And to survey the bodies of the dead.

CHARLES

For prisoners ask‘st thou ? Hell our prison is.

But tell me whom thou seek’st.

LUCY

But where’s the great Alcides of the field,

Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,

Created for his rare success in arms

Great Earl of Wexford, Waterford, and Valence,

Lord Talbot of Goodrich and Urchinfield,

Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,

Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,

The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge,

Knight of the noble order of Saint George,

Worthy Saint Michael and the Golden Fleece,

Great Maréchal to Henry the Sixth

Of all his wars within the realm of France?

JOAN

Here’s a silly, stately style indeed.

The Turk, that two-and-fifty kingdoms hath,

Writes not so tedious a style as this.

Him that thou magnifi’st with all these titles

Stinking and flyblown lies here at our feet.

LUCY

Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen’s only scourge,

Your kingdom’s terror and black Nemesis?

O, were mine eye-balls into bullets turned,

That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!

O, that I could but call these dead to life!—

It were enough to fright the realm of France.

Were but his picture left amongst you here

It would amaze the proudest of you all.

Give me their bodies, that I may bear them hence

And give them burial as beseems their worth.

JOAN (to Charles)

I think this upstart is old Talbot’s ghost,

He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit.

For God’s sake let him have them. To keep them here

They would but stink and putrefy the air.

CHARLES Go, take their bodies hence.

LUCY

I’ll bear them hence, but from their ashes shall be

reared

A phoenix that shall make all France afeard.

CHARLES

So we be rid of them, do with them what thou wilt.

⌈Exeunt Lucy and herald with the bodies⌉

And now to Paris in this conquering vein.

All will be ours, now bloody Talbot’s slain. Exeunt

5.1 Sennet. Enter King Henry, the Dukes of Gloucester and Exeter, ⌈and others⌉

KING HENRY (to Gloucester)

Have you perused the letters from the Pope,

The Emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?

GLOUCESTER

I have, my lord, and their intent is this:

They humbly sue unto your excellence

To have a godly peace concluded of

Between the realms of England and of France.

KING HENRY

How doth your grace affect their motion?

GLOUCESTER

Well, my good lord, and as the only means

To stop effusion of our Christian blood

And ’stablish quietness on every side.

KING HENRY

Ay, marry, uncle; for I always thought

It was both impious and unnatural

That such immanity and bloody strife

Should reign among professors of one faith.

GLOUCESTER

Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect

And surer bind this knot of amity,

The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles—

A man of great authority in France—

Proffers his only daughter to your grace

In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.

KING HENRY

Marriage, uncle? Alas, my years are young,

And fitter is my study and my books

Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.

Yet call th’ambassadors, ⌈Exit one or more⌉

and as you please,

So let them have their answers every one.

I shall be well content with any choice

Tends to God’s glory and my country’s weal.

Enter the Bishop of Winchester, now in cardinal’s habit, and three ambassadors, one a Papal Legate

EXETER (aside)

What, is my lord of Winchester installed

And called unto a cardinal’s degree?

Then I perceive that will be verified

Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy:

‘If once he come to be a cardinal,

He’ll make his cap co-equal with the crown.’

KING HENRY

My lords ambassadors, your several suits

Have been considered and debated on.

Your purpose is both good and reasonable,

And therefore are we certainly resolved

To draw conditions of a friendly peace,

Which by my lord of Winchester we mean

Shall be transported presently to France.

GLOUCESTER ⌈to ambassadors⌉

And for the proffer of my lord your master,

I have informed his highness so at large

As, liking of the lady’s virtuous gifts,

Her beauty, and the value of her dower,

He doth intend she shall be England’s queen.

KING HENRY ⌈to ambassadors⌉

In argument and proof of which contract

Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.

(To Gloucester) And so, my lord Protector, see them

guarded

And safely brought to Dover, wherein shipped,

Commit them to the fortune of the sea.

Exeunt ⌈severally⌉ all but Winchester and ⌈Legate⌉

WINCHESTER

Stay, my lord legate; you shall first receive

The sum of money which I promised

Should be delivered to his holiness

For clothing me in these grave ornaments.

LEGATE

I will attend upon your lordship’s leisure. ⌈Exit⌉