“Tristan und Isolde” by Richard Wagner libretto (English)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three

ACT ONE

PRELUDE

SCENE ONE

Isolde. Brangaene.

(Voice of a young sailor)

(Tent-like cabin on the fore-deck of a sea-going ship, richly hung with tapestries, at first drawn together upstage; at one side a narrow companion-way leads down to the lower deck of the ship. Isolde on a couch, her face hidden in the cushions. Brangaene, holding a curtain to one side, looking over the rail out to sea)

VOICE OF A YOUNG SAILOR
(heard from a height, as if from the masthead)
Westwards
the gaze wanders;
eastwards
skims the ship.
Fresh the wind blows
towards home:
my Irish child,
where are you now?
Is it your wafting sighs
that swell my sails?
Blow, blow, you wind!
Ah, alas, my child!
Irish girl,
you wild, adorable girl!

ISOLDE
(sturting up sharply)
Who dares to mock me?

(She looks about her, distractedly)

Brangaene, you?
Tell me, where are we?

BRANGAENE
(at the opening)
Blue shadows
are rising up in the east;
smoothly and swiftly
the ship sails on:
on a calm sea, before evening,
we shall safely reach land.

ISOLDE
Which land?

BRANGAENE
Cornwall's green coast.

ISOLDE
Never!
Not today, not tomorrow!

BRANGAENE
(lets the curtain fall back
and hurries anxiously to Isolde)

What are you saying? My mistress! Ah!

ISOLDE
(with suppressed rage)
Degenerate race!
Unworthy of your ancestors!
How, o Mother,
did you dispose of the power
of ruling sea and tempest?
O feeble art
of the sorceress,
still cooking up curative potions!
Be stirred in me once again,
bold power;
rise up from my breast
where you have lain concealed!
Give ear to my will,
half-hearted winds!
Off to battle
and turbulent elements!
To the furious vortex
of raging tempests!
Shake from her slumber
this somnolent sea,
awaken from her depths
her malevolent greed!
Show her the prize
that I have to offer!
Let her smash this insolent ship
and gorge on her shattered wreckage!
And whatever has life on her,
that faint breath
I leave as reward for you winds!

BRANGAENE
(in utmost terror,
anxiously attending Isolde)

Alas!
Ah! Ah!

The evil that I foresaw!
Isolde! My lady!
Dear heart!
What have you been keeping from me for so long?
Not a tear
did you shed for father and mother;
scarcely a parting word
did you have for those left behind.
Leaving your homeland,
cold and mute,
pale and silent
on the voyage;
without food,
without sleep,
numb and wretched,
wild and distraught.
How could I bear
to see you thus,
to mean nothing to you,
to stand before you as a stranger?
Oh tell me now
what troubles you!
Let me know
what is tormenting you!
My lady Isolde,
dearest beloved!
If she is to hold herself of worth in your eyes,
place your trust in Brangaene now.

ISOLDE
Air! Air!
My heart is stifled!
Open up! Open wide there!

(Brangaene quickly draws back the centre custain)

SCENE TWO

The previous characters. Tristan. Kurwenal. Sailors. Knights and Squires.

(The length of the ship can be seen as far as the helm and over the stern out to sea towards the horizon. Sitting on deck around the main mast are sailors working on the rigging lines; beyond them, on the poop, can be seen knights and squires at rest; at some distance from them stands Tristan, his arms folded, gazing pensively out to sea; at his feet reclines Kurwenal, relaxed.)

From above, from the masthead
we hear again the

VOICE OF THE YOUNG SAILOR

Freshly the wind blows
towards home:
my Irish child,
where are you now?
Is it your wafting sighs
that swell my sails?
Blow, blow, you wind!
Ah, alas, my child!

ISOLDE
(whose gaze immediatly falls on Tristan,
and remains coldly fixed on him,
to herself in a hollow voice)

Chosen for me,
lost to me,
splendid and strong,
bold and cowardly!
Head destined for death!
Heart destined for death!

(to Brangaene, with a dismal laugh)

What do you think of the upstart?

BRANGAENE
(following her gaze)
Whom do you mean?

ISOLDE
The hero there,
diverting his gaze
from mine,
in shame and awe
his eyes cast down.
Tell me, how does he strike you?

BRANGAENE
Do you mean Tristan,
dear lady,

the marvel of all kingdoms,
supremely acclaimed above all others,
the hero without peer,
the shield and guardian of reputation?

ISOLDE
(mocking her)
Who timidly flees
from the blow whenever he can,
because he has won a corpse as a bride
for his master!
Do you think it sinister,
my tale?
Ask him yourself, then,
the free man,
whether he dares to approach me!
This bashful hero forgets
the correct address demanded by honour
and well-bred attention
to his mistress,
lest her gaze fall upon him,
the hero without peer.
Oh, he knows
well why!
To the proud one go
and tell him what your mistress says:
ready to attend me,
he is to come to me at once.

BRANGAENE
Am I to ask him
to bid you greeting?

ISOLDE
Let my command
teach the vainglorious one
to fear his mistress,
Isolde!

(At Isolde's premptory wave Brangaene withdraws and, abashed, walks along the deck, past the crew at their work, to the helm. Isolde, following her with a wild gaze, moves back towards the couch, where she remains seated during the following action, her eyes unswervingly fixed on the helm)

KURWENAL
(who sees Brangaene coming,
tugs, without getting up,
at Tristan's garment)

Watch out, Tristan,
an envoy from Isolde.

TRISTAN
(starting up)

What? Isolde?

(He quickly composes himself and Brangaene
comes up to him and makes obeisance)

From my lady?
What has the faithful maid,
obedient to her,
courteously come
to tell me?

BRANGAENE
Tristan, my lord,
to see you
is the wish of Isolde,
my lady.

TRISTAN
If the long voyage irks her,
it is near its end!
Before the sun sets
we shall reach land.
May whatever my lady commands
be faithfully carried out.

BRANGAENE
Lord Tristan
is to go to her,
that is my lady's will.

TRISTAN
There where the green pastures
still appear blue to the eye,
my King is waiting
for my lady;
to escort her to him
I shall soon approach the radiant one:
to none other would I grant
this grace.

BRANGAENE
My lord. Tristan,
listen well.
The lady
requires you to attend her,
and to proceed
to where she awaits you.

TRISTAN
On this spot
where I am standing

I serve her faithfully,
the most honourable lady;
were I to leave the helm
at this very hour,
how could I safely steer the craft
to King Mark's land?

BRANGAENE
Tristan, my lord,
why do you mock me?
If the foolish maid
cannot make it clear,
then hear my lady's words!
Thus, she said, I should speak to you:
Let her command
teach the vainglorious one
to fear his mistress,
Isolde!

KURWENAL
(leaping up)
Can I give her her answer?

TRISTAN
(gently)
What would your answer be?

KURWENAL
Let her say this
to the lady Isolde!
He who Cornwall's crown
and England's succession
bestows upon the Irish girl,
he cannot be
in thrall to the maid,
he who gives her to his uncle.
A lord of the world,
Tristan the hero!
That's my call, that's what you'll say, though a
thousand Lady Isoldes should vent their rage upon me!

(As Tristan tries to subdue him
by gestures, and Brangaene indignantly
turns to leave, Kurwenal sings
after her with full voice
as she slowly moves away)

"Lord Morold went
off to sea
to exact tribute in Cornwall;
an island floats

in the desolate seas,
there he now lies buried!
But his head is hanging
in Ireland
as tribute paid
to England:
hail to our hero, Tristan,
he knows how to exact tribute!"

(Kurwenal, rebuked by Tristan, has climbed down below deck; Brangaene has returned to Isolde in dismay and closed the curtain behind her, while outside the whole crew can be heard)

CREW
"But his head is hanging
in Ireland
as tribute paid
by England:
hail to our hero, Tristan,
he knows how to exact tribute!"

SCENE THREE

(Isolde and Brangaene alone, all the curtains closed again. Isolde stands up with a gesture of hopeless rage. Brangaene falls at her feet)

BRANGAENE
Ah! Alas!
To suffer this!

ISOLDE
(on the point of a fearful outburst,
quickly pulls herself together)

Now, what of Tristan?
I want to know exactly!

BRANGAENE
Ah! do not ask!

ISOLDE
Tell me freely, without fear!

BRANGAENE
With courtly expressions
he evaded my words.

ISOLDE
But when you warned him clearly?

BRANGAENE
When I called him
here to you,
where he was standing,
he said,
he served you faithfully,
the most honourable lady;
were he to leave the helm
at this very hour,
how could he safely steer the craft
to King Mark's land?

ISOLDE
(bitter and hurt)
How could he safely steer the craft
to King Mark's land?

(harshly and violently)

To hand over to him the tribute
that he exacted from Ireland!

BRANGAENE
At your own words,
when I repeated them to him,
his servant Kurwenal...

ISOLDE
I heard him,
not a word escaped me.
If you sensed my disgrace,
hear now what it meant for me.

As they mockingly sing
behind my back,
well might I make reply
about a boat
which, small and frail,
drifted along the irish coast.
In it a sick
and ailing man
lay miserably dying.
Isolde's crafts
became known to him;
with healing ointments
and soothing lotions,
the wound which tormented him
she faithfully nursed.
He who with sly cunning
called himself "Tantris"
Isolde soon recognised
as Tristan
since in his sword, as he lay there,
she perceived a notch
into which,
as she found with nimble fingers,
there fitted exactly a splinter
which once, in the head
of the Irish knight,
had been sent back to mock her.
Then a cry awoke
from the depths of my heart!
With the gleaming sword
I stood before him,
ready to averge on him, the presumptuous one,
Lord Morold's death.

From his bed,
he looked up -
not at the sword,
not at my hand -
he gazed into my eyes.
His wretchedness

tormented me!
The sword - I dropped it!
The wound that Morold smote,
I healed it so that he recovered
and returned home...
do not accuse me with such a look!

BRANGAENE
How strange! Where were my eyes?
The guest that once
I helped to nurse?

ISOLDE
You have just heard his praises:
"Hey! Our Lord Tristan!"
He was that pathetic man.
With a thousand oaths he swore to me
eternal gratitude and loyalty.
Hear now how a hero
keeps his oath!
He whom, as Tantris,
I let go unidentified,
as Tristan
boldly soon returned;
on a proud ship,
from a lofty deck
he demanded the Irish successor
as a bride
for Cornwall's feeble king,
for Mark, his uncle.
If Morold were alive,
who would ever have dared
to bring such shame upon us?
For this vassal
prince of the Cornish
to suit for the crown of Ireland!
Ah, I am lost!
Yes, I it was
who, in secret, brought
the shame upon myself!
The avenging sword,
instead of wielding it,
I impotently let it fall!
Now I am in the vassal's bondage!

BRANGAENE
When peace, reconciliation and amity
were sworn by all,
we hailed the happy day.
How could I have foreseen
that it would cause you such grief?

ISOLDE
Oh blind eyes!
Credulous heart!
Despairing silence,
feeble courage!
How differently
Tristan paraded
what I had kept concealed!
She who in silence
gave him his life,
from the enemy's fury
quietly hid him,
who silently lent
her sanctuary to save him,
both her and all that he abandoned!
Boasting of victory,
glorious and bold,
loud and clear
he pointed to me:
"There's a treasure,
my lord and uncle;
how about that for a wife?
This trim Irish girl
I'll bring back to you;
knowing well
the way,
with a wave I was off
to Ireland;
Isolde - she's yours!
What a splendid bit of adventure!"
Curse you, vile creature,
a curse upon your head!
Vengeance! Death!
Death for us both!

BRANGAENE
(impetuously and tenderly
embracing Isolde)

O sweet one, beloved!
Dearest! Beautiful one!
Golden mistress!
Dear Isolde!
(She gradually draws Isolde
to the couch)

Listen to me! Come!
Sit here!
What madness!
What vain anger!
How can you be so confused

as not to see or hear clearly?
What Lord Tristan
ever owed you,
how better could he repay it
than with the most splendid of crowns?
Thus could he loyally serve
his noble uncle.
To you he gave the world's
most desirable prize -
his own inheritance,
nobly and in good faith;
he relinquished it at your feet
to hail you as Queen!

(Isolde turns aside)

And if he secured Mark
as a husband for you,
why did you scorn the choice?
Can you not see its value?
Of noble blood
and gentle disposition,
who can compare with the man
in power and glory?
He whom a bold hero
so faithfully serves,
who might not share his fortune
and live beside him as his wife?

ISOLDE
(gazing ahead wildly)
Unloved, always
seeing near me
that splendid man!
How could I bear the torment?

BRANGAENE
What are you thinking of, wicked girl?
Unloved, always?

(She comes close,
reassuring and embracing Isolde)
Where is the man
who would not love you?
who could see Isolde
and not be blissfully consumed
in Isolde?
But he who chose you,
however cold he might be,
or if a spell
had turned him from you,

I would know
how to constrain him.
The power of love would constrain him

(secretively and confidentially
to Isolde)

Do you not know our
mother's craft?
Do you imagine that she,
who considers everything,
would have sent me away with you
without means of help into foregin land?

ISOLDE
(darkly)
My mother's advice
is good counsel;
gladly I recognise the worth of
her craft.
Vengeance for the treachery!
Easement for the heart's distress!
Fetch me that chest over there!

BRANGAENE
What it contains will bring you relief.

(She fetches a small golden
chest, opens it
and shows its contents)

In this your mother arranged
the powerful magic draughts.
For pain and wounds
here is ointment;
for evil poisons
antidote
(She draws out a flask)

The finest draught
I keep here.

ISOLDE
You are wrong, I know better;
I placed a clear sign
upon it.

(She takes a flash and shows it)
This is the potion that I need!

BRANGAENE
(starts back, horrified)
The death potion!
(Isolde has got up from the couch, and with growing terror hears the shouts of the crew)

CREW
(off)
Ho! hey! ha! hey!
Lower mast,
take in sail!
Ho! hey! ha! hey!

ISOLDE
That means a swift voyage.
Wretched that I am! Near to land!

SCENE FOUR

The previous characters and Kurwenal

(Kurwenal enters boisterously through the curtains)

KURWENAL
Up! Up, you ladies!
Lively and cheerful!
Make ready!
Come along, smartly now!

(more formally)

And to Lady Isolde
I am to say
from Tristan the hero,
my lord:
From the mast the festive flag
is fluttering merrily towards land;
in Mark's royal castle
it announces its approach.
He therefore requests
Lady Isolde to hurry
and to prepare for landing
so that he may escort her.

ISOLDE
(after at first shrinking back in fear
at the message, composes herself
and, with dignity)

Convey to Lord Tristan
my greetings,
and tell him what I say:
If I am to walk at his side
to stand before King Mark,
it would not be done
with due propriety and custom
unless I received restitution
in advance
for guilt still unatoned.
Let him then seek my grace.

(Kurwenal grimaces sourly.
Isolde continues, more forcefully)

Mark it well
and report it true!
I will not make ready
to accompany him ashore,

I shall not walk at his side
to stand before King Mark;
he must first seek
forgiveness
and forgetting,
according to propriety and custom,
for unatoned guilt.
Such my grace would grant him!

KURWENAL
You may be sure
I shall tell him that;
now wait to hear how he receives it!

(He returns quikly to Tristan. Isolde hurries to Brangaene and embraces her impetuously)

ISOLDE
Now farewell, Brangaene!
Bid the world farewell for me,
bid my mother and father farewell!

BRANGAENE
What is this? What are you thinking of?
Do you intend to flee?
Whither am I to follow you?

ISOLDE
(quickly composes herself)
Did you nor hear me?
I shall stay here
and wait for Tristan.
Faithfully carry out
my orders,
the draught of reconciliation -
prepare it quickly;
you know, the one I showed you?

(She takes the flask from the chest)

BRANGAENE
Which draught?

ISOLDE
This draught!
Pour it out
into the golden goblet;
it will hold it all.

BRANGAENE
(in fear and trembling taking the flask)
Can I belive it?

ISOLDE
Be faithful to me!

BRANGAENE
That draught - for whom?

ISOLDE
Let him who betrayed me...

BRANGAENE
Tristan?

ISOLDE
...drink reconciliation!

BRANGAENE
(falling at Isolde's feet)
Horror! Have pity on me, poor wretch!

ISOLDE
(violently)
You should pity me,
faithless maid!
Do you not know
my mother's craft?
Do you imagine that she,
who considers everything,
would have sent me away with you
without means of help into a foregin land?
For pain and wounds
she gave ointment,
for evil potions
antidote;
For sharpest pain,
for extreme anguish
she gave the death potion.
Let Death now thank her.

BRANGAENE
(almost fainting)
Oh deepest woe!

ISOLDE
Will you obey me now?

BRANGAENE
Oh utmost grief!

ISOLDE
Will you be faithful to me?

BRANGAENE
That draught?

KURWENAL
(enters)
Lord Tristan!

(Brangaene rises, horrified and confused. Isolde tries, with great strain, to compose herself)

ISOLDE
(to Kurwenal)
Let Lord Tristan approach!

SCENE FIVE

Tristan. Isolde. Brangaene. Then Kurwenal, Saylors, Knights and Squires

(Kurwenal withdraws. Brangaene, almost fainting, moves upstage. Isolde, summoning up all her strength for the crisis, moves slowly and with great dignity towards the couch and, leaning against it, fixes her gaze on the entrance. - Tristan enters and waits respectfully at the entrance. - Isolde, terribly agitated, is lost in beholding him. - Long silence)

TRISTAN
Demand, my lady,
what you wish.

ISOLDE
Surely you knew
what I demanded
when the fear
of fulfilling it
kept you from my sight?

TRISTAN
Respect
held me in awe.

ISOLDE
You showed me
little enough respect;
with blatant mockery
you refused
to obey my command.

TRISTAN
Obedience alone
constrained me.

ISOLDE
I have little
to thank your master for;
does his service require
ill-manners
towards his bride?

TRISTAN
Manners teach,
where I come from,
that on a courtship voyage
the suitor
should stay apart from the bride.

ISOLDE
For what reason?

TRISTAN
Look to manners!

ISOLDE
Since you are so mannerly,
my lord Tristan,
let me remind you
of more manners;

to be reconcilied with an enemy
he must regard you as a friend.

TRISTAN
Which enemy?

ISOLDE
Ask your own fear!
A debt of blood
exists between us!

TRISTAN
It was atoned.

ISOLDE
Not between us!

TRISTAN
In an open field,
before all the people,
the peace was sworn.

ISOLDE
It was not there
that I hid Tantris,
and had Tristan in my power.
There he stood, glorious,
bold and strong;
but what he swore
I did not swear;
I had learned to keep silent.
When in my quiet chamber
he lay sick,
and I stood quietly
before him with the sword,
my lips were silent,
I held my hand -
but what once with my hands
and lips I praised
I swore to keep silent.
Now I will discharge my oath!

TRISTAN
What oath did you take, my lady?

ISOLDE
Vengeance for Morold!

TRISTAN
Does that concern you?

ISOLDE
Do you dare mock?
He was betrothed to me,
the bold Irish hero.
I had blessed his weapons,
for me he went into battle.
When he fell
my honour fell too.
With heavy heart
I took the oath, swearing
that if a man did not atone for his murder,
I, the maid, would venture to do so.

Sickly and feeble,
in my power,
why did I not strike you down then?
You know well why that was so.
I nursed his wounds
so that, restored to strength,
he would be slain in vengeance by that man
who had won Isolde from him.
But now you yourself
can speak your lot!
Since all men have bound themselves to him,
who now has to slay Tristan?

TRISTAN
(pale and gloomy)
If Morold meant so much to you,
now take the sword again
and wield it sure and strong
so that it does not fall from your hand.

(He proffers her his sword)

ISOLDE
What scant regard I should have
for your Lord;
what would King
Mark say
were I to slay
his finest vassal
who won for him crown and lands,
that most faithful man?
Do you value so lightly
what he owes you,
bringing the irish maid
to him as his bride?
Would he not reproach me
if I slew the suitor
who so faithfully delivered

into his hands the treaty's bond?
Put up your sword!
When I wielded it before,
when vengeance
tore at my breast,
when your measuring gaze
stole my likeness, to see
if I would suit King Mark
as a wife,
the sword - I let it sink.
Let us now drink reconciliation!

(She makes a sign to Brangaene. Brangaene shudders, wavers and hesitates. Isolde urges her on with more emphatic gestures. Brangaene turns to prepare the draught)

CREW
(from outside)
Ho! hey! ha! hey!
Upper mast,
take in sail!
Ho! hey! ha! hey!

TRISTAN
(starting out of gloomy broodings)
Where are we?

ISOLDE
Hard by our goal!
Tristan, do I win reconciliation?
What have you to say to me?

TRISTAN
(darkly)
The mistress of silence
bids me say nothing.
If I grasp what she concealed,
I shall conceal what she does not grasp.

ISOLDE
I can grasp your silence!
You are evading me.
Do you refuse to make atonement?

(New cries of sailors)

(At Isolde's emphatic gesture, Brangaene hands her the filled goblet)

ISOLDE
(going over with the goblet to Tristan,
who gazes coldly into her eyes)

Can you hear their cries?

We have arrived.
Before long
we still be standing

before King Mark.
When you escort me,
would it not be good
if you were to speak to him thus:
"My lord and uncle,
look upon her.
A more gentle wife
you would never have won.
Her betrothed
I once slew,
his head I sent home to her.
The wounds which
his arms inflicted
she tenderly healed.
My life lay
in her power;
the gentle maid
gave it to me,
and her land's
shame and disgrace
she gave me with it,
to be your consort.
Gracious thanks
for such sweet gifts
were awakened in me by a sweet
draught of reconciliation.
In it was contained her grace
which absolved me from all guilt."

CREW
(off)
Haul away!
Anchor away!

TRISTAN
(staring up wildly)
Anchor away!
Into the tide!
Sails and mast to the wind!

(He seizes the goblet from her)
Well I know
Ireland's queen
and the wondrous power
of her craft.
I used the ointment
that she offered.

I shall take the goblet
that I may be fully cleansed.
And witness too
the oath of reconciliation
which I take, in gratitude to you.
Tristan's honour,
utter loyalty!
Tristan's misery,
keenest defiance!
Heart's deceit,
wishful dreaming!
The only consolation
in eternal mourning.
Beneficent draught of forgetsulness,
I drain you unweaveringly!

(He takes the goblet and drinks)

ISOLDE
Treachery here too?
Half is mine!

(She snatches the goblet)

Traitor! I drink to you!

(She drinks. Then she throws the goblet aside. In the grip of terror, they gaze steadily into each other's eyes in utmost agitation, but unmoving. In their eyes deadly defiance gives way to the glow of love. They are seized with trembling. They clutch convulsively at their hearts and raise their hands to their heads. Then their eyes seek out one another, are cast down again in confusion, and meet again with growing desire)

ISOLDE
(her voice trembling)
Tristan!

TRISTAN
(overcome)
Isolde!

ISOLDE
(sinking on his breast)
Faithless darling!

TRISTAN
(ardently embracing her)
Blessed lady!

(They remain in silent embrace)
(In the distance trumpets are heard)

MEN'S VOICE
Hail! Hail King Mark!

BRANGAENE
(looking away in confusion and terror,
has leaned over the rail,
now turns to see the couple
clasped in a loving embrace
and moves downstage,
wringing her hands
in despair)

Ah! Alas!
Inescapable
eternal misery
instead of an early death!
The deceiving effects
of foolish loyalty
now bear their miserable fruit.

(Tristan and Isolde start out of their embrace)

TRISTAN
(bewildered)
What was my dream
of Tristan's honour?

ISOLDE
What was my dream
of Isolde's disgrace?

TRISTAN
You lost to me?

ISOLDE
You rejecting me?

TRISTAN
Deceitful magic's
sly cunning!

ISOLDE
Foolish anger's
vain threats.

TRISTAN
Isolde!

ISOLDE
Tristan!

TRISTAN
Sweetest girl!

ISOLDE
Dearest man!

TOGETHER
How our hearts
are borne aloft!
How all our senses
pulsate with bliss!
Longing devotion's
burgeoning blossoms,
yearning love's
blessed glow!
My breast bursting
with exultant delight!
Isolde! Tristan!
Broken free of the world,
won for me!
You my only awareness,
utmost rapture of love!

(The curtains are pulled apart, the whole ship is crowded with knights and sailors waving joyfully over the side towards the shore which can be seen close by, with a high, rocky fortress. Tristan and Isolde remain lost in gazing at one another, unaware of what is happening arounf them)

BRANGAENE
(to the ladies who, at her command,
have come up from below deck)

Quickly, the mantle here,
the royal raiment!

(rushing between Tristan and Isolde)

Hapless ones! Come!
Listen, don't you hear where we are?

(She places the royal mantle about Isolde,
who does not notice it)

ALL THE MEN
Hail! Hail! Hail!
Hail to King Mark!
Long live the King!

KURWENAL
(entering briskly)
Hail Tristan,
fortunate hero!
With a splendid retinue
there, on the boat,

Lord Mark is approaching.
Ah, how the journey delights him,
winning a bride.

TRISTAN
(bewildered, looking up)
Who is approaching?

KURWENAL
The King!

TRISTAN
Which King?

(Kurwenal points over the side)

ALL THE MEN
(waving their caps)
Hail! Hail King Mark!

(Tristan stares blankly at the shore)

ISOLDE
(confused)
What is it, Brangaene?
What are they calling out?

BRANGAENE
Isolde, my lady,
Compose yourself, if only for today!

ISOLDE
Where am I? Am I alive?
Ah! What was that draught?

BRANGAENE
(in despair)
The love potion.

ISOLDE
(stares at Tristan, horrified)
Tristan!

TRISTAN
Isolde!

ISOLDE
Must I live on?

(She falls on his breast, unconscious)

BRANGAENE
(to the ladies)
Help our mistress!

TRISTAN
Oh spiteful bliss!
Oh happiness in thrall to deceit!

ALL THE MEN
(breaking into general rejoicing)
Cornwall! Hail!

(Trumpets from the shore)

(People have climbed aboard, others have put out the gangplank, and the general activity indicates the immediately awaited arrival of the King's train, as the curtain quickly falls)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three