BOOK THE FIFTH.
177
If of your free accord, to him you pay
Due homage as your sovereign Lord and King,
Your rich estates, your houses shall be safe, 360
And you in favour stand, as is the Duke,
Philip of Burgundy. But—mark me well—
If obstinately wilful, you persist
To scorn his proffer'd mercy; not one stone
Upon another of this wretched town 365
Shall then be left. And when the English host
Triumphant in the dust have trod the towers
Of Orleans, who survive the dreadful war
Shall die like traitors by the hangman's hand.
Ye men of France, remember Caen and Rouen!" 370
Due homage as your sovereign Lord and King,
Your rich estates, your houses shall be safe, 360
And you in favour stand, as is the Duke,
Philip of Burgundy. But—mark me well—
If obstinately wilful, you persist
To scorn his proffer'd mercy; not one stone
Upon another of this wretched town 365
Shall then be left. And when the English host
Triumphant in the dust have trod the towers
Of Orleans, who survive the dreadful war
Shall die like traitors by the hangman's hand.
Ye men of France, remember Caen and Rouen!" 370
"He ceased. Nor Gaucour for a moment paus'd
To form reply.
"Herald! to all thy vaunts
Of English sovereignty let this suffice
For answer: France will only own as King
Him whom the people chuse. On Charles's brow 375
To form reply.
"Herald! to all thy vaunts
Of English sovereignty let this suffice
For answer: France will only own as King
Him whom the people chuse. On Charles's brow 375
"Transmitted
