William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (135 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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KING OF FRANCE
Dare he already crop the fleur-de-lis?
I hope, the honey being gathered thence,
He, with the spider, afterward approached,
Shall suck forth deadly venom from the leaves.
But where’s our navy? How are they prepared
To wing themselves against this flight of ravens?
I hope, the honey being gathered thence,
He, with the spider, afterward approached,
Shall suck forth deadly venom from the leaves.
But where’s our navy? How are they prepared
To wing themselves against this flight of ravens?
MARINER
They, having knowledge brought them by the scouts,
Did break from anchor straight and, puffed with rage,
No otherwise than were their sails with wind,
Made forth as when the empty eagle flies
To satisfy his hungry, griping maw.
Did break from anchor straight and, puffed with rage,
No otherwise than were their sails with wind,
Made forth as when the empty eagle flies
To satisfy his hungry, griping maw.
KING OF FRANCE (
giving money
)
giving money
)
There’s for thy news. Return unto thy barque,
And if thou scape the bloody stroke of war
And do survive the conflict, come again,
And let us hear the manner of the fight. Exit Mariner
Mean space, my lords, ’tis best we be dispersed
To several places, lest they chance to land.
(
To the King of Bohemia
) First you, my lord, with your Bohemian troops,
Shall pitch your battles on the lower hand.
(
To the Dauphin ⌈and the Polish captain
⌉)
My eldest son, the Duke of Normandy,
Together with this aid of Muscovites,
Shall climb the higher ground another way.
Here in the middle coast, betwixt you both,
Philippe, my youngest boy, and I will lodge.
So, lords, be gone, and look unto your charge,
You stand for France, an empire fair and large.
And if thou scape the bloody stroke of war
And do survive the conflict, come again,
And let us hear the manner of the fight. Exit Mariner
Mean space, my lords, ’tis best we be dispersed
To several places, lest they chance to land.
(
To the King of Bohemia
) First you, my lord, with your Bohemian troops,
Shall pitch your battles on the lower hand.
(
To the Dauphin ⌈and the Polish captain
⌉)
My eldest son, the Duke of Normandy,
Together with this aid of Muscovites,
Shall climb the higher ground another way.
Here in the middle coast, betwixt you both,
Philippe, my youngest boy, and I will lodge.
So, lords, be gone, and look unto your charge,
You stand for France, an empire fair and large.
Exeunt all but the King of France and Prince Philippe
Now tell me, Philippe, what is thy conceit
Touching the challenge that the English make?
Touching the challenge that the English make?
PRINCE PHILIPPE
I say, my lord, claim Edward what he can,
And bring he ne‘er so plain a pedigree,
’Tis you are in possession of the crown,
And that’s the surest point of all the law.
But were it not, yet ere he should prevail
I’ll make a conduit of my dearest blood,
Or chase those straggling upstarts home again.
And bring he ne‘er so plain a pedigree,
’Tis you are in possession of the crown,
And that’s the surest point of all the law.
But were it not, yet ere he should prevail
I’ll make a conduit of my dearest blood,
Or chase those straggling upstarts home again.
KING OF FRANCE
Well said, young Philippe! ⌈
To
an
attendant
⌉ Call for bread and wine
That we may cheer our stomachs with repast
To look our foes more sternly in the face.
To
an
attendant
⌉ Call for bread and wine
That we may cheer our stomachs with repast
To look our foes more sternly in the face.
Bread and wine are brought forth. The battle is heard afar off. The King and Prince Philippe sup
Now is begun the heavy day at sea.
Fight, Frenchmen, fight! Be like the field of bears
When they defend their younglings in their caves.
Steer, angry Nemesis, the happy helm
That with the sulphur battles of your rage
The English fleet may be dispersed and sunk.
Fight, Frenchmen, fight! Be like the field of bears
When they defend their younglings in their caves.
Steer, angry Nemesis, the happy helm
That with the sulphur battles of your rage
The English fleet may be dispersed and sunk.
A cannon shot within
PRINCE PHILIPPE
O, father, how this echoing cannon shot,
Like sweet harmony, digests my cates!
Like sweet harmony, digests my cates!
KING OF FRANCE
Now, boy, thou hear‘st what thund’ring terror ’tis
To buckle for a kingdom’s sovereignty.
The earth, with giddy trembling when it shakes,
Or when the exhalations of the air
Breaks in extremity of lightning flash,
Affrights not more than kings when they dispose
To show the rancour of their high-swoll’n hearts.
To buckle for a kingdom’s sovereignty.
The earth, with giddy trembling when it shakes,
Or when the exhalations of the air
Breaks in extremity of lightning flash,
Affrights not more than kings when they dispose
To show the rancour of their high-swoll’n hearts.
Retreat sounds within
Retreat is sounded—one side hath the worse.
O, if it be the French, sweet fortune turn,
And in thy turning, change the froward winds
That, with advantage of a favouring sky,
Our men may vanquish, and the other fly.
O, if it be the French, sweet fortune turn,
And in thy turning, change the froward winds
That, with advantage of a favouring sky,
Our men may vanquish, and the other fly.
Enter the French Mariner
My heart misgives. (
To the Mariner
) Say, mirror of
pale death,
To whom belongs the honour of this day?
Relate, I pray thee, if thy breath will serve
The sad discourse of this discomfiture.
To the Mariner
) Say, mirror of
pale death,
To whom belongs the honour of this day?
Relate, I pray thee, if thy breath will serve
The sad discourse of this discomfiture.
MARINER I will, my lord.
My gracious sovereign, France hath ta‘en the foil,
And boasting Edward triumphs with success.
These iron-hearted navies,
When last I was reporter to your grace,
Both full of angry spleen, of hope and fear,
Hasting to meet each other in the face,
At last conjoined, and by their admiral
Our admiral encountered many shot.
By this, the other, that beheld these twain
Give earnest-penny of a further wreck,
Like fiery dragons took their haughty flight;
And likewise meeting, from their smoky wombs
Sent many grim ambassadors of death.
Then ’gan the day to turn to gloomy night,
And darkness did as well enclose the quick
As those that were but newly reft of life.
No leisure served for friends to bid farewell,
And if it had, the hideous noise was such
As each to other seemed deaf and dumb.
Purple the sea whose channel filled as fast
With streaming gore that from the maimed fell,
As did her gushing moisture break into
The cranny cleftures of the through-shot planks.
Here flew a head dissevered from the trunk;
There mangled arms and legs were tossed aloft,
As when a whirlwind takes the summer dust
And scatters it in middle of the air.
Then might ye see the reeling vessels split
And, tottering, sink into the ruthless flood
Until their lofty tops were seen no more.
All shifts were tried, both for defence and hurt.
And now the effect of valour and of fear,
Of resolution and of cowardice,
We lively pictured—how the one for fame,
The other by compulsion, laid about.
Much did the Nonpareil, that brave ship;
So did the
Black Snake
of Boulogne, than which
A bonnier vessel never yet spread sail.
But all in vain: both sun, the wind and tide
Revolted all unto our foemen’s side,
That we, perforce, were fain to give them way,
And they are landed. Thus my tale is done.
We have untimely lost, and they have won.
And boasting Edward triumphs with success.
These iron-hearted navies,
When last I was reporter to your grace,
Both full of angry spleen, of hope and fear,
Hasting to meet each other in the face,
At last conjoined, and by their admiral
Our admiral encountered many shot.
By this, the other, that beheld these twain
Give earnest-penny of a further wreck,
Like fiery dragons took their haughty flight;
And likewise meeting, from their smoky wombs
Sent many grim ambassadors of death.
Then ’gan the day to turn to gloomy night,
And darkness did as well enclose the quick
As those that were but newly reft of life.
No leisure served for friends to bid farewell,
And if it had, the hideous noise was such
As each to other seemed deaf and dumb.
Purple the sea whose channel filled as fast
With streaming gore that from the maimed fell,
As did her gushing moisture break into
The cranny cleftures of the through-shot planks.
Here flew a head dissevered from the trunk;
There mangled arms and legs were tossed aloft,
As when a whirlwind takes the summer dust
And scatters it in middle of the air.
Then might ye see the reeling vessels split
And, tottering, sink into the ruthless flood
Until their lofty tops were seen no more.
All shifts were tried, both for defence and hurt.
And now the effect of valour and of fear,
Of resolution and of cowardice,
We lively pictured—how the one for fame,
The other by compulsion, laid about.
Much did the Nonpareil, that brave ship;
So did the
Black Snake
of Boulogne, than which
A bonnier vessel never yet spread sail.
But all in vain: both sun, the wind and tide
Revolted all unto our foemen’s side,
That we, perforce, were fain to give them way,
And they are landed. Thus my tale is done.
We have untimely lost, and they have won.
KING OF FRANCE
Then rests there nothing but, with present speed,
To join our several forces all in one,
And bid them battle ere they range too far.
Come, gentle Philippe, let us hence depart;
This soldier’s words have pierced thy father’s heart.
To join our several forces all in one,
And bid them battle ere they range too far.
Come, gentle Philippe, let us hence depart;
This soldier’s words have pierced thy father’s heart.
Exeunt
Sc. 5Enter at one door two Frenchmen without baggage. Enter at another door, meeting them, other Frenchmen and a Frenchwoman with two little children, ⌈all⌉ with baggage
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE
Well met, my masters. How now? What’s the news,
And wherefore are ye laden thus with stuff?
What, is it quarter-day, that you remove,
And carry bag and baggage too?
And wherefore are ye laden thus with stuff?
What, is it quarter-day, that you remove,
And carry bag and baggage too?
FIRST FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
Quarter-day, ay, and quartering day I fear.
Have ye not heard the news that flies abroad?
Have ye not heard the news that flies abroad?
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE What news?
SECOND FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
How the French navy is destroyed at sea,
And that the English army is arrived.
And that the English army is arrived.
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE What then?
FIRST FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
‘What then,’ quoth you? Why, is’t not time to fly,
When envy and destruction is so nigh?
When envy and destruction is so nigh?
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE
Content thee, man, they are far enough from hence,
And will be met, I warrant ye, to their cost,
Before they break so far into the realm.
And will be met, I warrant ye, to their cost,
Before they break so far into the realm.
FIRST FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
Ay, so the grasshopper doth spend the time
In mirthful jollity, till winter come,
And then, too late, he would redeem his time,
When frozen cold hath nipped his careless head.
He that no sooner will provide a cloak
Than when he sees it doth begin to rain
May, peradventure, for his negligence,
Be throughly washed when he suspects it not.
We that have charge, and such a train as this,
Must look in time to look for them and us,
Lest, when we would, we cannot be relieved.
In mirthful jollity, till winter come,
And then, too late, he would redeem his time,
When frozen cold hath nipped his careless head.
He that no sooner will provide a cloak
Than when he sees it doth begin to rain
May, peradventure, for his negligence,
Be throughly washed when he suspects it not.
We that have charge, and such a train as this,
Must look in time to look for them and us,
Lest, when we would, we cannot be relieved.
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE
Belike you then despair of ill success,
And think your country will be subjugate.
And think your country will be subjugate.
SECOND FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
We cannot tell. ’Tis good to fear the worst.
FRENCHMAN WITHOUT BAGGAGE
Yet rather fight, than like unnatural sons
Forsake your loving parents in distress.
Forsake your loving parents in distress.
FIRST FRENCHMAN WITH BAGGAGE
Tush, they that have already taken arms
Are many fearful millions in respect
Of that small handful of our enemies.
But ’tis a rightful quarrel must prevail:
Edward is son unto our late king’s sister,
Where Jean Valois is three degrees removed.
Are many fearful millions in respect
Of that small handful of our enemies.
But ’tis a rightful quarrel must prevail:
Edward is son unto our late king’s sister,
Where Jean Valois is three degrees removed.
FRENCHWOMAN
Besides, there goes a prophecy abroad,
Published by one that was a friar once,
Whose oracles have many times proved true,
And now he says the time will shortly come
Whenas a lion roused in the west
Shall carry hence the fleur-de-lis of France.
These, I can tell ye, and such like surmises,
Strike many Frenchmen cold unto the heart.
Published by one that was a friar once,
Whose oracles have many times proved true,
And now he says the time will shortly come
Whenas a lion roused in the west
Shall carry hence the fleur-de-lis of France.
These, I can tell ye, and such like surmises,
Strike many Frenchmen cold unto the heart.
Enter a Frenchman in haste
FLEEING FRENCHMAN
Fly, countrymen and citizens of France!
Sweet-flow’ring peace, the root of happy life,
Is quite abandoned and expulsed the land.
Instead of whom, ransack-constraining war
Sits like to ravens upon your houses’ tops.
Slaughter and mischief walk within your streets
And, unrestrained, make havoc as they pass,
The form whereof, even now, myself beheld
Upon this fair mountain, whence I came.
For so far off as I directed mine eyes
I might perceive five cities all on fire,
Cornfields and vineyards burning like an oven,
And, as the reeking vapour in the wind
Y-turnèd but aside, I likewise might discern
The poor inhabitants, escaped the flame,
Fall numberless upon the soldiers’ pikes.
Three ways these dreadful ministers of wrath
Do tread the measures of their tragic march:
Upon the right hand comes the conquering King,
Upon the left his hot, unbridled son,
And in the midst their nation’s glittering host.
All which, though distant, yet conspire in one
To leave a desolation where they come.
Fly, therefore, citizens, if you be wise.
Seek out some habitation further off.
Here, if you stay, your wives will be abused,
Your treasure shared before your weeping eyes.
Shelter you yourselves, for now the storm doth rise.
Away, away! Methinks I hear their drums!
Ah, wretched France, I greatly fear thy fall;
Thy glory shaketh like a tottering wall.
Sweet-flow’ring peace, the root of happy life,
Is quite abandoned and expulsed the land.
Instead of whom, ransack-constraining war
Sits like to ravens upon your houses’ tops.
Slaughter and mischief walk within your streets
And, unrestrained, make havoc as they pass,
The form whereof, even now, myself beheld
Upon this fair mountain, whence I came.
For so far off as I directed mine eyes
I might perceive five cities all on fire,
Cornfields and vineyards burning like an oven,
And, as the reeking vapour in the wind
Y-turnèd but aside, I likewise might discern
The poor inhabitants, escaped the flame,
Fall numberless upon the soldiers’ pikes.
Three ways these dreadful ministers of wrath
Do tread the measures of their tragic march:
Upon the right hand comes the conquering King,
Upon the left his hot, unbridled son,
And in the midst their nation’s glittering host.
All which, though distant, yet conspire in one
To leave a desolation where they come.
Fly, therefore, citizens, if you be wise.
Seek out some habitation further off.
Here, if you stay, your wives will be abused,
Your treasure shared before your weeping eyes.
Shelter you yourselves, for now the storm doth rise.
Away, away! Methinks I hear their drums!
Ah, wretched France, I greatly fear thy fall;
Thy glory shaketh like a tottering wall.
Exeunt
Sc. 6Enter King Edward and the Earl of Derby with soldiers and Gobin de Grace
KING EDWARD
Where is the Frenchman by whose cunning guide
We found the shallow of this river Somme,
And had direction how to pass the sea?
We found the shallow of this river Somme,
And had direction how to pass the sea?
GOBIN
Here, my good lord.
KING EDWARD
How art thou called? Tell me thy name.
GOBIN
Gobin de Grace, if please your excellence.
KING EDWARD
Then, Gobin, for the service thou hast done
We here enlarge and give thee liberty,
And for a recompense, beside this good,
Thou shalt receive five hundred marks in gold.
(
To Derby
) I know not how we should have missed our son,
Whom now in heart I wish I might behold.
We here enlarge and give thee liberty,
And for a recompense, beside this good,
Thou shalt receive five hundred marks in gold.
(
To Derby
) I know not how we should have missed our son,
Whom now in heart I wish I might behold.
Enter the Comte d’Artois
COMTE D’ARTOIS
Good news, my lord! The Prince is hard at hand,
And with him comes Lord Audley and the rest
Whom, since our landing, we could never meet.
And with him comes Lord Audley and the rest
Whom, since our landing, we could never meet.
Enter Edward Prince of Wales, Lord Audley and soldiers
KING EDWARD
Welcome, fair Prince. How hast thou sped, my son,
Since thy arrival on the coast of France?
Since thy arrival on the coast of France?
PRINCE OF WALES
Successfully, I thank the gracious heavens.
Some of their strongest cities we have won—
As Harfleur, Lô, Crotoy and Carentan—
And others wasted, leaving at our heels
A wide, apparent field and beaten path
For solitariness to progress in.
Yet those that would submit we kindly pardoned,
For who in scorn refused our proffered peace
Endured the penalty of sharp revenge.
Some of their strongest cities we have won—
As Harfleur, Lô, Crotoy and Carentan—
And others wasted, leaving at our heels
A wide, apparent field and beaten path
For solitariness to progress in.
Yet those that would submit we kindly pardoned,
For who in scorn refused our proffered peace
Endured the penalty of sharp revenge.
KING EDWARD
Ah, France, why shouldst thou be this obstinate
Against the kind embracement of thy friends?
How gently had we thought to touch thy breast
And set our foot upon thy tender mould,
But that in froward and disdainful pride
Thou, like a skittish and untamed colt,
Dost start aside and strike us with thy heels.
But tell me, Ned, in all thy warlike course
Hast thou not seen the usurping King of France?
Against the kind embracement of thy friends?
How gently had we thought to touch thy breast
And set our foot upon thy tender mould,
But that in froward and disdainful pride
Thou, like a skittish and untamed colt,
Dost start aside and strike us with thy heels.
But tell me, Ned, in all thy warlike course
Hast thou not seen the usurping King of France?
PRINCE OF WALES
Yes, my good lord, and not two hours ago,
With full a hundred thousand fighting men
Upon the one side with the river’s bank,
And on the other, both his multitudes.
I feared he would have cropped our smaller power,
But happily, perceiving your approach,
He hath withdrawn himself to Crécy plains,
Where, as it seemeth by his good array,
He means to bid us battle presently.
With full a hundred thousand fighting men
Upon the one side with the river’s bank,
And on the other, both his multitudes.
I feared he would have cropped our smaller power,
But happily, perceiving your approach,
He hath withdrawn himself to Crécy plains,
Where, as it seemeth by his good array,
He means to bid us battle presently.
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