to beware the false.BURGUNDY   The liar's brazen front beseemeth him   Who would absolve himself from gratitude.ISABEL   How, noble duke? Could you so far renounce   Your princely honor, and your sense of shame,   As clasp the hand of him who slew your sire?   Are you so mad to entertain the thought   Of cordial reconcilement with the Dauphin,   Whom you yourself have hurled to ruin's brink?   His overthrow you have well nigh achieved,   And madly now would you renounce your work?   Here stand your allies. Your salvation lies   In an indissoluble bond with England?BURGUNDY   Far is my thought from treaty with the Dauphin;   But the contempt and insolent demeanor   Of haughty England I will not endure.ISABEL   Come, noble duke? Excuse a hasty word.   Heavy the grief which bows the general down,   And well you know misfortune makes unjust.   Come! come! embrace; let me this fatal breach   Repair at once, ere it becomes eternal.TALBOT   What think you, Burgundy? A noble heart,   By reason vanquished, doth confess its fault.   A wise and prudent word the queen hath spoken;   Come, let my hand with friendly pressure heal   The wound inflicted by my angry tongue.BURGUNDY   Discreet the counsel offered by the queen!   My just wrath yieldeth to necessity.ISABEL   'Tis well! Now, with a brotherly embrace   Confirm and seal the new-established bond;   And may the winds disperse what hath been spoken.[BURGUNDY and TALBOT embrace.LIONEL (contemplating the group aside)   Hail to an union by the furies planned!ISABEL   Fate hath proved adverse, we have lost a battle,   But do not, therefore, let your courage sink.   The Dauphin, in despair of heavenly aid,   Doth make alliance with the powers of hell;   Vainly his soul he forfeits to the devil,   For hell itself cannot deliver him.   A conquering maiden leads the hostile force;   Yours, I myself will lead; to you I'll stand   In place of maiden or of prophetess.LIONEL   Madame, return to Paris! We desire   To war with trusty weapons, not with women.TALBOT   GO! go! Since your arrival in the camp,   Fortune hath fled our banners, and our course   Hath still been retrograde. Depart at once!BURGUNDY   Your presence here doth scandalize the host.ISABEL (looks from one to the other with astonishment)   This, Burgundy, from you? Do you take part   Against me with these thankless English lords?BURGUNDY   Go! go! The thought of combating for you   Unnerves the courage of the bravest men.ISABEL   I scarce among you have established peace,   And you already form a league against me!TALBOT   Go, in God's name. When you have left the camp   No devil will again appal our troops.ISABEL   Say, am I not your true confederate?   Are we not banded in a common cause?TALBOT   Thank God! your cause of quarrel is not ours.   We combat in an honorable strife.BURGUNDY   A father's bloody murder I avenge.   Stern filial duty consecrates my arms.TALBOT   Confess at once. Your conduct towards the Dauphin   Is an offence alike to God and man.ISABEL   Curses blast him and his posterity!   The shameless son who sins against his mother!BURGUNDY   Ay! to avenge a husband and a father!ISABEL   To judge his mother's conduct he presumed!LIONEL   That was, indeed, irreverent in a son!ISABEL   And me, forsooth, he banished from the realm.TALBOT   Urged to the measure by the public voice.ISABEL   A curse light on him if I e'er forgive him!   Rather than see him on his father's throne —TALBOT   His mother's honor you would sacrifice!ISABEL   Your feeble natures cannot comprehend   The vengeance of an outraged mother's heart.   Who pleasures me, I love; who wrongs, I hate.   If he who wrongs me chance to be my son,   All the more worthy is he of my hate.   The life I gave I will again take back   From him who doth, with ruthless violence,   The bosom rend which bore and nourished him.   Ye, who do thus make war upon the Dauphin,   What rightful cause have ye to plunder him?   What crime hath he committed against you?   What insult are you called on to avenge?   Ambition, paltry envy, goad you on;   I have a right to hate him – he's my son.TALBOT   He feels his mother in her dire revenge!ISABEL   Mean hypocrites! I hate you and despise.   Together with the world, you cheat yourselves!   With robber-hands you English seek to clutch   This realm of France, where you have no just right,   Nor equitable claim, to so much earth   As could be covered by your charger's hoof.   – This duke, too, whom the people style the Good,   Doth to a foreign lord, his country's foe,   For gold betray the birthland of his sires.   And yet is justice ever on your tongue.   – Hypocrisy I scorn. Such as I am,   So let the world behold me!BURGUNDY                  It is true!   Your reputation you have well maintained.ISABEL   I've passions and warm blood, and as a queen   Came to this realm to live, and not to seem.   Should I have lingered out a joyless life   Because the curse of adverse destiny   To a mad consort joined my blooming youth?   More than my life I prize my liberty.   And who assails me here – But why should I   Stoop to dispute with you about my rights?   Your sluggish blood flows slowly in your veins!   Strangers to pleasure, ye know only rage!   This duke, too – who, throughout his whole career,   Hath wavered to and fro, 'twixt good and ill —   Can neither love or hate with his whole heart.   – I go to Melun. Let this gentleman,[Pointing to LIONEL.   Who doth my fancy please, attend me there,   To cheer my solitude, and you may work   Your own good pleasure! I'll inquire no more   Concerning the Burgundians or the English.[She beckons to her PAGE, and is about to retire.LIONEL   Rely upon us, we will send to Melun   The fairest youths whom we in battle take.[Coming back.ISABEL   Skilful your arm to wield the sword of death,   The French alone can round the polished phrase.[She goes out.

SCENE III

TALBOT, BURGUNDY, LIONEL.

TALBOT   Heavens! What a woman!LIONEL                Now, brave generals,   Your counsel! Shall we prosecute our flight,   Or turn, and with a bold and sudden stroke   Wipe out the foul dishonor of to-day?BURGUNDY   We are too weak, our soldiers are dispersed,   The recent terror still unnerves the host.TALBOT   Blind terror, sudden impulse of a moment,   Alone occasioned our disastrous rout.   This phantom of the terror-stricken brain,   More closely viewed will vanish into air.   My counsel, therefore, is, at break of day,   To lead the army back, across the stream,   To meet the enemy.BURGUNDY             Consider well —LIONEL   Your pardon! Here is nothing to consider   What we have lost we must at once retrieve,   Or look to be eternally disgraced.TALBOT   It is resolved. To-morrow morn we fight,   This dread-inspiring phantom to destroy,   Which thus doth blind and terrify the host   Let us in fight encounter this she-devil.   If she oppose her person to our sword,   Trust me, she never will molest us more;   If she avoid our stroke – and be assured   She will not stand the hazard of a battle —   Then is the dire enchantment at an end?LIONEL   So be it! And to me, my general, leave   This easy, bloodless combat, for I hope   Alive to take this ghost, and in my arms,   Before the Bastard's eyes – her paramour —   To bear her over to the English camp,   To be the sport and mockery of the host.BURGUNDY   Make not too sure.TALBOT             If she encounter me,   I shall not give her such a soft embrace.   Come now, exhausted nature to restore   Through gentle sleep. At daybreak we set forth.[They go out.

SCENE IV

JOHANNA with her banner, in a helmet and breastplate, otherwise attired as a woman. DUNOIS, LA HIRE, knights and soldiers appear above upon the rocky path, pass silently over, and appear immediately after on the scene.

JOHANNA (to the knights who surround her while the procession continues above)   The wall is scaled and we are in the camp!   Now fling aside the mantle of still night,   Which hitherto hath veiled your silent march,   And your dread presence to the foe proclaim.   By your loud battle-cry – God and the maiden!   ALL (exclaim aloud, amidst the loud clang of arms).   God and the maiden![Drums and trumpets.SENTINELS (behind the scene)   The foe! The foe! The foe!JOHANNA   Ho! torches here. Hurl fire into the tents!   Let the devouring flames augment the horror,   While threatening death doth compass them around![Soldiers hasten on, she is about to follow.DUNOIS (holding her back)   Thy part thou hast accomplished now, Johanna!   Into the camp thou hast conducted us,   The foe thou hast delivered in our hands,   Now from the rush of war remain apart!   The bloody consummation leave to us.LA HIRE   Point out the path of conquest to the host;   Before us, in pure hand, the banner bear.   But wield the fatal weapon not thyself;   Tempt not the treacherous god of battle, for   He rageth blindly, and he spareth not.JOHANNA   Who dares impede my progress? Who presume   The spirit to control which guideth me?   Still must the arrow wing its destined flight!   Where danger is, there must Johanna be;   Nor now, nor here, am I foredoomed to fall;   Our monarch's royal brow I first must see   Invested with the round of sovereignty.   No hostile power can rob me of my life,   Till I've accomplished the commands of God.[She goes out.LA HIRE   Come, let us follow after her, Dunois,   And let our valiant bosoms be her shield![Exit.

SCENE V

ENGLISH SOLDIERS hurry over the stage.

Afterwards TALBOT.

1 SOLDIER   The maiden in the camp!2 SOLDIER                Impossible!   It cannot be! How came she in the camp?3 SOLDIER   Why, through the air! The devil aided her!4 AND 5 SOLDIERS   Fly! fly! We are dead men!TALBOT (enters)   They heed me not! They stay not at my call!   The sacred bands of discipline are loosed!   As hell had poured her damned legions forth,   A wild, distracting impulse whirls along,   In one mad throng, the cowardly and brave.   I cannot rally e'en the smallest troop   To form a bulwark gainst the hostile flood,   Whose raging billows press into our camp!   Do I alone retain my sober senses,   While all around in wild delirium rave?   To fly before these weak, degenerate Frenchmen   Whom we in twenty battles have overthrown?   Who is she then – the irresistible —   The dread-inspiring goddess, who doth turn   At once the tide of battle, and transform   The lions bold a herd of timid deer?   A juggling minx, who plays the well-learned part   Of heroine, thus to appal the brave?   A woman snatch from me all martial fame?SOLDIER (rushing in)   The maiden comes! Fly, general, fly! fly!TALBOT (strikes him down)   Fly thou, thyself, to hell! This sword shall pierce   Who talks to me of fear, or coward flight![He goes out.

SCENE VI

The prospect opens. The English camp is seen in flames.

Drums, flight, and pursuit. After a while MONTGOMERY enters.

MONTGOMERY (alone)   Where shall I flee? Foes all around and death! Lo! here   The furious general, who with threatening sword, prevents   Escape, and drives us back into the jaws of death.   The dreadful maiden there – the terrible – who like   Devouring flame, destruction spreads; while all around   Appears no bush wherein to hide – no sheltering cave!   Oh, would that o'er the sea I never had come here!   Me miserable – empty dreams deluded me —   Cheap glory to achieve on Gallia's martial fields.   And I am guided by malignant destiny   Into this murderous flight. Oh, were I far, far hence.   Still in my peaceful home, on Severn's flowery banks,   Where in my father's house, in sorrow and in tears,   I left my mother and my fair young bride.[JOHANNA appears in the distance.   Wo's me! What do I see! The dreadful form appears!   Arrayed in lurid light, she from the raging fire   Issues, as from the jaws of hell, a midnight ghost.   Where shall I go? where flee? Already from afar   She seizes on me with her eye of fire, and flings   Her fatal and unerring coil, whose magic folds   With ever-tightening pressure, bind my feet and make   Escape impossible! Howe'er my heart rebels,   I am compelled to follow with my gaze that form   Of dread![JOHANNA advances towards him some steps; and again remains standing.         She comes! I will not passively await   Her furious onset! Imploringly I'll clasp   Her knees! I'll sue to her for life. She is a woman.   I may perchance to pity move her by my tears![While he is on the point of approaching her she draws near.

SCENE VII

JOHANNA, MONTGOMERY.

JOHANNA   Prepare to die! A British mother bore thee!MONTGOMERY (falls at her feet)   Fall back, terrific one! Forbear to strike   An unprotected foe! My sword and shield   I've flung aside, and supplicating fall   Defenceless at thy feet. A ransom take!   Extinguish not the precious light of life!   With fair possessions crowned, my father dwells   In Wales' fair land, where among verdant meads   The winding Severn rolls his silver tide,   And fifty villages confess his sway.   With heavy gold he will redeem his son,   When he shall hear I'm in the camp of France.JHANNA   Deluded mortal! to destruction doomed!   Thou'rt fallen in the maiden's hand, from which   Redemption or deliverance there is none.   Had adverse fortune given thee a prey   To the fierce tiger or the crocodile —   Hadst robbed the lion mother of her brood —   Compassion thou might'st hope to find and pity;   But to encounter me is certain death.   For my dread compact with the spirit realm —   The stern inviolable – bindeth me,   To slay each living thing whom battle's God,   Full charged with doom, delivers to my sword.MONTGOMERY   Thy speech is fearful, but thy look is mild;   Not dreadful art thou to contemplate near;   My heart is drawn towards thy lovely form.   Oh! by the mildness of thy gentle sex,   Attend my prayer. Compassionate my youth.JOHANNA   Name me not woman! Speak not of my sex!   Like to the bodiless spirits, who know naught   Of earth's humanities, I own no sex;   Beneath this vest of steel there beats no heart.MONTGOMERY   Oh! by love's sacred, all-pervading power,   To whom all hearts yield homage, I conjure thee.   At home I left behind a gentle bride,   Beauteous as thou, and rich in blooming grace:   Weeping she waiteth her betrothed's return.   Oh! if thyself dost ever hope to love,   If in thy love thou hopest to be happy,   Then ruthless sever not two gentle hearts,   Together linked in love's most holy bond!JOHANNA   Thou dost appeal to earthly, unknown gods,   To whom I yield no homage. Of love's bond,   By which thou dost conjure me, I know naught   Nor ever will I know his empty service.   Defend thy life, for death doth summon thee.MONTGOMERY   Take pity on my sorrowing parents, whom   I left at home. Doubtless thou, too, hast left   Parents, who feel disquietude for thee.JOHANNA   Unhappy man! thou dost remember me   How many mothers of this land your arms   Have rendered childless and disconsolate;   How many gentle children fatherless;   How many fair young brides dejected widows!   Let England's mothers now be taught despair,   And learn to weep the bitter tear oft shed   By the bereaved and sorrowing wives of France.MONTGOMERY   'Tis hard in foreign lands to die unwept.JOHANNA   Who called you over to this foreign land,   To waste the blooming culture of our fields,   To chase the peasant from his household hearth,   And in our cities' peaceful sanctuary   To hurl the direful thunderbolt of war?   In the delusion of your hearts ye thought   To plunge in servitude the freeborn French,   And to attach their fair and goodly realm,   Like a small boat, to your proud English bark!   Ye fools! The royal arms of France are hung   Fast by the throne of God; and ye as soon   From the bright wain of heaven might snatch a star   As rend a single village from this realm,   Which shall remain inviolate forever!   The day of vengeance is at length arrived;   Not living shall ye measure back the sea,   The sacred sea – the boundary set by God   Betwixt our hostile nations – and the which   Ye ventured impiously to overpass.MONTGOMERY (lets go her hands)   Oh, I must die! I feel the grasp of death!JOHANNA   Die, friend! Why tremble at the approach of death?   Of mortals the irrevocable doom?   Look upon me! I'm born a shepherd maid;   This hand, accustomed to the peaceful crook,   Is all unused to wield the sword of death.   Yet, snatched away from childhood's peaceful haunts,   From the fond love of father and of sisters,   Urged by no idle dream of earthly glory,   But heaven-appointed to achieve your ruin,   Like a destroying angel I must roam,   Spreading dire havoc around me, and at length   Myself must fall a sacrifice to death!   Never again shall I behold my home!   Still, many of your people I must slay,   Still, many widows make, but I at length   Myself shall perish, and fulfil my doom.   Now thine fulfil. Arise! resume thy sword,   And let us fight for the sweet prize of life.MONTGOMERY (stands up)   Now, if thou art a mortal like myself,   Can weapons wound thee, it may be assigned   To this good arm to end my country's woe,   Thee sending, sorceress, to the depths of hell.   In God's most gracious hands I leave my fate.   Accursed one! to thine assistance call   The fiends of hell! Now combat for thy life![He seizes his sword and shield, and rushes upon her; martial music is heard in the distance. After a short conflict MONTGOMERY falls.