See! they forfake me.

Now the time is come,

That France muft vail her lofty-plumed creft,
And let her head fall into England's lap.

My ancient incantations are too weak,

And hell too ftrong for me to buckle with:---
Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the duft. [Exit.

Alarums. Enter French and English, fighting. La
PUCELLE and YORK fight hand to hand.
CELLE is taken. The French fly.

LA Pu

YORK. Damfel of France, I think, I have you faft:
Unchain your fpirits now with spelling charms,
And try if they can gain your liberty.-
A goodly prize, fit for the devil's grace!
See, how the ugly witch doth bend her brows.
As if, with Circe, fhe would change my shape.
Puc. Chang'd to a worser shape thou canst not be.
YORK. O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man;
No fhape but his can please your dainty eye.
Puc. A plaguing mifchief light on Charles, and
thee!

And may ye both be fuddenly furpriz'd
By bloody hands, in fleeping on your beds!
YORK. Fell, banning hag! 5 enchantress, hold thy
tongue.

3 vail her lofty-plumed creft,] i. e. lower it. Merchant of Venice:

"Vailing her high top lower than her ribs."

See Vol. VII. p. 398, n. 9. STEEVENS.

So, in The

As if, with Circe, &c.] So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"I think, you all have drank of Circe's cup." STEEVENS.

Fell, banning hag!] To ban is to curfe. So, in The Jew of Malta, 1633:

"I ban their fouls to everlafting pains." STEEVEND

Puc. I pr'ythee, give me leave to curfe a while. YORK. Curfe, mifcreant, when thou comeft to the flake.

[Exeunt.

Alarums. Enter SUFFOLK, leading in lady MARGAret. SUF. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prifoner. [Gazes on her.

O faireft beauty, do not fear, nor fly;

For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,
And lay them gently on thy tender fide.

I kiss these fingers [Kiffing her hand.] for eternal

Who art thou? fay, that I may honour thee.

MAR. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king, The king of Naples, whofoe'er thou art.

SUF. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd. Be not offended, nature's miracle,

Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me:

I kifs thefe fingers for eternal peace: ]

lines are thus arranged and pointed:

In the old copy these

For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, "I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,

"And lay them gently on thy tender fide."

by which Suffolk is made to kifs his own fingers, a fymbol of pease of which there is, I believe, no example. The tranfpofition was made, I think, rightly, by Mr. Capell. In the old edition, as here, there is only a comma after "hands," which feems to countenance the regulation now made. To obtain fomething like fense, the modern editors were obliged to put a full point at the end of that line.

In confirmation of the tranfpofition here made, let it be remem. bered that two lines are in like manner misplaced in Troilus and Crefida, Ad I. fol. 1623:

"Or like a ftar dis-orb'd; nay, if we talk of reason,
"And fly like a chidden Mercury from Jove."

Again, in King Richard III. A& IV. fc. iv:

"That reigns in galled eyes of weeping fouls,

"That excellent grand tyrant of the earth.", MALONE.

So doth the fwan her downy cygnets fave,
Keeping them prifoners underneath her wings.4
Yet, if this fervile usage once offend,
Go, and be free again, as Suffolk's friend.

[She turns away as going.
Q, stay!—I have no power to let her pass;
My hand would free her, but my heart fay
heart fays-
fays—no. *
As plays the fun upon the glaffy ftreams,
Twinkling another counterfeited beam,
So feems this gorgeous beauty to my eyes.
Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not fpeak:
I'll call for pen and ink, and write my
Fie, De la Poole! difable not thyself;"
Haft not a tongue? is fhe not here thy prifoner?*
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's fight?

mind:

her wings.] Old copy-his. This manifeft error I only mention, because it supports a note in Vol. VIII. p. 335, n. 8. and juftifies the change there made. Her was formerly fpelt hir; hence it was often confounded with his. MALONE.

5 My hand would free her, but my heart fays-no.] Thus, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

เ

my heart accords thereto,

And yet a thousand times it answers-no." STEEVENS.

6 As plays the fun upon the glassy ftreams, &c.] This comparison, made between things which feem fufficiently unlike, is intended to exprefs the softness and delicacy of Lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle; which was bright, but gave no pain by its luftre. JOHNSON.

Thus, Taffo:

7

Qual raggio in onda, le fcintilla unrifo

"Negli umidi occhi tremulo -." HENLEY.

difable not thyself;] Do not represent thyself so weak. To difable the judgement of another was, in that age, the fame as to deftroy its credit or authority. JOHNSON.

So, in As you like it, A& V : " If again, it was not well cut, he difabled my judgement." STEEVENS.

8

Haft not a tongue? is the not here thy prifoner?] The wordsthy prifoner, which are wanting in the first folio, are found in the fecond. STEEVENS.

L S

Ay; beauty's princely majefty is fuch,

Confounds the tongue, and makes the fenfes rough." MAR. Say, earl of Suffolk,if thy name be fo.What ransom muft I pay before I pass?

For, I perceive, I am thy prisoner.

SUF. How canft thou tell, fhe will deny thy fuit, Before thou make a trial of her love? [Afide. MAR. Why fpeak'ft thou not? what ransom must

I pay?

8

SUF. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: She is a woman; therefore to be won." [Afide. MAR. Wilt thou accept of ranfom, yea, or no? SUF. Fond man! remember, that thou haft a wife;

Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? [Afide. MAR. I were beft to leave him, for he will not

hear.

SUF. There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling card.9

MAR. He talks at random; fure, the man is mad. SUF. And yet a dispensation may be had.

MAR. And yet I would that you would answer me. SUF. I'll win this lady Margaret. For whom? Why, for my king: Tufh! that's a wooden thing.*

7 and makes the fenses rough, ] The meaning of this word is not very obvious. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads-crouch.

MALONE.

8 She is a woman; therefore to be won. ] This feems to be a proverbial line, and occurs in Greene's Planetomachia, 1585:

2

STEEVENS.

a cooling card.] So, in Marius and Sylla, 1594:
“I'll have a prefent cooling card for you." STEEVENS.

a wooden thing.] Is an aukward business, an undertaking not likely to fucceed.

MAR. He talks of wood: It is fome carpenter.

3

SUF: Yet fo my fancy may be fatisfy'd,
And peace established between thefe realms.
But there remains a fcruple in that too:
For though her father be the king of Naples,
Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,
And our nobility will fcorn the match.

[Afide.
MAR. Hear ye, captain? Are you not at leisure?
SUF. It fhall be fo, difdain they ne'er fo much:
Henry is youthful, and will quickly yield.-
Madam, I have a fecret to reveal.

MAR. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a

knight,

And will not any way difhonour me.

[Afide.

SUF. Lady, vouchsafe to liften what I fay.
MAR. Perhaps, I fhall be refcu'd by the French;
And then I need not crave his courtesy. [Afide.

SUF. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause—
MAR. Tufh! women have been captivate ere now.
[Afide.

SUF. Lady, wherefore talk you fo?

MAR. I cry you mercy, 'this but quid for quo. SUF. Say, gentle princefs, would you not fuppofe Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?

So, in Lyly's Galathea, 1592: "Would I were out of thefe woods, for I fhall have but wooden luck.

3

- Dream:

To make an end of that fame wooden phrafe."

STEEVENS.

- my fancy — ] i. e. my love. So, in A Midsummer Night's

"Fair Helena in fancy following me."

See Vol. VII. p. 132, n. 6. STEEVENS.