New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-04-06

gold. very fair. and so 1t was that on a
CAY when they were at sea. and were
Hthirst Sir Tristram espied this fi6skct,
and it seemed 20 him. by the color and
fragrance. that the wine therein was
noble wine
80 he took il ina his hard. end said:
Madame lscuit. here Is the best drinl;
that ever NC drank. that your maiden
Dame BreEWaync. and my servant nave
kept for themselves" Then they laughed.
and each drank TO other freely, Whefe-
fore. that wine being Of virtue magical
they loved each other 50 well that never
their love departed for veal or voc.
Now. Sir Thomas tells here much
Eoodly matter concerning Sir Palamedes,
and how he loved the fair lSeult and
carried her away from King Mark 81
Cornwall and how Sir Tristram sought
her and Sorrowed till he WAS out OF MS
mind. But here, l wot. Sir Thomas can
rot be Well believed. for that Sir Fala-
modes was A knight Of paynim Greece
that fought At Troy town. and was
drowned by his enemies while he was
fishing. as We may read i'm the Greek
book called "CNprie.' by Messire Sjasl-
nus, who died eight hundred years before
the first Christmas Day; SO that here. |
say. sir Thomas hath been beguiled by
niEromancy. and speaks not sooth. For
no man can always find length, AS men
say but viii anon he off the spot
Now came news 10 King Mark and 10
Iseult that Sir Tristram had been iound
dead IN a forest that he haunted, s one
out az his mind for love Of the fair
Iscult Then Iscult took n sword. and
bare Il into her garden, and plight 1t into
q Dlum tree, 50 that the point stood out
breasr-high and she would have run
upon il. and so slain herself for love OF
Sir Tristram. For she cried. i may
not live after the death Of Sir Tristram,
!, e =
last" These words King Mark heard.
for he was in the garden: and he took
away the sword. and bade her women
shut M Iseult in q tower. where she va
guarded surely. But King Mark found
re ked man and distraught passing IN
the wild wood. and knew him not. but
brought him TO Tintagel that he might
be healed, and. 10, hound that was in
the castle knew him for Sir Tristrau,
and leaDed about him. fawntng on him.
This hound had been given To Iseult by
Sir Tristram when they sailed from
Cornwall and Iseult heholdlng how the
hound welcomed the strange man, her
self knew him for her own true lover.
But King Mark likewise knew him by
the same token. and 50 baniShed Sir
Tristram out Of his country.
Here Sir Tristram leaves off telling
Of the fair Iseult. and Of Sir Tristram
only tells about his jousting in tourna
medes. that Grecian knight. and caused
him 70 be christened. OF the rest, says
Sir Thomas there is no rehearsal.
though there is much more 10 he re-
heareed. Indeed, the rest is told in vari-
Gus ways. as by Tennyson, where King
Mark "a very ill-used potentate and
uncle) lies in wait for his nephew and
rival Tristram. and cleaves him through
the head.
There IS also the version in which
Tristram marries the other Iseult Iseult
of Britanny Of the fair hands. and how
he comes 70 die in his bed. and Iseult
the First comes and takes her last fare
well Of him But I have at hand only
Nalorv's book in DR.. Oskar Sommer's
edition, and any reader may end the
story as he pleases. perhaps in the man
uer Of WaEner's opera: certainly II aid
not end well. There are versions as IN
the rhymed English romance. where the
lovers by no means deserve to end wei,
for they betrav the unsuspeCting Uncle
Mark in various unworthy ways, ana
Iseult actually plots the death Of her
lady, Dame Bragwayne. merely because
the LOYAL Bragwayne knows too much
q bout her mistress's conduct. Sir Iris
tram. as the best Of harpers and hunters.
was very popular in the Middle Ages, but
he and Iseult are at most. poor shadows
n Tancel0t and GuineVere.