SCENE IV. Camp of the YORK in Anjou. The First part of King Henry the Sixth  Shakespeare homepage  |  Henry VI, part 1  | Act 5, Scene 4 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE IV. Camp of the YORK in Anjou. 

 Enter YORK, WARWICK, and others  YORK  Bring forth that sorceress condemn'd to burn. 



 Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE, guarded, and a Shepherd  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? 

 Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I'll die with thee! 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  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; 

 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, 

 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. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn'd 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. 

 Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time 

 Of thy nativity! I would the milk 

 Thy mother gave thee when thou suck'dst her breast, 

 Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake! 

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

 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. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd: 

 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, 

 To work exceeding miracles on earth. 

 I never had to do with wicked spirits: 

 But you, that are polluted with your lusts, 

 Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents, 

 Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices, 

 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 Arc hath been 

 A virgin from her tender infancy, 

 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, 

 Spare for no faggots, let there be enow: 

 Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake, 

 That so her torture may be shortened. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts? 

 Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity, 

 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! 

 WARWICK  The greatest miracle that e'er ye wrought: 

 Is all your strict preciseness come to this? 

 YORK  She and the Dauphin have been juggling: 

 I did imagine what would be her refuge. 

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

 Especially since Charles must father it. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  You are deceived; my child is none of his: 

 It was Alencon that enjoy'd my love. 

 YORK  Alencon! that notorious Machiavel! 

 It dies, an if it had a thousand lives. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  O, give me leave, I have deluded you: 

 'Twas neither Charles nor yet the duke I named, 

 But Reignier, king of Naples, that prevail'd. 

 WARWICK  A married man! that's most intolerable. 

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

 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. 

 JOAN LA PUCELLE  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 

 Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves! 



 Exit, guarded  YORK  Break thou in pieces and consume to ashes, 

 Thou foul accursed minister of hell! 



 Enter CARDINAL OF WINCHESTER, attended  CARDINAL 

 OF WINCHESTER  Lord regent, I do greet your excellence 

 With letters of commission from the king. 

 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 Dauphin and his train 

 Approacheth, to confer about some matter. 

 YORK  Is all our travail turn'd to this effect? 

 After the slaughter of so many peers, 

 So many captains, gentlemen and soldiers, 

 That in this quarrel have been overthrown 

 And sold their bodies for their country's benefit, 

 Shall we at last conclude effeminate peace? 

 Have we not lost most part of all the towns, 

 By treason, falsehood and by treachery, 

 Our great progenitors had conquered? 

 O Warwick, Warwick! I foresee with grief 

 The utter loss of all the realm of France. 

 WARWICK  Be patient, York: if we conclude a peace, 

 It shall be with such strict and severe covenants 

 As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby. 



 Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, REIGNIER, and others  CHARLES  Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed 

 That peaceful truce shall be proclaim'd in France, 

 We come to be informed by yourselves 

 What the conditions of that league must be. 

 YORK  Speak, Winchester; for boiling choler chokes 

 The hollow passage of my poison'd voice, 

 By sight of these our baleful enemies. 

 CARDINAL 

 OF WINCHESTER  Charles, and the rest, it is enacted thus: 

 That, in regard King Henry gives consent, 

 Of mere compassion and of lenity, 

 To ease your country of distressful war, 

 And suffer you to breathe in fruitful peace, 

 You shall become true liegemen to his crown: 

 And Charles, upon condition thou wilt swear 

 To pay him tribute, submit thyself, 

 Thou shalt be placed as viceroy under him, 

 And still enjoy thy regal dignity. 

 ALENCON  Must he be then as shadow of himself? 

 Adorn his temples with a coronet, 

 And yet, in substance and authority, 

 Retain but privilege of a private man? 

 This proffer is absurd and reasonless. 

 CHARLES  'Tis known already that I am possess'd 

 With more than half the Gallian territories, 

 And therein reverenced for their lawful king: 

 Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish'd, 

 Detract so much from that prerogative, 

 As to be call'd but viceroy of the whole? 

 No, lord ambassador, I'll rather keep 

 That which I have than, coveting for more, 

 Be cast from possibility of all. 

 YORK  Insulting Charles! hast thou by secret means 

 Used intercession to obtain a league, 

 And, now the matter grows to compromise, 

 Stand'st thou aloof upon comparison? 

 Either accept the title thou usurp'st, 

 Of benefit proceeding from our king 

 And not of any challenge of desert, 

 Or we will plague thee with incessant wars. 

 REIGNIER  My lord, you do not well in obstinacy 

 To cavil in the course of this contract: 

 If once it be neglected, ten to one 

 We shall not find like opportunity. 

 ALENCON  To say the truth, it is your policy 

 To save your subjects from such massacre 

 And ruthless slaughters as are daily seen 

 By our proceeding in hostility; 

 And therefore take this compact of a truce, 

 Although you break it when your pleasure serves. 

 WARWICK  How say'st thou, Charles? shall our condition stand? 

 CHARLES  It shall; 

 Only reserved, you claim no interest 

 In any of our towns of garrison. 

 YORK  Then swear allegiance to his majesty, 

 As thou art knight, never to disobey 

 Nor be rebellious to the crown of England, 

 Thou, nor thy nobles, to the crown of England. 

 So, now dismiss your army when ye please: 

 Hang up your ensign, let your drums be still, 

 For here we entertain a solemn peace. 



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