Act 1, Scene 2

France. Before Orleans

[Sound a Flourish. Enter Charles, Alencon, and Reignier, marching with Drum and Soldiers.]
Charles, the Dauphin
178 Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens
179 So in the earth, to this day is not known:
180 Late did he shine upon the English side;
181 Now we are victors; upon us he smiles.
182 What towns of any moment but we have?
183 At pleasure here we lie near Orleans;
184 Otherwhiles the famish'd English, like pale ghosts,
185 Faintly besiege us one hour in a month.
Duke of Alencon
186 They want their porridge and their fat bull beeves
187 Either they must be dieted like mules,
188 And have their provender tied to their mouths,
189 Or piteous they will look, like drowned mice.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
190 Let's raise the siege: why live we idly here?
191 Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear:
192 Remaineth none but mad-brain'd Salisbury;
193 And he may well in fretting spend his gall,
194 Nor men nor money hath he to make war.
Charles, the Dauphin
195 Sound, sound alarum! we will rush on them.
196 Now for the honour of the forlorn French!
197 Him I forgive my death that killeth me
198 When he sees me go back one foot or flee.
[Exeunt.]
[Here alarum; they are beaten back by the English, with great loss. Re-enter Charles, Alencon, and Reignier.]
Charles, the Dauphin
199 Who ever saw the like? what men have I!
200 Dogs! cowards! dastards! I would ne'er have fled,
201 But that they left me 'midst my enemies.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
202 Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
203 He fighteth as one weary of his life.
204 The other lords, like lions wanting food,
205 Do rush upon us as their hungry prey.
Duke of Alencon
206 Froissart, a countryman of ours, records,
207 England all Olivers and Rowlands bred
208 During the time Edward the Third did reign.
209 More truly now may this be verified;
210 For none but Samsons and Goliases
211 It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!
212 Lean raw-bon'd rascals! who would e'er suppose
213 They had such courage and audacity?
Charles, the Dauphin
214 Let's leave this town; for they are hare-brain'd slaves,
215 And hunger will enforce them to be more eager:
216 Of old I know them; rather with their teeth
217 The walls they'll tear down than forsake the siege.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
218 I think by some odd gimmors or device
219 Their arms are set like clocks, still to strike on;
220 Else ne'er could they hold out so as they do.
221 By my consent, we'll even let them alone.
Duke of Alencon
222 Be it so.
[Enter the Bastard of Orleans.]
Bastard of Orleans
223 Where's the Prince Dauphin? I have news for him.
Charles, the Dauphin
224 Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us.
Bastard of Orleans
225 Methinks your looks are sad, your cheer appall'd:
226 Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?
227 Be not dismay'd, for succour is at hand:
228 A holy maid hither with me I bring,
229 Which by a vision sent to her from heaven
230 Ordained is to raise this tedious siege,
231 And drive the English forth the bounds of France.
232 The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,
233 Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome:
234 What's past and what's to come she can descry.
235 Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,
236 For they are certain and unfallible.
Charles, the Dauphin
237 Go, call her in.
[Exit Bastard.]
Charles, the Dauphin
238 But first, to try her skill,
239 Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place;
240 Question her proudly; let thy looks be stern:
241 By this means shall we sound what skill she hath.
[Re-enter the Bastard of Orleans, with Joan La Pucelle.]
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
242 Fair maid, is 't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?
Joan la Pucelle
243 Reignier is 't thou that thinkest to beguile me?
244 Where is the Dauphin? Come, come from behind;
245 I know thee well, though never seen before.
246 Be not amazed, there's nothing hid from me.
247 In private will I talk with thee apart.
248 Stand back, you lords, and give us leave awhile.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
249 She takes upon her bravely at first dash.
Joan la Pucelle
250 Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter,
251 My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.
252 Heaven and our Lady gracious hath it pleased
253 To shine on my contemptible estate:
254 Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs
255 And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,
256 God's mother deigned to appear to me,
257 And in a vision full of majesty
258 Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
259 And free my country from calamity:
260 Her aid she promised and assured success:
261 In complete glory she reveal'd herself;
262 And, whereas I was black and swart before,
263 With those clear rays which she infused on me
264 That beauty am I bless'd with which you may see.
265 Ask me what question thou canst possible,
266 And I will answer unpremeditated:
267 My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st,
268 And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
269 Resolve on this, thou shalt be fortunate,
270 If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.
Charles, the Dauphin
271 Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high terms;
272 Only this proof I 'll of thy valour make,
273 In single combat thou shalt buckle with me,
274 And if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;
275 Otherwise I renounce all confidence.
Joan la Pucelle
276 I am prepared: here is my keen-edg'd sword,
277 Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side,
278 The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's church-yard,
279 Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth.
Charles, the Dauphin
280 Then come, o' God's name; I fear no woman.
Joan la Pucelle
281 And while I live, I 'll ne'er fly from a man.
282 Here they fight, and Joan La Pucelle overcomes.
Charles, the Dauphin
283 Stay, stay thy hands; thou art an Amazon,
284 And fightest with the sword of Deborah.
Joan la Pucelle
285 Christ's Mother helps me, else I were too weak.
Charles, the Dauphin
286 Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that must help me:
287 Impatiently I burn with thy desire;
288 My heart and hands thou hast at once subdued.
289 Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,
290 Let me thy servant and not sovereign be:
291 'Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus.
Joan la Pucelle
292 I must not yield to any rites of love,
293 For my profession's sacred from above:
294 When I have chased all thy foes from hence,
295 Then will I think upon a recompense.
Charles, the Dauphin
296 Meantime look gracious on thy prostrate thrall.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
297 My lord, methinks, is very long in talk.
Duke of Alencon
298 Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock;
299 Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
300 Shall we disturb him, since he keeps no mean?
Duke of Alencon
301 He may mean more than we poor men do know:
302 These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
303 My lord, where are you? what devise you on?
304 Shall we give over Orleans, or no?
Joan la Pucelle
305 Why, no, I say; distrustful recreants!
306 Fight till the last gasp; I will be your guard.
Charles, the Dauphin
307 What she says I'll confirm: we'll fight it out:
Joan la Pucelle
308 Assign'd am I to be the English scourge.
309 This night the siege assuredly I 'll raise:
310 Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days,
311 Since I have entered into these wars.
312 Glory is like a circle in the water,
313 Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself
314 Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.
315 With Henry's death the English circle ends;
316 Dispersed are the glories it included.
317 Now am I like that proud insulting ship
318 Which Caesar and his fortune bare at once.
Charles, the Dauphin
319 Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?
320 Thou with an eagle art inspired then.
321 Helen, the mother of great Constantine,
322 Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters, were like thee.
323 Bright star of Venus, fall'n down on the earth,
324 How may I reverently worship thee enough?
Duke of Alencon
325 Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
326 Woman, do what thou canst to save our honors;
327 Drive them from Orleans and be immortalized.
Charles, the Dauphin
328 Presently we 'll try: come, let's away about it:
329 No prophet will I trust, if she prove false.
[Exeunt.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 178classical allusion
“Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens”
Mars was the Roman god of war; 'his true moving' compares Mars's orbit in the sky (irregular to Elizabethan astrologers, who counted Mars a wandering planet) to the shifting fortunes of battle. Charles says that just as Mars's path through the heavens is unknown, so on earth the god now smiles on France rather than England.
TLN 184archaic vocab
“Otherwhiles the famish'd English, like pale ghosts”
'Otherwhiles' means 'at other times' or 'sometimes.' Charles is saying that sometimes the starving English barely manage a feeble assault for an hour, once a month, before giving up — their siege is a joke.
TLN 193archaic vocab
“he may well in fretting spend his gall”
'Gall' was the bile secreted by the liver, which Elizabethan physiology linked to anger and bitterness. To 'spend his gall' means to exhaust himself in rage. Reignier dismisses Salisbury as a man who can do nothing but fume, since he has neither soldiers nor money.
TLN 206historical topical
“Froissart, a countryman of ours, records, England all Olivers and Rowlands bred”
Jean Froissart (c. 1337-1405) was a French-speaking chronicler from Hainaut (now Belgium) who wrote the most famous account of the Hundred Years' War. His Chronicles praised the fighting quality of English soldiers. 'Olivers and Rowlands' are the great paired paladins of Charlemagne's legendary court — Roland and Oliver — bywords for matchless warriors. Alencon says the English have always bred such heroes, but the current ones are even more formidable than legend.
historical Edward III and his seven sonshistorical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 210biblical allusion
“none but Samsons and Goliases It sendeth forth to skirmish”
Samson was the Israelite judge of colossal physical strength who slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:15). Goliath was the Philistine giant slain by the young David with a sling (1 Samuel 17). Alencon says England sends out only fighters of impossible, giant strength — even its lean, starving troops fight like biblical titans.
TLN 218archaic vocab
“some odd gimmors or device Their arms are set like clocks”
'Gimmors' (also spelled 'gimmers' or 'gymmors') are interlocking mechanical parts — the internal gears or contrivances of a clock or other device. Reignier jokes that the English soldiers must have their arms wound up like clockwork, because they never stop striking.
TLN 233classical allusion
“Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome”
The Sibyls were ancient prophetesses scattered across the classical world; Roman tradition counted nine (or sometimes ten) of them. The most famous was the Cumaean Sibyl, who guided Aeneas through the underworld in Virgil's Aeneid. The Bastard is saying Joan's gift of prophecy surpasses all of Rome's greatest seers combined.
TLN 249archaic vocab
“She takes upon her bravely at first dash”
'Takes upon her' means conducts or asserts herself; 'bravely' means boldly or splendidly (not merely without fear, but with an impressive show); 'at first dash' means at the very first attempt, straight off. Reignier is grudgingly admiring: Joan has already seen through the disguise and seized command of the scene before the Dauphin has even spoken.
TLN 262historical topical
“whereas I was black and swart before, With those clear rays which she infused on me”
'Swart' means swarthy or dark-complexioned. Joan claims that before the Virgin Mary appeared to her, her face was darkened by years of outdoor labor tending sheep; the Virgin's divine rays transformed her into the beauty now standing before Charles. This echoes historical accounts of Joan's peasant origins and provides the play's first hint of the miraculous claim underlying her mission.
historical Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc)
TLN 277historical topical
“Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side, The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's church-yard”
The 'flower-de-luce' (fleur-de-lis) was the heraldic lily that served as the emblem of the French royal house; it appeared on the French king's coat of arms and, since Edward III's time, on the English royal arms as well (England's kings still claimed France). A sword decorated with this emblem on each side was a weapon marked for France's defense. Joan says she retrieved it from the churchyard at Touraine — a miraculous provenance placing her sword within a sacred site.
historical Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc)
TLN 283classical allusion
“thou art an Amazon, And fightest with the sword of Deborah”
The Amazons were a mythical nation of warrior women in Greek legend, famous for fighting as well as any man. Deborah was the only female judge of Israel (Judges 4-5), who led and inspired the Israelite army to destroy Sisera and the Canaanites — the Bible's supreme example of a woman warrior. Charles stacks both images on top of each other, meaning Joan has just beaten him as both a legendary warrior-woman and a divinely-commissioned female leader.
TLN 310cultural context
“Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days”
'Saint Martin's summer' was the Elizabethan term for a warm spell in late autumn — what Americans call an 'Indian summer' — around Saint Martin's Day (November 11). 'Halcyon days' meant a stretch of unnaturally calm weather: in classical myth, the halcyon bird (a kingfisher) was said to nest on the sea during a brief midwinter calm the gods provided. Joan is promising the French a last unexpected period of warmth and peace, after which the English occupation will be over.
TLN 317classical allusion
“proud insulting ship Which Caesar and his fortune bare at once”
Joan compares herself to the small boat that Julius Caesar once stepped aboard during a storm, reportedly telling the terrified boatman not to fear — for he carried Caesar and Caesar's fortune. The story, told by Plutarch and by Lucan, made 'Caesar and his fortune' a byword for a person so fated to greatness that luck itself sailed with them. Joan is saying she now carries France's destiny in the same way.
TLN 319historical topical
“Was Mahomet inspired with a dove? Thou with an eagle art inspired then”
A widespread Christian legend in medieval and early modern Europe held that the Prophet Muhammad (here 'Mahomet') had a tame dove that whispered in his ear, and that he taught his followers the dove was the Holy Spirit inspiring him. Charles is asking whether Joan's inspiration — marked by an eagle (the bird of Jove, the highest of birds) — is not therefore even greater than the Prophet's. He is flattering her by placing her above even the founder of the rival religion.
TLN 321historical topical
“Helen, the mother of great Constantine, Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters, were like thee”
Charles compares Joan to two famous holy women of the early Christian world. Helena (c. 250-330 CE) was the mother of the Emperor Constantine and is venerated as a saint for her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and her supposed discovery of the True Cross. Saint Philip's daughters were the four virgin daughters of Philip the Evangelist (Acts 21:9), described in the New Testament as prophetesses. Charles is saying Joan surpasses even the most venerated female saints and prophets of Christian history.