Oh God, how easy was it then!—See what
Befell! There, 'twixt their bodies lay a sword,
All naked, ay, and sharp—
'Twas Morholl's sword!
—Then silently I took it, and I left
Mine own, and, like a fool, I wept at their
Great purity!
2d Baron.
Was Tristram so much moved
By this exchange of swords that he gave back
Thy wife Iseult?
Mark (violently).
And, God! I took her! See
His cunning counsel circumvented then
The red hot steel and made her innocence
Seem more apparent, and her hands shone white,
Unburned, and all unscarred like ivory
After the test! My nephew Tristram fled,
Exiled, and the decree that ye all know
Was sealed. So harken now, ye witnesses
Of the decree: if Tristram were to break
The bond and secretly, and in disguise
Return to Cornwall—
3d Baron.
God forbid!
4th Baron.
Yet if
Lord Tristram should do this and break the bond,
And thus endanger both his life and Queen Iseult's—
5th Baron.
If such the case they lied to thee,
King Mark, and unto God!
Dinas.
They lied! They lied!
Ay, man, they lied to me and unto God!
And now I need no longer feel my way
Nor tap about me in the dark, nor bump
My soul against my blindness! Ay, they lied!
My bed was foul; my life a jest for knaves,
For they had lied. But then, behold, that man
There came,—Denovalin I hate thee!—came
And said Lord Tristram broke the bond—
[The Barons spring up.]
1st Baron.
How so?
2d Baron.
What knows he?