The Maid of Orleans, Friedrich Schiller [top novels to read txt] 📗

Obey the queen!

JOHANNA.
Must I be yet more wretched than I was!
Unpitying Virgin! Heavy is thy hand
Hast thou completely thrust me from thy favor?
No God appears, no angel shows himself;
Closed are heaven's portals, miracles have ceased.

[She follows the SOLDIERS.


SCENE VII.

The French Camp.
DUNOIS, between the ARCHBISHOP and DUCHATEL.

ARCHBISHOP.
Conquer your sullen indignation, prince!
Return with us! Come back unto your king!
In this emergency abandon not
The general cause, when we are sorely pressed,
And stand in need of your heroic arm.

DUNOIS.
Why are ye sorely pressed? Why doth the foe
Again exalt himself? all was achieved;--
France was triumphant--war was at an end;--
The savior you have banished; you henceforth
May save yourselves; I'll not again behold
The camp wherein the maid abideth not.

DUCHATEL.
Think better of it, prince! Dismiss us not
With such an answer!

DUNOIS.
Silence, Duchatel!
You're hateful to me; I'll hear naught from you;
You were the first who doubted of her truth.

ARCHBISHOP.
Who had not wavered on that fatal day,
And been bewildered, when so many signs
Bore evidence against her! We were stunned,
Our hearts were crushed beneath the sudden blow.
--Who in that hour of dread could weigh the proofs?
Our calmer judgment now returns to us,
We see the maid as when she walked with us,
Nor have we any fault to charge her with.
We are perplexed--we fear that we have done
A grievous wrong. The king is penitent,
The duke remorseful, comfortless La Hire,
And every heart doth shroud itself in woe.

DUNOIS.
She a deluder? If celestial truth
Would clothe herself in a corporeal form,
She needs must choose the features of the maiden.
If purity of heart, faith, innocence,
Dwell anywhere on earth, upon her lips
And in her eyes' clear depths they find their home.

ARCHBISHOP.
May the Almighty, through a miracle,
Shed light upon this awful mystery,
Which baffles human insight. Howsoe'er
This sad perplexity may be resolved,
One of two grievous sins we have committed!
Either in fight we have availed ourselves
Of hellish arms, or banished hence a saint!
And both call down upon this wretched land
The vengeance and the punishment of heaven.


SCENE VIII.

The same, a NOBLEMAN, afterwards RAIMOND.

NOBLEMAN.
A shepherd youth inquires after your highness,
He urgently entreats an interview,
He says he cometh from the maiden----

DUNOIS.
Haste!
Conduct him hither! He doth come from her!

[The NOBLEMAN opens the door to RAIMOND, DUNOIS hastens to meet him.

Where is she? Where is the maid?

RAIMOND.
Hail! noble prince!
And blessed am I that I find with you
This holy man, the shield of the oppressed,
The father of the poor and destitute!

DUNOIS.
Where is the maiden?

ARCHBISHOP.
Speak, my son, inform us!

RAIMOND.
She is not, sir, a wicked sorceress!
To God and all his saints I make appeal.
An error blinds the people. You've cast forth
God's messenger, you've banished innocence!

DUNOIS.
Where is she?

RAIMOND.
I accompanied her flight
Towards the woods of Ardennes; there she hath
Revealed to me her spirit's inmost depths.
In torture I'll expire, and will resign
My hopes of everlasting happiness,
If she's not guiltless, sir, of every sin!

DUNOIS.
The sun in heaven is not more pure than she!
Where is she? Speak!

RAIMOND.
If God hath turned your hearts,
Oh hasten, I entreat you--rescue her
She is a prisoner in the English camp.

DUNOIS.
A prisoner say you?

ARCHBISHOP.
Poor unfortunate!

RAIMOND.
There in the forest as we sought for shelter,
We were encountered by Queen Isabel,
Who seized and sent her to the English host.
Oh, from a cruel death deliver her
Who hath full many a time delivered you!

DUNOIS.
Sound an alarm! to arms! up! beat the drums.
Forth to the field! Let France appear in arms!
The crown and the palladium are at stake!
Our honor is in pledge! risk blood and life!
She must be rescued ere the day is done!

[Exit.


SCENE IX.

A watch-tower--an opening above. JOHANNA and LIONEL.

FASTOLFE (entering hastily).
The people can no longer be restrained.
With fury they demand the maiden's death.
In vain your opposition. Let her die
And throw her head down from the battlements!
Her blood alone will satisfy the host.

ISABEL (coming in).
With ladders they begin to scale the walls.
Appease the angry people! Will you wait
Till in blind fury they o'erthrow the tower,
And we beneath its towers are destroyed?
Protect her here you cannot. Give her up!

LIONEL.
Let them storm on. In fury let them rage!
Firm is this castle, and beneath its ruins
I will be buried ere I yield to them.
--Johanna, answer me! only be mine,
And I will shield thee 'gainst a world in arms.

ISABEL.
Are you a man?

LIONEL.
Thy friends have cast thee off.
To thy ungrateful country then dost owe
Duty and faith no longer. The false cowards
Who sought thy hand, forsake thee in thy need.
They for thy honor venture not the fight,
But I, against my people and 'gainst thine,
Will be thy champion. Once thou didst confess
My life was dear to thee; in combat then
I stood before thee as thine enemy--
Thou hast not now a single friend but me.

JOHANNA.
Thou art my people's enemy and mine.
Between us there can be no fellowship.
Thee I can never love, but if thy heart
Cherish affection for me, let it bring
A blessing on my people. Lead thy troops
Far from the borders of my fatherland;
Give up the keys of all the captured towns,
Restore the booty, set the captives free,
Send hostages the compact to confirm,
And peace I offer thee in my king's name.

ISABEL.
Wilt thou, a captive, dictate laws to us?

JOHANNA.
It must be done; 'tis useless to delay.
Never, oh never, will this land endure
The English yoke; sooner will France become
A mighty sepulchre for England's hosts.
Fallen in battle are your bravest chiefs.
Think how you may achieve a safe retreat;
Your fame is forfeited, your power is lost.

ISABEL.
Can you endure her raving insolence?


SCENE X.

A CAPTAIN enters hastily.

CAPTAIN.
Haste, general! Prepare the host for battle.
The French with flying banners come this way,
Their shining weapons glitter in the vale.

JOHANNA (with enthusiasm).
My people come this way! Proud England now
Forth in the field! now boldly must you fight!

FASTOLFE.
Deluded woman, moderate your joy!
You will not see the issue of this day.

JOHANNA.
My friends will win the fight and I shall die!
The gallant heroes need my arm no more.

LIONEL.
These dastard enemies I scorn. They have
In twenty battles fled before our arms,
Ere this heroic maiden fought for them.
All the whole nation I despise, save one,
And this one they have banished. Come, Fastolfe,
We soon will give them such another day
As that of Poictiers and of Agincourt.
Do you remain with the fortress, queen,
And guard the maiden till the fight is o'er.
I leave for your protection fifty knights.

FASTOLFE.
How! general, shall we march against the foe
And leave this raging fury in our rear?

JOHANNA.
What! can a fettered woman frighten thee?

LIONEL.
Promise, Johanna, not to free thyself.

JOHANNA.
To free myself is now my only wish.

ISABEL.
Bind her with triple chains. I pledged my life
That she shall not escape.

[She is bound with heavy chains.

LIONEL (to JOHANNA).
Thou will'st it so!
Thou dost compel us! still it rests with thee!
Renounce the French--the English banner bear,
And thou art free, and these rude, savage men
Who now desire thy blood shall do thy will.

FASTOLFE (urgently).
Away, away, my general!

JOHANNA.
Spare thy words,
The French are drawing near. Defend thyself!

[Trumpets sound, LIONEL hastens forth.

FASTOLFE.
You know your duty, queen! if fate declares
Against us, should you see our people fly.

ISABEL (showing a dagger).
Fear not. She shall not live to see our fall.

FASTOLFE (to JOHANNA).
Thou knowest what awaits thee, now implore
A blessing on the weapons of thy people.

[Exit.


SCENE XI.

ISABEL, JOHANNA, SOLDIERS.

JOHANNA.
Ay! that I will! no power can hinder me.
Hark to that sound, the war-march of my people!
How its triumphant notes inspire my heart!
Ruin to England! victory to France!
Up, valiant countrymen! The maid is near;
She cannot, as of yore, before you bear
Her banner--she is bound with heavy chains;
But freely from her prison soars her soul,
Upon the pinions of your battle-song.

ISABEL (to a SOLDIER).
Ascend the watch-tower which commands the field,
And thence report the progress of the fight.

[SOLDIER ascends.

JOHANNA.
Courage, my people! 'Tis the final struggle--
Another victory, and the foe lies low!

ISABEL.
What see'st thou?

SOLDIER.
They're already in close fight.
A furious warrior on a Barbary steed,
In tiger's skin, leads forward the gens d'armes.

JOHANNA.
That's Count Dunois! on, gallant warrior!
Conquest goes with thee.

SOLDIER.
The Burgundian duke
Attacks the bridge.

ISABEL.
Would that ten hostile spears
Might his perfidious heart transfix, the traitor!

SOLDIER.
Lord Fastolfe gallantly opposes him.
Now they dismount--they combat man to man
Our people and the troops of Burgundy.

ISABEL.
Behold'st thou not the Dauphin? See'st thou not
The royal wave?

SOLDIER.
A cloud of dust
Shrouds everything. I can distinguish naught.

JOHANNA.
Had he my eyes, or stood I there aloft,
The smallest speck would not elude my gaze!
The wild fowl I can number on the wing,
And mark the falcon in his towering flight.

SOLDIER.
There is a fearful tumult near the trench;
The chiefs, it seems, the nobles, combat there.

ISABEL.
Still doth our banner wave?

SOLDIER.
It proudly floats.

JOHANNA.
Could I look through the loopholes of the wall,
I with my