Joan of Arc: A Play in Five Acts

XAINT. For shame! true glory Never can be eclipsed. Is not yon planet Distinct in its own splendour, though the moon Sheds more and brighter beams? Well hath she earned The hono...

CHA. Oh! fickle hearts of men. Three months ago, When the prompt aid of fifty men had been A boon worth warmest thanks, nor threats nor pray'rs Could move a foot to join us. Now...

JOAN. What means this tumult in my soul? Restless, Irresolute, or sad, I shun each eye, Yet fly from solitude to fly from self. Mysterious pow'rs! twelve times that full-orbed m...

JOAN. How in its terrors hath the tempest raged! 'Tis misery's privilege alone to hear The crash of warring elements unmoved, And coldly tranquil press the iron couch. These dro...

RICHE. Summon her! I must be rid of thee, maid of Orleans! The cup or poniard were an easy way! But this were simple vengeance--poor revenge! Disgrace! yes infamy must stain her...

XAINT. As one who holds The game already in his hands may hear His adversary's scheme to share the stake. "I am not one," he said, "to beat the bush That others may secure the b...

WAR. How swift a courier is this winged love! Why I have made this journey in less time, Impelled by thought of her, than ere before, Though martial glory spurred me on the way,...

ABB. It may not be, A secret presses here, which ere my soul Can quit in peace its tenement of clay, Must be discharged; and on no other spot May I divulge that secret.

JOAN. What, if too careful of his charge, the abbot Coldly deny his suit, some fraud suspecting? Wouldst know the heaviest ill mortality Can bear? 'Tis this--suspense. Suspense...

WID. The city's walls are distant yet, And weary with the way I sink exhausted. How black the sky! a fearful storm is near. That flash! hark! the low thunder threat'ning growls!...

BED. Advance! Thou knowest the conditions upon which Thy life was spared--thou hast presumed to break them-- Thine are the consequences. Found in arms, A rebel's doom deferred n...

CHA. A monarch now confirmed by holy rite, Our earliest duty is to recompense All those who in our cause have been most zealous. Thee above all, (_to Joan,_) to thee our realm w...

COUNT. Hail, lovely May! Thou month of flowers, sweet hopes and rapt'rous song; Young zephyrs kiss thy steps and scatter bliss. But how! thou dost not answer, dost not heed me.

WID. Half light, half dark. Oh, would that reason's lamp Were utterly extinct, and I could lose The sense that thus I am a tomb to self, Where the dim taper only shows its gloom...

DU N. There is a magic In the full sweet tones of her impressive voice, Which heard but once, dwells long upon the ear, Charmed with the sound; then sinks into the heart, No mor...

FIRST SOL. Peace! A choking's in my throat, a swelling here I might mistake for pity, if, damned thought, Pity and I had not too long been strangers. The prey comes!--See, the t...

XAINT. Thou hast beheld her in the shock of battle, Midst dangers calm, when stoutest bosoms shook. Hast often seen, how in such fearful times, She would upraise her speaking ey...

ARL. It is a ghastly sight. Not drops of heaven Bedew the earth, but blood of men; and blood Has dyed the stream so deep, that thirsty lip Of death rejects the draught it craved...

VAL. Herself! the maid of Orleans henceforth named. Oh! 'twas a noble sight to see her entrance Into the city she herself had saved. Each distant quarter had disgorged itself Of...

XAINT. In arms to little purpose. Our cause is lost, my lord. Orleans, our best, Last hope, must fall, and shortly. But I have sought thee, Eager to know, to learn,--

WAR. Are earth and heaven again in fury met, As late on Orleans' fields? The elements Pour forth their wrath in such tremendous peals, Such bolts of fiery death illume the sky,...

RICHE. Eternal curses light upon her own. Thwarted in all my views, fortune but mocks, Instead of crowning me. These rival states Should from my fiat take their destiny. Nor car...

DU N. I tell thee It is a gross affront, and such he means it. A woman too to lead my gallant soldiers, And point the path of duty to myself! I choke with indignation.

JOHN T. Are not their arms against their country turned In aid of foreign foes? Are they not traitors; Aye, traitors to the land they help to fetter? These fields may haply drin...

DU N. By yonder church. The narrow turn must break In part the line. Upon the signal given Rush through the guards, promptly secure the maid, And whilst confusion reigns we'll f...

CHA. Shame on the heart that needs excuse for words Drawn forth by sudden anguish. Banish fear. If aught within our power can rescue her, No matter what the cost, she shall be f...

ARCH. Faithful the promise. 'Twas spoke, 'tis done. France now demands her king; Scion of ancient root, hope of her line: And here in sight of her assembled chiefs, 'Tis mine to...

JOAN. Warriors and chiefs of France! from such a presence I should have shrunk, had I not felt within me A mighty impulse not to be controlled. Impute not then to arrogance, or...

ALEN. You do forget, no words give more offence Than those which mark the speaker's higher worth. Her noble sentiments this day expressed, Have wrought her many foes; nor does t...

BEAU. (_Aside._ Proud, haughty prince!) Why generous by halves? Why not then grant her all,--ease, liberty, With means again to lord it over those Whose path 'tis outrage she sh...

JOHN T. My deeds shall thank thee. Father! Oh! tarry only till this field I've fought. We must not meet till I have proved this gift, Whose motto to the sun I now display,[A] (_...

JOAN. Forbear! Give not the instrument the Giver's meed; But rather let us imitate his mercy. Quick! let the carnage cease! and ev'ry tenderness Show friend and foe. Now let our...