Act 1, Scene 6

The Same.

[Enter, on the walls, La Pucelle, Charles, Reignier, Alencon, and Soldiers.]
Joan la Pucelle
578 Advance our waving colours on the walls;
579 Rescued is Orleans from the English:
580 Thus Joan la Pucelle hath perform'd her word.
Charles, the Dauphin
581 Divinest creature, Astraea's daughter,
582 How shall I honour thee for this success?
583 Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens
584 That one day bloom'd and fruitful were the next.
585 France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess!
586 Recover'd is the town of Orleans.
587 More blessed hap did ne'er befall our state.
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
588 Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town?
589 Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires
590 And feast and banquet in the open streets,
591 To celebrate the joy that God hath given us.
Duke of Alencon
592 All France will be replete with mirth and joy,
593 When they shall hear how we have play'd the men.
Charles, the Dauphin
594 'Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;
595 For which I will divide my crown with her;
596 And all the priests and friars in my realm
597 Shall in procession sing her endless praise.
598 A statelier pyramis to her I 'll rear
599 Than Rhodope's of Memphis ever was;
600 In memory of her when she is dead,
601 Her ashes, in an urn more precious
602 Than the rich-jewel'd coffer of Darius,
603 Transported shall be at high festivals
604 Before the kings and queens of France.
605 No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,
606 But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint.
607 Come in, and let us banquet royally
608 After this golden day of victory.
[Flourish. Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 581classical allusion
“Divinest creature, Astraea's daughter”
Astraea was the goddess of justice in classical myth, last of the immortals to leave the earth when humanity became wicked; she rose to the heavens as the constellation Virgo. Charles calls Joan 'Astraea's daughter' to declare her a heaven-sent bringer of a new golden age for France — justice and divine order restored through her victory.
classical Astraea
TLN 583classical allusion
“Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens”
In antiquity, 'gardens of Adonis' were small pots of fast-sprouting, fast-withering herbs grown for the summer festival of Adonis. They stood for things that bloom beautifully but briefly. Charles means the opposite: Joan's promises bloomed one day and bore fruit the very next — she was even quicker to deliver than those notoriously hasty little plants.
TLN 598classical allusion
“statelier pyramis to her I 'll rear Than Rhodope's of Memphis ever was”
Rhodope was a famous Greek courtesan (a high-status escort) of ancient Egypt who, according to legend, was so wealthy that she built one of the pyramids of Memphis. Charles vows to raise a monument to Joan grander even than that legendary tomb — the highest ancient standard for a spectacular memorial.
TLN 601historical topical
“urn more precious Than the rich-jewel'd coffer of Darius”
Darius III was the last king of Persia before Alexander the Great conquered his empire (331 BCE). His treasury was legendary for its fabulous wealth: Alexander reportedly needed ten thousand mules and five thousand camels to carry away the plunder from Persepolis alone. Charles claims Joan's ashes will be carried in an urn worth more even than that supreme treasury — the classical byword for incomprehensible riches.
TLN 605historical topical
“No longer on Saint Denis will we cry, But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint”
Saint Denis (French: Saint Denys) was the patron saint of France, and 'Montjoie Saint Denis!' was the traditional French battle-cry, invoked like a prayer before the charge. Charles's vow to replace him with Joan as France's patron saint is the most extravagant compliment in the scene — and for a Protestant English audience watching a French soldier propose to swap a church-approved saint for a living peasant girl, it would register as both hubristic and blasphemous.
historical Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc)historical The Siege of Orleans