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Enter Fiends.

This speedy quick appearance argues proof
Of your accustom'd diligence to me.

Now, ye

familiar spirits, that are cull'd Out of the powerful regions under earth,

Help me this once, that France may get the field. [They walk about, and speak not,

O, hold me not with silence over-long!

Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,
I'll lop a member off, and give it you,

In earnest of a further benefit;

So

you do condescend to help me now.

[They hang their heads. No hope to have redress?-My body shall Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit.

[They shake their heads.

Cannot my body, nor blood-sacrifice,
Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?
Then take my soul; my body, soul, and all,
Before that England give the French the foil.
[They depart.
See they forsake me. Now the time is come,
That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest,
And let her head fall into England's lap.
My ancient incantations are too weak,
And hell too strong for me to buckle with:
Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust. [Exit.

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

York. Damsel of France, I think, I have

you fast:

to be the particular habitation of bad spirits. Milton, therefore, assembles the rebel angels in the north. JOHNSON.

Where - i. e. whereas.

3 vail her-lofty plumed crest,] i, e. lower it.

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Unchain your spirits 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, she 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 shape but his can please your dainty eye.
Puc. A plaguing mischief light on Charles, and
thee!

And may ye both be suddenly surpriz'd
By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds!

York. Fell, banning hag! enchantress, hold thy tongue.

Puc. I pr'ythee, give me leave to curse a while. York. Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.

Alarums.

[Exeunt.

Enter SUFFOLK, leading in Lady
MARGARET.

Suf. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner.

O fairest beauty, do not fear, nor fly;

[Gazes on her.

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

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

peace:

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

Mar. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king,

The king of Naples, whosoe'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:

So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoners underneath her wings.

Fell, banning hag!] To ban is to curse,

Yet if this servile usage once offend,
Go, and be free again as Suffolk's friend.
[She turns away as going.
O, stay!-I have no power to let her pass;
My hand would free her, but my heart says-no.
As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,
Twinkling another counterfeited beam,

So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.
Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak :
I'll call for pen and ink, and write my mind:
Fye, De la Poole! disable not thyself;"
Hast not a tongue? is she not here thy prisoner
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight?
Ay; beauty's princely majesty is such,

Confounds the tongue, and makes the senses rough.
Mar. Say, earl of Suffolk,-if thy name be so,-
What ransome must I
before I pass
For, I perceive, I am thy prisoner.

pay

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Suf. How canst thou tell, she will deny thy suit, Before thou make a trial of her love? Aside. Mar. Why speak'st thou not? what ransome must I pay?

Suf. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: She is a woman; therefore to be won.

[Aside. Mar. Wilt thou accept of ransome, yea, or no? Suf. Fond man! remember, that thou hast a

wife;

Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? [Aside.

• As plays the sun upon the glassy streams, &c.] This comparison, made between things which seem sufficiently unlike, is intended to express the softness and delicacy of Lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle; which was bright, but gave no pain by its lustre. JOHNSON.

6 disable not thyself;] Do not represent thyself so weak. To disable the judgment of another was, in that age, the same as to destroy its credit or authority. JOHNSON.

7

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

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