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⌉