The Maid of Orleans (play) Read online

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 Burgund
ians 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.
<
br />   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.