The Maid of Orleans

SCENE III

The same. Three SENATORS.

CHARLES   Welcome, my trusty citizens of Orleans!   What tidings bring ye from my faithful town?   Doth she continue with her wonted zeal   Still bravely to withstand the leaguering foe?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;   Bare of defenders are the city walls,   For with rash valor forth our soldiers rush,   While few, alas! return to view their homes,   And famine's scourge impendeth o'er the town.   In this extremity the noble Count   Of Rochepierre, commander of the town,   Hath made a compact with the enemy,   According to old custom, to yield up,   On the twelfth day, the city to the foe,   Unless, meanwhile, before the town appear   A host of magnitude to raise the siege.[DUNOIS manifests the strongest indignation.CHARLES   The interval is brief.SENATOR               We hither come,   Attended by a hostile retinue,   To implore thee, sire, to pity thy poor town,   And to send succor ere the appointed day,   When, if still unrelieved, she must surrender.DUNOIS   And could Saintrailles consent to give his voice   To such a shameful compact?SENATOR                  Never, sir!   Long as the hero lived, none dared to breathe   A single word of treaty or surrender.DUNOIS   He then is dead?SENATOR            The noble hero fell,   His monarch's cause defending on our walls.CHARLES   What! Saintrailles dead! Oh, in that single man   A host is foundered![A Knight enters and speaks apart with DUNOIS, who starts with surprise.DUNOIS              That too!CHARLES                    Well? What is it?DUNOIS   Count Douglass sendeth here. The Scottish troops   Revolt, and threaten to retire at once.   Unless their full arrears are paid to-day.CHARLES   Duchatel!DUCHATEL (shrugs his shoulders)        Sire! I know not what to counsel.CHARLES   Pledge, promise all, even unto half my realm.DUCHATEL   'Tis vain! They have been fed with hope too often.CHARLES   They are the finest troops of all my hosts!   They must not now, not now abandon me!SENATOR (throwing himself at the KING'S feet)   Oh, king, assist us! Think of our distress!CHARLES (in despair)   How! Can I summon armies from the earth?   Or grow a cornfield on my open palm?   Rend me in pieces! Pluck my bleeding heart   Forth from my breast, and coin it 'stead of gold!   I've blood for you, but neither gold nor troops.[He sees SOREL approach, and hastens towards her with outstretched arms.

SCENE IV

The same. AGNES SOREL, a casket in her hand.

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.SOREL   My king, beloved![looking round with an anxious, inquiring gaze.Dunois! Say, is it true,   Duchatel?DUCHATEL         'Tis, alas!SOREL               So great the need?   No treasure left? The soldiers will disband?DUCHATEL   Alas! It is too true!SOREL (giving him the casket)               Here-here is gold,   Here too are jewels! Melt my silver down!   Sell, pledge my castles – on my fair domains   In Provence – treasure raise, turn all to gold,   Appease the troops! No time to be lost![She urges him to depart.CHARLES   Well now, Dunois! Duchatel! Do ye still   Account me poor, when I possess the crown   Of womankind? She's nobly born as I;   The royal blood of Valois not more pure;   The most exalted throne she would adorn —   Yet she rejects it with disdain, and claims   No other title than to be my love.   No gift more costly will she e'er receive   Than early flower in winter, or rare fruit!   No sacrifice on my part she permits,   Yet sacrificeth all she had to me!   With generous spirit she doth venture all   Her wealth and fortune in my sinking bark.DUNOIS   Ay, she is mad indeed, my king, as thou;   She throws her all into a burning house,   And draweth water in the leaky vessel   Of the Danaides. Thee she will not save,   And in thy ruin but involve herself.SOREL   Believe him not! Full many a time he hath   Perilled his life for thee, and now, forsooth,   Chafeth because I risk my worthless gold!   How? Have I freely sacrificed to thee   What is esteemed far more than gold and pearls,   And shall I now hold back the gifts of fortune?   Oh, come! Let my example challenge thee   To noble self-denial! Let's at once   Cast off the needless ornaments of life!   Thy courtiers metamorphose into soldiers;   Thy gold transmute to iron; all thou hast,   With resolute daring, venture for thy crown!   Peril and want we will participate!   Let us bestride the war-horse, and expose   Our tender person to the fiery glow   Of the hot sun, take for our canopy   The clouds above, and make the stones our pillow.   The rudest warrior, when he sees his king   Bear hardship and privation like the meanest   Will patiently endure his own hard lot!CHARLES (laughing)   Ay! now is realized an ancient word   Of prophesy, once uttered by a nun   Of Clairmont, in prophetic mood, who said,   That through a woman's aid I o'er my foes   Should triumph, and achieve my father's crown.   Far off I sought her in the English camp;   I strove to reconcile a mother's heart;   Here stands the heroine – my guide to Rheims!   My Agnes! I shall triumph through thy love!SOREL   Thou'lt triumph through the valiant swords of friends.CHARLES   And from my foes' dissensions much I hope   For sure intelligence hath reached mine ear,   That 'twixt these English lords and Burgundy   Things do not stand precisely as they did;   Hence to the duke I have despatched La Hire,   To try if he can lead my angry vassal   Back to his ancient loyalty and faith:   Each moment now I look for his return.DUCHATEL (at the window)   A knight e'en now dismounteth in the court.CHARLES   A welcome messenger! We soon shall learn   Whether we're doomed to conquer or to yield.

SCENE V

The same. LA HIRE.

CHARLES (meeting him)   Hope bringest thou, or not? Be brief, La Hire,   Out with thy tidings! What must we expect?LA HIRE   Expect naught, sire, save from thine own good sword.CHARLES   The haughty duke will not be reconciled!   Speak! How did he receive my embassy?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.CHARLES   This base condition we reject with scorn!LA HIRE   Then be the league dissolved ere it commence!CHARLES   Hast thou thereon, as I commanded thee,   Challenged the duke to meet him in fair fight   On Montereau's bridge, whereon his father fell?LA HIRE   Before him on the ground I flung thy glove,   And said: "Thou wouldst forget thy majesty,   And like a knight do battle for thy realm."   He scornfully rejoined "He needed not   To fight for that which he possessed already,   But if thou wert so eager for the fray,   Before the walls of Orleans thou wouldst find him,   Whither he purposed going on the morrow;"   Thereon he laughing turned his back upon me.CHARLES   Say, did not justice raise her sacred voice,   Within the precincts of my parliament?LA HIRE   The rage of party, sire, hath silenced her.   An edict of the parliament declares   Thee and thy race excluded from the throne.DUNOIS   These upstart burghers' haughty insolence!CHARLES   Hast thou attempted with my mother aught?LA HIRE   With her?CHARLES         Ay! How did she demean herself?LA HIRE (after a few moments' reflection)   I chanced to step within St. Denis' walls   Precisely at the royal coronation.   The crowds were dressed as for a festival;   Triumphal arches rose in every street   Through which the English monarch was to pass.   The way was strewed with flowers, and with huzzas,   As France some brilliant conquest had achieved,   The people thronged around the royal car.SOREL   They could huzza – huzza, while trampling thus   Upon a gracious sovereign's loving heart!LA HIRE   I saw young Harry Lancaster – the boy —   On good St. Lewis' regal chair enthroned;   On either side his haughty uncles stood,   Bedford and Gloucester, and before him kneeled,   To render homage for his lands, Duke Philip.CHARLES   Oh, peer dishonored! Oh, unworthy cousin!LA HIRE   The child was timid, and his footing lost   As up the steps he mounted towards the throne.   An evil omen! murmured forth the crowd,   And scornful laughter burst on every side.   Then forward stepped Queen Isabel – thy mother,   And – but it angers me to utter it!CHARLES                     Say on.LA HIRE   Within her arms she clasped the boy,   And herself placed him on thy father's throne.CHARLES   Oh, mother! mother!LA HIRE              E'en the murderous bands   Of the Burgundians, at this spectacle,   Evinced some tokens of indignant shame.   The queen perceived it, and addressed the crowds,   Exclaiming with loud voice: "Be grateful, Frenchmen,   That I engraft upon a sickly stock   A healthy scion, and redeem you from   The misbegotten son of a mad sire!"[The KING hides his face; AGNES hastens towards him and clasps him in her arms; all the bystanders express aversion and horror.DUNOIS   She-wolf of France! Rage-breathing Megara!CHARLES (after a pause, to the SENATORS)   Yourselves have heard the posture of affairs.   Delay no longer, back return to Orleans,   And bear this message to my faithful town;   I do absolve my subjects from their oath,   Their own best interests let them now consult,   And yield them to the Duke of Burgundy;   'Yclept the Good, he need must prove humane.DUNOIS   What say'st thou, sire? Thou wilt abandon Orleans!SENATOR (kneels down)   My king! Abandon not thy faithful town!   Consign her not to England's harsh control.   She is a precious jewel in the crown,   And none hath more inviolate faith maintained   Towards the kings, thy royal ancestors.DUNOIS   Have we been routed? Is it lawful, sire,   To leave the English masters of the field,   Without a single stroke to save the town?   And thinkest thou, with careless breath, forsooth,   Ere blood hath flowed, rashly to give away   The fairest city from the heart of France?CHARLES   Blood hath been poured forth freely, and in vain   The hand of heaven is visibly against me;   In every battle is my host o'erthrown,   I am rejected of my parliament,   My capital, my people, hail me foe,   Those of my blood, – my nearest relatives, —   Forsake me and betray – and my own mother   Doth nurture at her breast the hostile brood.   Beyond the Loire we will retire, and yield   To the o'ermastering hand of destiny   Which sideth with the English.SOREL                   God forbid   That we in weak despair should quit this realm!   This utterance came not from thy heart, my king,   Thy noble heart, which hath been sorely riven   By the fell deed of thy unnatural mother,   Thou'lt be thyself again, right valiantly   Thou'lt battle with thine adverse destiny,   Which doth oppose thee with relentless ire.CHARLES (lost in gloomy thought)   Is it not true? A dark and ominous doom   Impendeth o'er the heaven-abandoned house   Of Valois – there preside the avenging powers,   To whom a mother's crime unbarred the way.   For thirty years my sire in madness raved;   Already have three elder brothers been   Mowed down by death; 'tis the decree of heaven,   The house of the Sixth Charles is doomed to fall.SOREL   In thee 'twill rise with renovated life!   Oh, in thyself have faith! – believe me, king,   Not vainly hath a gracious destiny   Redeemed thee from the ruin of thy house,   And by thy brethren's death exalted thee,   The youngest born, to an unlooked-for throne   Heaven in thy gentle spirit hath prepared   The leech to remedy the thousand ills   By party rage inflicted on the land.   The flames of civil discord thou wilt quench,   And my heart tells me thou'lt establish peace,   And found anew the monarchy of France.CHARLES   Not I! The rude and storm-vexed times require   A pilot formed by nature to command.   A peaceful nation I could render happy   A wild, rebellious people not subdue.   I never with the sword could open hearts   Against me closed in hatred's cold reserve.SOREL   The people's eye is dimmed, an error blinds them,   But this delusion will not long endure;   The day is not far distant when the love   Deep rooted in the bosom of the French,   Towards their native monarch, will revive,   Together with the ancient jealousy,   Which forms a barrier 'twixt the hostile nations.   The haughty foe precipitates his doom.   Hence, with rash haste abandon not the field,   With dauntless front contest each foot of ground,   As thine own heart defend the town of Orleans!   Let every boat be sunk beneath the wave,   Each bridge be burned, sooner than carry thee   Across the Loire, the boundary of thy realm,   The Stygian flood, o'er which there's no return.CHARLES   What could be done I have done. I have offered,   In single fight, to combat for the crown.   I was refused. In vain my people bleed,   In vain my towns are levelled with the dust.   Shall I, like that unnatural mother, see   My child in pieces severed with the sword?   No; I forego my claim, that it may live.DUNOIS   How, sire! Is this fit language for a king?   Is a crown thus renounced? Thy meanest subject,   For his opinion's sake, his hate and love,   Sets property and life upon a cast;   When civil war hangs out her bloody flag,   Each private end is drowned in party zeal.   The husbandman forsakes his plough, the wife   Neglects her distaff; children, and old men,   Don the rude garb of war; the citizen   Consigns his town to the devouring flames,   The peasant burns the produce of his fields;   And all to injure or advantage thee,   And to achieve the purpose of his heart.   Men show no mercy, and they wish for none,   When they at honor's call maintain the fight,   Or for their idols or their gods contend.   A truce to such effeminate pity, then,   Which is not suited to a monarch's breast.   Thou didst not heedlessly provoke the war;   As it commenced, so let it spend its fury.   It is the law of destiny that nations   Should for their monarchs immolate themselves.   We Frenchmen recognize this sacred law,   Nor would annul it. Base, indeed, the nation   That for its honor ventures not its all.CHARLES (to the SENATORS)   You've heard my last resolve; expect no other.   May God protect you! I can do no more.DUNOIS   As thou dost turn thy back upon thy realm,   So may the God of battle aye avert   His visage from thee. Thou forsak'st thyself,   So I forsake thee. Not the power combined   Of England and rebellious Burgundy,   Thy own mean spirit hurls thee from the throne.   Born heroes ever were the kings of France;   Thou wert a craven, even from thy birth.[To the SENATORS.   The king abandons you. But I will throw   Myself into your town – my father's town —   And 'neath its ruins find a soldier's grave.[He is about to depart. AGNES SOREL detains him.SOREL (to the KING)   Oh, let him not depart in anger from thee!   Harsh words his lips have uttered, but his heart   Is true as gold. 'Tis he, himself, my king,   Who loves thee, and hath often bled for thee.   Dunois, confess, the heat of noble wrath   Made thee forget thyself; and oh, do thou   Forgive a faithful friend's o'erhasty speech!   Come, let me quickly reconcile your hearts,   Ere anger bursteth forth in quenchless flame.[DUNOIS looks fixedly at the KING, and appears to await an answer.CHARLES   Our way lies over the Loire. Duchatel,   See all our equipage embarked.DUNOIS (quickly to SOREL)                    Farewell.[He turns quickly round, and goes out. The SENATORS follow.SOREL (wringing her hands in despair)   Oh, if he goes, we are forsaken quite!   Follow, La Hire! Oh, seek to soften him![LA HIRE goes out.

SCENE VI

CHARLES, SOREL, DUCHATEL.

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 vassals.   To be dependent on their will and pleasure   Is, to a noble heart, more bitter far   Than to submit to fate.[To DUCHATEL, who still lingers.                Duchatel, go,   And do what I commanded.DUCHATEL (throws himself at the KING'S feet)                 Oh, my king!CHARLES   No more! Thou'st heard my absolute resolve!DUCHATEL   Sire, with the Duke of Burgundy make peace!   'Tis the sole outlet from destruction left!CHARLES   Thou giv'st this counsel, and thy blood alone   Can ratify this peace.DUCHATEL               Here is my head.   I oft have risked it for thee in the fight,   And with a joyful spirit I, for thee,   Would lay it down upon the block of death.   Conciliate the duke! Deliver me   To the full measure of his wrath, and let   My flowing blood appease the ancient hate.CHARLES (looks at him for some time in silence, and with deep emotion)   Can it be true? Am I, then, sunk so low,   That even friends, who read my inmost heart,   Point out for my escape the path of shame?   Yes, now I recognize my abject fall.   My honor is no more confided in.DUCHATEL   Reflect —CHARLES         Be silent, and incense me not!   Had I ten realms, on which to turn my back,   With my friend's life I would not purchase them.   Do what I have commanded. Hence, and see   My equipage embarked.DUCHATEL               'Twill speedily   Be done.[He stands up and retires. AGNES SOREL weeps passionately.

SCENE VII

The royal palace at Chinon.

CHARLES, AGNES SOREL.

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 unclouded sky,   And gales more genial blow; we there shall meet   More gentle manners; song abideth there,   And love and life in richer beauty bloom.SOREL   Oh, must I contemplate this day of woe!   The king must roam in banishment! the son   Depart, an exile from his father's house,   And turn his back upon his childhood's home!   Oh, pleasant, happy land that we forsake,   Ne'er shall we tread thee joyously again.

SCENE VIII

LA HIRE returns, CHARLES, SOREL.

SOREL   You come alone? You do not bring him back?[Observing him more closely.   La Hire! What news? What does that look announce?   Some new calamity?LA HIRE             Calamity   Hath spent itself; sunshine is now returned.SOREL   What is it? I implore you.LA HIRE (to the KING)                  Summon back   The delegates from Orleans.CHARLES                  Why? What is it?LA HIRE   Summon them back! Thy fortune is reversed.   A battle has been fought, and thou hast conquered.SOREL   Conquered! Oh, heavenly music of that word!CHARLES   La Hire! A fabulous report deceives thee;   Conquered! In conquest I believe no more.LA HIRE   Still greater wonders thou wilt soon believe.   Here cometh the archbishop. To thine arms   He leadeth back Dunois.SOREL                O beauteous flower   Of victory, which doth the heavenly fruits   Of peace and reconcilement bear at once!

SCENE IX

The same, ARCHBISHOP of RHEIMS, DUNOIS, DUCHATEL, with RAOUL, a Knight in armor.

ARCHBISHOP (leading DUNOIS to the KING, and joining their hands).

Princes, embrace! Let rage and discord cease, Since Heaven itself hath for our cause declared.

[DUNOIS embraces the KING.CHARLES   Relieve my wonder and perplexity.   What may this solemn earnestness portend?   Whence this unlooked-for change of fortune?ARCHBISHOP (leads the KNIGHT forward, and presents him to the KING)   Speak!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 Vermanton, we wound our downward way   Into the valley watered by the Yonne.   There, in the plain before us, lay the foe,   And when we turned, arms glittered in our rear.   We saw ourselves surrounded by two hosts,   And could not hope for conquest or for flight.   Then sank the bravest heart, and in despair   We all prepared to lay our weapons down.   The leaders with each other anxiously   Sought counsel and found none; when to our eyes   A spectacle of wonder showed itself.   For suddenly from forth the thickets' depths   A maiden, on her head a polished helm,   Like a war-goddess, issued; terrible   Yet lovely was her aspect, and her hair   In dusky ringlets round her shoulders fell.   A heavenly radiance shone around the height;   When she upraised her voice and thus addressed us:   "Why be dismayed, brave Frenchmen? On the foe!   Were they more numerous than the ocean sands,   God and the holy maiden lead you on!"   Then quickly from the standard-bearer's hand   She snatched the banner, and before our troop   With valiant bearing strode the wondrous maid.   Silent with awe, scarce knowing what we did,   The banner and the maiden we pursue,   And fired with ardor, rush upon the foe,   Who, much amazed, stand motionless and view   The miracle with fixed and wondering gaze.   Then, as if seized by terror sent from God,   They suddenly betake themselves to flight,   And casting arms and armor to the ground,   Disperse in wild disorder o'er the field.   No leader's call, no signal now avails;   Senseless from terror, without looking back,   Horses and men plunge headlong in the stream,   Where they without resistance are despatched.   It was a slaughter rather than a fight!   Two thousand of the foe bestrewed the field,   Not reckoning numbers swallowed by the flood,   While of our company not one was slain.CHARLES   'Tis strange, by heaven! most wonderful and strange!SOREL   A maiden worked this miracle, you say?   Whence did she come? Who is she?RAOUL                     Who she is   She will reveal to no one but the king!   She calls herself a seer and prophetess   Ordained by God, and promises to raise   The siege of Orleans ere the moon shall change.   The people credit her, and thirst for war.   The host she follows – she'll be here anon.[The ringing of bells is heard, together with the clang of arms.   Hark to the din! The pealing of the bells!   'Tis she! The people greet God's messenger.CHARLES (to DUCHATEL)   Conduct her thither.[To the ARCHBISHOP.              What should I believe?   A maiden brings me conquest even now,   When naught can save me but a hand divine!   This is not in the common course of things.   And dare I here believe a miracle?MANY VOICES (behind the scene)   Hail to the maiden! – the deliverer!CHARLES   She comes! Dunois, now occupy my place!   We will make trial of this wondrous maid.   Is she indeed inspired and sent by God   She will be able to discern the king.[DUNOIS seats himself; the KING stands at his right hand, AGNES SOREL near him; the ARCHBISHOP and the others opposite; so that the intermediate space remains vacant.

SCENE X

The same. JOHANNA, accompanied by the councillors and many knights, who occupy the background of the scene; she advances with noble bearing, and slowly surveys the company.

DUNOIS (after a long and solemn pause)   Art thou the wondrous maiden —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 is sent.[With a firm step she approaches the KING, bows one knee before him, and, rising immediately, steps back. All present express their astonishment, DUNOIS forsakes his seat, which is occupied by the KING.CHARLES   Maiden, thou ne'er hast seen my face before.   Whence hast thou then this knowledge?JOHANNA                       Thee I saw   When none beside, save God in heaven, beheld thee.[She approaches the KING, and speaks mysteriously.   Bethink thee, Dauphin, in the bygone night,   When all around lay buried in deep sleep,   Thou from thy couch didst rise and offer up   An earnest prayer to God. Let these retire   And I will name the subject of thy prayer.CHARLES   What! to Heaven confided need not be   From men concealed. Disclose to me my prayer,   And I shall doubt no more that God inspires thee.JOHANNA   Three prayers thou offeredst, Dauphin; listen now   Whether I name them to thee! Thou didst pray   That if there were appended to this crown   Unjust possession, or if heavy guilt,   Not yet atoned for, from thy father's times,   Occasioned this most lamentable war,   God would accept thee as a sacrifice,   Have mercy on thy people, and pour forth   Upon thy head the chalice of his wrath.CHARLES (steps back with awe)   Who art thou, mighty one? Whence comest thou?[All express their astonishment.JOHANNA   To God thou offeredst this second prayer:   That if it were his will and high decree   To take away the sceptre from thy race,   And from thee to withdraw whate'er thy sires,   The monarchs of this kingdom, once possessed,   He in his mercy would preserve to thee   Three priceless treasures – a contented heart,   Thy friend's affection, and thine Agnes' love.[The KING conceals his face: the spectators express their astonishment. After a pause.   Thy third petition shall I name to thee?CHARLES   Enough; I credit thee! This doth surpass   Mere human knowledge: thou art sent by God!ARCHBISHOP   Who art thou, wonderful and holy maid?   What favored region bore thee? What blest pair,   Beloved of Heaven, may claim thee as their child?JOHANNA   Most reverend father, I am named Johanna,   I am a shepherd's lowly daughter, born   In Dom Remi, a village of my king.   Included in the diocese of Toul,   And from a child I kept my father's sheep.   And much and frequently I heard them tell   Of the strange islanders, who o'er the sea   Had come to make us slaves, and on us force   A foreign lord, who loveth not the people;   How the great city, Paris, they had seized,   And had usurped dominion o'er the realm.   Then earnestly God's Mother I implored   To save us from the shame of foreign chains,   And to preserve to us our lawful king.   Not distant from my native village stands   An ancient image of the Virgin blest,   To which the pious pilgrims oft repaired;   Hard by a holy oak, of blessed power,   Standeth, far-famed through wonders manifold.   Beneath the oak's broad shade I loved to sit   Tending my flock – my heart still drew me there.   And if by chance among the desert hills   A lambkin strayed, 'twas shown me in a dream,   When in the shadow of this oak I slept.   And once, when through the night beneath this tree   In pious adoration I had sat,   Resisting sleep, the Holy One appeared,   Bearing a sword and banner, otherwise   Clad like a shepherdess, and thus she spake:   "'Tis I; arise, Johanna! leave thy flock,   The Lord appoints thee to another task!   Receive this banner! Gird thee with this sword!   Therewith exterminate my people's foes;   Conduct to Rheims thy royal master's son,   And crown him with the kingly diadem!"   And I made answer: "How may I presume   To undertake such deeds, a tender maid,   Unpractised in the dreadful art of war!"   And she replied: "A maiden pure and chaste   Achieves whate'er on earth is glorious   If she to earthly love ne'er yields her heart.   Look upon me! a virgin, like thyself;   I to the Christ, the Lord divine, gave birth,   And am myself divine!" Mine eyelids then   She touched, and when I upward turned my amaze,   Heaven's wide expanse was filled with angel-boys,   Who bore white lilies in their hands, while tones   Of sweetest music floated through the air.   And thus on three successive nights appeared   The Holy One, and cried, – "Arise, Johanna!   The Lord appoints thee to another task!"   And when the third night she revealed herself,   Wrathful she seemed, and chiding spake these words:   "Obedience, woman's duty here on earth;   Severe endurance is her heavy doom;   She must be purified through discipline;   Who serveth here, is glorified above!"   While thus she spake, she let her shepherd garb   Fail from her, and as Queen of Heaven stood forth   Enshrined in radiant light, while golden clouds   Upbore her slowly to the realms of bliss.[All are moved; AGNES SOREL weeping, hides her face on the bosom of the KING.ARCHBISHOP (after a long pause)   Before divine credentials such as these   Each doubt of earthly prudence must subside,   Her deeds attest the truth of what she speaks,   For God alone such wonders can achieve.DUNOIS   I credit not her wonders, but her eyes   Which beam with innocence and purity.CHARLES   Am I, a sinner, worthy of such favor?   Infallible, All-searching eye, thou seest   Mine inmost heart, my deep humility!JOHANNA   Humility shines brightly in the skies;   Thou art abased, hence God exalteth thee.CHARLES   Shall I indeed withstand mine enemies?JOHANNA   France I will lay submissive at thy feet!CHARLES   And Orleans, say'st thou, will not be surrendered?JOHANNA   The Loire shall sooner roll its waters back.CHARLES   Shall I in triumph enter into Rheims?JOHANNA   I through ten thousand foes will lead you there.[The knights make a noise with their lances and shields, and evince signs of courage.DUNOIS   Appoint the maiden to command the host!   We follow blindly whereso'er she leads!   The Holy One's prophetic eye shall guide,   And this brave sword from danger shall protect her!LA HIRE   A universe in arms we will not fear,   If she, the mighty one, precede our troops.   The God of battle walketh by her side;   Let her conduct us on to victory![The knights clang their arms and step forward.CHARLES   Yes, holy maiden, do thou lead mine host;   My chiefs and warriors shall submit to thee.   This sword of matchless temper, proved in war,   Sent back in anger by the Constable,   Hath found a hand more worthy. Prophetess,   Do thou receive it, and henceforward be —JOHANNA   No, noble Dauphin! conquest to my liege   Is not accorded through this instrument   Of earthly might. I know another sword   Wherewith I am to conquer, which to thee,   I, as the Spirit taught, will indicate;   Let it be hither brought.CHARLES                 Name it, Johanna.JOHANNA   Send to the ancient town of Fierbois;   There in Saint Catherine's churchyard is a vault   Where lie in heaps the spoils of bygone war.   Among them is the sword which I must use.   It by three golden lilies may be known,   Upon the blade impressed. Let it be brought   For thou, my liege, shalt conquer through this sword.CHARLES   Perform what she commands.JOHANNA                 And a white banner,   Edged with a purple border, let me bear.   Upon this banner let the Queen of Heaven   Be pictured with the beauteous Jesus child   Floating in glory o'er this earthly ball.   For so the Holy Mother showed it me.CHARLES   So be it as thou sayest.JOHANNA (to the ARCHBISHOP)                Reverend bishop;   Lay on my head thy consecrated hands!   Pronounce a blessing, Father, on thy child![She kneels down.ARCHBISHOP   Not blessings to receive, but to dispense   Art thou appointed. Go, with power divine!   But we are sinners all and most unworthy.[She rises: a PAGE enters.PAGE   A herald from the English generals.JOHANNA   Let him appear, for he is sent by God![The KING motions to the PAGE, who retires.