New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-29

-, 80 y-Ie he IS bringing her nome lhe 80, -
NV accident. drink love potion. - In the
tSz "a 7,-i-i1lrs fov the nionlSnt OF ela-f
woe tIeir thoughts are only 81 eacn ONE leone the
,sssaTs queen Tlen the wicked love 81 me li
safety in foreign aI-G 1.-The. r-ircess whose
70 our ears he MARINES - g. the addition
with the White Hand. hut when WouLuSGt eti,i
death he sends across the water lo H. Ss healer
rbe shin which is sent 70 bring her Is 20 , pt
son: black II not Day after day the knight VAS
ror the az his love W -, - es,ls ~
lie burns lower and lower Al lenGIh ne S iir
IS nov -, - ~ his wife Black replies she.
seeo-1s-- r-o7utirle the falsehood. and the khlE
go ire threshold q his chamber. on INC IllE
of 81 for with the lady IS her loro VINO. t 49,, -
5{. - lovers rhe- the queen. TOO, dies. and
she remorseful king buries the lovers in a coI 1 On
bush vine and intertNne g ei,59 f5s y S
rlerian Drama" by H E hrehoiel)
. uno, TIE ancient legend which has been outlined
sr the above excerpt Wagner reared his great
l~-arsdv entitled Tristan und Isolde. Whence the
A.,-,- came nobody can tell. II is a part OF the
t,--,as treasure preserved from remotest Antiquity
Nv frfne-aut singers and story tellers and COM
Knitted TO writing by poets Of the Middle ages
h-Ths FIRST OF these far unquestioned evidence
-. vrsre French trouveres. From them the tale
t-sssa6 into the hands OF the German minnesinger'
tsTbe greatest OF these who treated Il was Gott-
-5ed z-on Strassburg (circa A D. 12lo). who now
ever left the tale unfinished HIS conJihua'oIs
we're T-lrich Won Turnhem and Heinrich Won Frei-
berg. whose denouenent mot. however original
Win +l7erno was followed by Hermann Kurtz when
be published a version q Goturied's poem IN
modern German IN 1874 This. unGuestonaby. was
-ha --er-sion which fell into Wagner's hands when
in the Dresden period OS4S-4) he devoted himself
trssiduouslv 70 the study OF Teutonic legend and
mythology IN English the romance has an equal
sy honorable literary record. In 1904 Sir walter
scott edited metricsl version which he fondly
believed 70 be the work Of the somewhat mythical
Thomas the Rhyrner and 10 afford evidence that
she Oldest literary form Of the legend was British
The adventures Of Tristram Of Lyonesse tTho Is
the Tristan of Wagner's tragedy form large por-
sion Of Sir Thomas Maory's thrice glorious 'AIorte
d. Arthur or modern poets Tennyson. Matthew
Arnold and swinburne have sung the passion Of
she fl-s1srred lovers
Elements OF the legend can be traced back to the
ancient Iteratures OF the Aryan peoples Inc
courtship by proxy has prototype IN Morse myth
,loev IN Slxirrair's wcoing Of Gerd for Van Frey.
The incident OF the sails belongs 10 Greek story
ale legend Of -45geus and Theseus' the magic po-
zion nav he found in ancient Persian romance; the
s+e-locad rose tree and vine over the grave Of the
lovers IS an example OF those floral auguries and
testimonies which mentioned in these vi
soettes, in connection with the legend Of Tam
1,z,,ser and the blossoming staff-howers spring
mira CuloISlv from the graves OF persons wrongly
done 70 death IN token OF their innocence.
4 legend which lives 10 be retold often is like
mirror which reflects only the original picture.
hut also the social and moral surroundings OF diff
se-ent REALTORS. So this ancient tale has been
varied BIZ the poets who have told t. and OF these
<sriants the most significant are those made by
Wagner II the ethical scheme Of the poet-com-
roser is 20 observed the chief Of these must be
kent in mind In the poems Of Cottfried, Arnold
and Svrinburne the love potion is drunk accident
silly and the passion which leads to the destruction
Of the lovers is q thing for which they in no
wise responsble: Wagner puts antecedent and con-
Ecious guilt al the door OF both OF his heroic char
Rcters: they love each other before the dreadful
drinking and do not pay the Difference TO the pas
sion which in the highest conception IL demands.
Tristan is carried away by love OF power and
glory before man and Isolde is at heart a
derer and suicide. The potion is less the creator
of an uncomfortable passion than IL is agency
that makes the lovers forget honor. duty and re-
spsct for the laws o. society. TennysOn omits all
mention OF the potion and permits imagine
rTristram and Iseult a couple OF ordinary sin
saers Sw,inburne and Arnold follow the old story
1ouching the hero's life IN Brittany with the
ond Iseult (she OF the White Hand; but while
fsprinburne preserves her a maiden wife" Ar
mold gives her a family OF children Wagner
mobiles his hero by emitting the second Isolde. thus
bringing the story into greater sympathy with
mocerr ideas OF love and exalting the passion OF
The lovers