Original: The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.
Modern: The English regent is winning, and the French soldiers are running away.

Original: Now help, ye charming spells and periapts;
Modern: Now help me, you magical spells and protective charms;

Original: And ye choice spirits that admonish me
Modern: And you special spirits who warn me

Original: And give me signs of future accidents.
Modern: And give me signs of what will happen in the future.

Original: You speedy helpers, that are substitutes
Modern: You quick helpers, who serve as deputies

Original: Under the lordly monarch of the north,
Modern: Under the powerful ruler of the north,

Original: Appear and aid me in this enterprise.
Modern: Show yourselves and help me with this task.

Original: This speedy and quick appearance argues proof
Modern: Your fast appearance proves

Original: Of your accustom’d diligence to me.
Modern: Your usual dedication to serving me.

Original: Now, ye familiar spirits, that are cull’d
Modern: Now, you familiar spirits, who are chosen

Original: Out of the powerful regions under earth,
Modern: From the mighty underground kingdoms,

Original: Help me this once, that France may get the field.
Modern: Help me just this once, so that France can win the battle.

Original: O, hold me not with silence over-long!
Modern: Oh, don’t keep me waiting in silence too long!

Original: Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,
Modern: Where I used to feed you with my blood,

Original: I’ll lop a member off and give it you
Modern: I’ll cut off a limb and give it to you

Original: In earnest of further benefit,
Modern: As a down payment for more rewards,

Original: So you do condescend to help me now.
Modern: If you will agree to help me now.

Original: No hope to have redress? My body shall
Modern: No hope of getting help? My body will

Original: Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit.
Modern: Pay the price, if you will grant my request.

Original: Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice
Modern: Can’t my body or blood sacrifice

Original: Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?
Modern: Convince you to give your usual help?

Original: Then take my soul, my body, soul and all,
Modern: Then take my soul, my body, everything,

Original: Before that England give the French the foil.
Modern: Rather than let England defeat the French.

Original: See, they forsake me! Now the time is come
Modern: Look, they’re abandoning me! Now the time has come

Original: That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest
Modern: When France must lower her proud, decorated crown

Original: And let her head fall into England’s lap.
Modern: And surrender herself to England.

Original: My ancient incantations are too weak,
Modern: My old magical spells are too weak,

Original: And hell too strong for me to buckle with:
Modern: And hell is too powerful for me to fight against:

Original: Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust.
Modern: Now, France, your glory is falling to the ground.

In Act V, Scene 3 of Henry VI, Part 1, Joan of Arc (referred to as Joan la Pucelle) encounters fiends or devils whom she attempts to summon for assistance in France’s dire military situation. Joan pleads with these supernatural entities, offering various sacrifices including her body, soul, and limbs in exchange for their continued aid against the English forces. However, the fiends refuse her entreaties and abandon her, walking away despite her increasingly desperate offerings. Joan realizes that France’s glory is ending and that her supernatural powers have failed her at this crucial moment.

Following the departure of the fiends, York and Warwick enter with soldiers and capture Joan. She immediately denies being a witch and claims to be descended from noble blood, specifically stating she is the daughter of a shepherd. When her father, the Shepherd, arrives and acknowledges her as his daughter, Joan rejects him and continues to assert her noble lineage. As York and Warwick prepare to burn her as a witch, Joan reveals that she is pregnant, hoping this will spare her life. When this plea fails to move her captors, she claims different men as the father of her child, including the Dauphin and Alençon, but York and Warwick remain unmoved and order her to be taken away to her execution.

Henry VI, Part 1 opens with the funeral of King Henry V, England’s great warrior king. The English nobles mourn his death while news arrives of military disasters in France, where English territories are being lost to French forces led by the Dauphin Charles. The Duke of Gloucester and the Bishop of Winchester engage in a bitter power struggle over control of the young King Henry VI, creating division within the English court.

In France, Joan of Pucelle (Joan of Arc) arrives at the French court, claiming divine guidance to drive the English from French soil. She demonstrates her supernatural powers and convinces the Dauphin of her mission. Joan leads the French forces to several victories, including the recapture of Orléans from the English. Meanwhile, the English hero Lord Talbot fights valiantly but faces increasingly difficult circumstances as French resistance grows stronger under Joan’s leadership.

The English nobles’ internal conflicts intensify when Richard Plantagenet (later Duke of York) and Edmund Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, quarrel in the Temple Garden. Their dispute leads to the symbolic plucking of white and red roses, representing the future Wars of the Roses. Plantagenet seeks to restore his family’s honor after his father’s execution for treason, while Somerset defends the Lancastrian cause.

The play concludes with the capture and execution of Joan of Pucelle by the English, though not before she attempts various defenses including claims of pregnancy. Despite her death, the French continue their resistance. Lord Talbot dies heroically in battle alongside his son John at Bordeaux, abandoned by the feuding English nobles who fail to send reinforcements. The Earl of Suffolk captures Margaret of Anjou and arranges her marriage to King Henry VI, setting the stage for future conflicts. The play ends with the English position in France severely weakened and internal divisions threatening the stability of the English crown.