The Maid of Orleans: A Tragedy

BERTRAND. I scarce can tell you how I came by it. I had procured some tools at Vaucouleurs; A crowd was gathered in the market-place, For fugitives were just arrived in haste Fr...

LA HIRE. His first and unconditional demand, Ere he consent to listen to thine errand, Is that Duchatel be delivered up, Whom he doth name the murderer of his sire.

BURGUNDY. How dreadful was the maiden in the fight! How lovely circled by the beams of peace! My word, Johanna, have I now fulfilled? Art thou contented? Have I thine applause?

JOHANNA (interrupts him, regarding him with dignity). Bastard of Orleans, thou wilt tempt thy God! This place abandon, which becomes thee not! To this more mighty one the maid i...

ISABEL. What must I hear? This fatal strife forbear! What brain-bewildering planet o'er your minds Sheds dire perplexity? When unity Alone can save you, will you part in hate, A...

The DUKE OF BURGUNDY, DUNOIS, LA HIRE, CHATILLON, and two other knights of the DUKE'S train. The DUKE remains standing at the door; the KING inclines towards him; BURGUNDY immed...

THIBAUT. Here is this noble youth, the flower and pride Of all our village; he hath fixed on thee His fond affections, and for three long years Has wooed thee with respectful te...

SOREL (advances joyfully. When she perceives JOHANNA she hastens to her and falls upon her neck; then suddenly recollecting herself; she relinquishes her hold, and falls down be...

BURGUNDY. I fear not this seducing Circe; no, Nor you, whom she hath changed so shamefully! Oh, blush, Dunois! and do thou blush, La Hire To stoop thy valor to these hellish art...

MONTGOMERY (falls at her feet). Fall back, terrific one! Forbear to strike An unprotected foe! My sword and shield I've flung aside, and supplicating fall Defenceless at thy fee...

CHARLES. The Constable hath sent us back his sword And doth renounce our service. Now, by heaven! He thus hath rid us of a churlish man, Who insolently sought to lord it o'er us.

JOHANNA (she has freed herself from the crowd and comes forward). Remain I cannot--spirits chase me forth! The organ's pealing tones like thunder sound, The dome's arched roof t...

JOHANNA. I am not unaccompanied. Thou hast Heard the loud thunder rolling o'er my head-- My destiny conducts me. Do not fear; Without my seeking I shall reach the goal.

Hushed is the din of arms, war's storms subside, Glad songs and dance succeed the bloody fray, Through all the streets joy echoes far and wide, Altar and church are decked in ri...

TALBOT. Here let us make a halt beneath these rocks, And pitch our camp, in case our scattered troops, Dispersed in panic fear, again should rally. Choose trusty sentinels, and...

JOHANNA. Ay! that I will! no power can hinder me. Hark to that sound, the war-march of my people! How its triumphant notes inspire my heart! Ruin to England! victory to France!...

RAOUL. We had assembled sixteen regiments Of Lotharingian troops to join your host; And Baudricourt, a knight of Vaucouleurs, Was our commander. Having gained the heights By Ver...

CHATILLON. Here, in his royal town of Chalons, sire, The duke, my master, will fall down before thee. He did command me, as my lord and king, To give thee greeting. He'll be her...

CHARLES. My Agnes! Oh, my love! My dearest life! Thou comest here to snatch me from despair! Refuge I take within thy loving arms! Possessing thee I feel that nothing is lost.

LIONEL. Accursed one, prepare thee for the fight! Not both of us shall quit this field alive. Thou hast destroyed the bravest of our host The noble Talbot hath his mighty soul B...

THIBAUT. Not I, but thou art mad. And this wise bishop, and these noble lords, Who think that through a weak and sinful maid The God of heaven would reveal himself. Come, let us...

LIONEL. Now, God forbid! My noble lord, arise! No moment this to falter and to sink. Yield not to death. By your all-powerful will Command your ebbing spirit still to live.

Soldiers with flying banners occupy the background. Before them the KING and the DUKE OF BURGUNDY appear, bearing JOHANNA in their arms; she is mortally wounded, and apparently...

HERALD. My noble general laments the blood Which hath already flowed, and still must flow. Hence, in the scabbard holding back the sword, Before by storm the town of Orleans fal...

JOHANNA. Deluder! now I see thy stratagem! Thou hast deceitfully, through seeming flight, Allured me from the battle, doom and death Averting thus from many a British head. Dest...

DUNOIS. Johanna, thee we seek. All is prepared; The king hath sent us, 'tis his royal will That thou before him shouldst thy banner bear, The company of princes thou shalt join;...

SENATOR. Ah, sire! the city's peril is extreme; And giant ruin, waxing hour by hour, Still onward strides. The bulwarks are destroyed-- The foe at each assault advantage gains;...

Farewell ye mountains, ye beloved glades, Ye lone and peaceful valleys, fare ye well! Through you Johanna never more may stray! For, ay, Johanna bids you now farewell. Ye meads...

DUNOIS. We have been true heart-friends, brothers in arms, Still have we battled in a common cause, And held together amid toil and death. Let not the love of woman rend the bon...

FASTOLFE (entering hastily). The people can no longer be restrained. With fury they demand the maiden's death. In vain your opposition. Let her die And throw her head down from...

THIBAUT. Ay, my good neighbors! we at least to-day Are Frenchmen still, free citizens and lords Of the old soil which our forefathers tilled. Who knows whom we to-morrow must ob...

LIONEL. These dastard enemies I scorn. They have In twenty battles fled before our arms, Ere this heroic maiden fought for them. All the whole nation I despise, save one, And th...

ARCHBISHOP. Conquer your sullen indignation, prince! Return with us! Come back unto your king! In this emergency abandon not The general cause, when we are sorely pressed, And s...

KING. Thanks, my good people! Thank you for your love! The crown which God hath placed upon our brow Hath with our valiant swords been hardly won: With noble blood 'tis wetted;...

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, a...

LOUISON. She recognized us not! She did not feel That we, her sisters, were so near to her. She looked upon the ground, and seemed so pale, And trembled so beneath her banner's...

ISABEL. Do ye see a spirit? How! Are ye soldiers! Ye are cowards all! [She presses forward, but starts back on beholding the MAIDEN. What do I see! [She collects herself quickly...

CHARLES (perceiving TALBOT.) Look! Who is he, who yonder of the sun Taketh reluctant, sorrowful farewell? His armor indicates no common man; Go, succor him, if aid may yet avail.

RAIMOND. She is not, sir, a wicked sorceress! To God and all his saints I make appeal. An error blinds the people. You've cast forth God's messenger, you've banished innocence!

RAIMOND. See! here are cottages; in them at least We may find shelter from the raging storm. You are not able longer to endure it. Three days already you have wandered on, Shunn...

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...

CHARLES. Is, then, the sceptre such a peerless treasure? Is it so hard to loose it from our grasp? Believe me, 'tis more galling to endure The domineering rule of these proud va...

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 c...

RAIMOND. Stay, father Thibaut! Do not join the crowds! Here, at this joyous festival you meet None but the happy, whom your grief offends. Come! Let us quit the town with hasty...

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...

CHARLES. Myself Will march before you on the path of fame; Here, with my royal town of Rheims in view, I'll fight, and gallantry achieve the crown. Thy knight, my Agnes, bids th...

BERTRAND. Hark to the music! They approach already! What had we better do? Shall we mount up Upon the platform, or press through the crowd, That we may nothing lose of the proce...

CHARCOAL-BURNER. This is a fearful storm, the heavens seem As if they would vent themselves in streams of fire; So thick the darkness which usurps the day, That one might see th...

ISABEL (after a long pause). How was it? Did I dream? Where is she gone? How did she break these ponderous iron chains? A world could not have made me credit it, If I had not be...

DUNOIS. No longer I'll endure it. I renounce This recreant monarch who forsakes himself. My valiant heart doth bleed, and I could rain Hot tear-drops from mine eyes, that robber...

JOHANNA. Say, who art thou, Whom his bad genius sendeth in my way? Princely thy port, no Briton dost thou seem, For the Burgundian colors stripe thy shield, Before the which my...

JOHANNA (to the soldiers). Ye English, suffer not that I escape Alive out of your hands! Revenge yourselves! Unsheath your weapons, plunge them in my heart, And drag me lifeless...

DUNOIS. Alas! where is she? Evil I forebode? Come, let us haste to rescue her. I fear Her daring soul hath led her on too far; Alone she combats in the midst of foes, And withou...

Musicians, with flutes and hautboys, open the procession. Children follow, dressed in white, with branches in their hands; behind them two heralds. Then a procession of halberdi...

DUCHATEL (returning). Johanna d'Arc! uninjured from the town The king permits you to depart. The gates Stand open to you. Fear no injury,-- You are protected by the royal word....

DUNOIS. Thou art my wife; I have believed in thee From the first glance, and I am still unchanged. In thee I have more faith than in these signs, Than in the thunder's voice, wh...

CHARLES (seizing the hand of AGNES). My Agnes, be not sorrowful! Beyond the Loire we still shall find a France; We are departing to a happier land, Where laughs a milder, an unc...

Virgin, thou workest mightily in me! My feeble arm thou dost endue with strength, And steep'st my woman's heart in cruelty. In pity melts the soul and the hand trembles, As it d...

LOUISON. Till I have seen her, I can scarce believe That she, whom men the Maid of Orleans name, The mighty warrior, is indeed Johanna, Our sister whom we lost!