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Som. York lies; he might have sent, and had the

horse.

I owe him little duty, and less love;

And take foul scorn, to fawn on him by sending. Lucy. The fraud of England, not the force of France,

Hath now entrapp'd the noble-minded Talbot.

Never to England shall he bear his life;

But dies, betray'd to fortune by your strife.

Som. Come, go; I will despatch the horsemen straight:

Within six hours they will be at his aid.

Lucy. Too late comes rescue: he is ta'en or slain;

For fly he could not, if he would have fled;
And fly would Talbot never, though he might.
Som. If he be dead, brave Talbot, then adieu!
Lucy. His fame lives in the world, his shame in

you.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.

The English camp near Bourdeaux.

Enter TALBOT and JOHN his Son.

Tal. O young John Talbot! I did send for thee, To tutor thee in stratagems of war;

That Talbot's name might be in thee revived,
When sapless age, and weak unable limbs,
Should bring thy father to his drooping chair:
But,-O malignant and ill-boding stars!-

Now thou art come unto a feast of death,

1

A terrible and unavoided 1 danger :

Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse;
And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape
By sudden flight: come, dally not, begone.
John. Is my name Talbot? and am I your son?
And shall I fly? O, if you love my mother,
Dishonor not her honorable name,

To make a bastard and a slave of me.

The world will say 'He is not Talbot's blood,
That basely fled, when noble Talbot stood.'

Tal. Fly, to revenge my death, if I be slain.
John. He, that flies so, will ne'er return again.
Tal. If we both stay, we both are sure to die.
John. Then let me stay; and, father, do you

fly :

Your loss is great, so your regard2 should be;
My worth unknown, no loss is known in me.
Upon my death the French can little boast;
In yours they will; in you all hopes are lost.
Flight cannot stain the honor you have won;
But mine it will, that no exploit have done :
You fled for vantage, every one will swear;
But, if I bow, they'll say-it was for fear.
There is no hope that ever I will stay,
If, the first hour, I shrink, and run away.
Here, on my knee, I beg mortality,
Rather than life preserved with infamy.

Unavoidable.

2 Your care for your own safety.

Tal. Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one

tomb?

John. Ay, rather than I'll shame my mother's womb.

Tal. Upon my blessing, I command thee go.
John. To fight I will, but not to fly the foe.
Tal. Part of thy father may be saved in thee.
John. No part of him, but will be shame in me.
Tal. Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not

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John. You cannot witness for me, being slain.

If death be so apparent, then both fly.

Tal. And leave my followers here to fight and

die?

My age was never tainted with such shame.

John. And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?

No more can I be sever'd from your side,
Than can yourself yourself in twain divide:
Stay, go, do what you will, the like do I;

For live I will not, if my father die.

Tal. Then here I take my leave of thee, fair son,

Born to eclipse thy life this afternoon.

Come, side by side together live and die;

And soul with soul from France to heaven fly.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.

A field of battle.

Alarum. Excursions, wherein TALBOT'S hemmed about, and TALBOT rescues him.

SON is

Tal. Saint George and victory! fight, soldiers,

fight:

The regent hath with Talbot broke his word,

And left us to the rage of France his sword. Where is John Talbot?-pause, and take thy breath :

I gave thee life, and rescued thee from death.

John. O twice my father! twice am I thy son:
The life, thou gavest me first, was lost and done;
Till with thy warlike sword, despite of fate,
To my determined 1 time thou gavest new date.
Tal. When from the Dauphin's crest thy sword
struck fire,

It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire
Of bold-faced victory: then leaden age,
Quicken'd with youthful spleen and warlike rage,
Beat down Alençon, Orleans, Burgundy,
And from the pride of Gallia rescued thee.
The ireful bastard Orleans, that drew blood*
From thee, my boy, and had the maidenhood
Of thy first fight, I soon encountered;
And, interchanging blows, I quickly shed

1.Ended.

Some of his bastard blood; and, in disgrace,
Bespoke him thus:- Contaminated, base,
And misbegotten blood I spill of thine,

Mean and right poor, for that pure blood of mine, Which thou didst force from Talbot, my brave boy.'

Here, purposing the Bastard to destroy,

Came in strong rescue. Speak, thy father's care;
Art not thou weary, John? How dost thou fare?
Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,
Now thou art seal'd the son of chivalry?
Fly, to revenge my death, when I am dead:
The help of one stands me in little stead.
O, too much folly is it, well I wot,
To hazard all our lives in one small boat.
If I to-day die not with Frenchmen's rage,
To-morrow I shall die with mickle age:
By me they nothing gain, an if I stay;
'Tis but the shortening of my life one day.

In thee thy mother dies, our household's name,
My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's fame.
All these, and more, we hazard by thy stay;

All these are saved, if thou wilt fly away.

John. The sword of Orleans hath not made me

smart ;

These words of yours draw life-blood from my

heart.

On that advantage, bought with such a shame,
(To save a paltry life, and slay bright fame)
Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,
The coward horse, that bears me, fall and die;

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