Sorry long poem, but well worth a read and had to share it.
Tristan and Isolde
Weep for Isolde of the White Hands
Weep for King Mark, lord of the lands.
Weep for Isolde of Britain, his queen
And weep for Tristan, caught between.
Such fate of sadness had to be
For the events that harrowed he
That brought fair Isolde the Blonde
To Uncle King Mark, of which he was fond.
His sword was sworn to his blood kin
So treacherous thought would not begin
Yet to seal the vows families had made
A philter of love was secretly bade.
Two hearts untouched by love till then
Filled suddenly with unquenchable yen
Two thirsty souls parched and dry
A love so strong they could not deny.
Weep for the handmaiden the filter to hide
Mistaken for wine her mistress did embide.
Weep for the couple with happiness found
This love, only pain would it compound.
Isolde the Blonde must marry the King
Already their hearts were longing.
And so Tristan the brave brought a queen
And gave away his only love unseen.
A secret of this, it would not keep
Weep for all this fate, I bid you weep.
A jealous King did have his rights,
To banish Tristan from his sights.
And so he wandered the land, forgotten
By his only love he was most certain.
With great deeds done over hill and dale
His reputation amounted a lengthening tale.
And yet his heart was only filled with pain
For the love he could never attain.
And for a great deed done in the lands
He was given Isolde of the White Hands.
She was beautiful it was quite true
Yet his heart he could not undo.
But thinking his only love was happy elsewhere
He bade then marry this new Isolde fair.
He thought, her name, it would only aid
The marriage to which he was then bade.
And yet the opposite of such would ensue
For she would never be equal to a love true .
Weep for all this philter has touched
The two who's hearts were then clutched
And all along their fated trails
Who found naught but love's travails.
And as the last chapter is written
Tristan lies dying of a fated poison.
Heroic deeds to hide his torment
Did finally lead to everyone's lament.
He bid his wife's brother come near
And asked for the quest all did fear.
Only the magic of his love quite true
Could cause the poison's path to undo.
But Isolde, his wife, heard the request
And vowed to have revenge for the quest
She had suspected his heart was hers not
And now her thoughts were all distraught.
He bade his wife's brother to sail with a ring
And ask that Isolde the fair he would bring
Raise the white sails if Isolde be below
Or the black if you return with but sorrow.
And so Tristan did cling barely to life
Though his veins filled with poison rife.
And Isolde of the White Hands watched the seas
As love turns to hate and her hate to appease.
Weep for Kaherdin, brother to Tristan's wife
Who asked not this quest brought by strife.
Weep for the shadows that followed his sail
Weep for the sad future that none would avail.
When last he came to King Trent's domain
Seeking Isolde and finding what did remain.
Behind the beauty that legends had told
Was but a shadow of a soul grown old.
Isolde sat silently watching her children play
, Only the faintest smile for new life's new day.
Slowly it faded as memory returned anew,
Sadness seeping back from a love lost true .
Gaunt and thin, decades past her years,
He knew she had shed a lifetime's worth of tears.
What would he say to this shadow before him ?
What do you say when two lives have grown dim?
He had found Isolde the blonde, Isolde the fair ,
And she agreed without question to accompany him there.
It was the first hint of life he had seen in Queen Isolde
And he wept silently for this young life grown old.
Her love was still strong for Tristan the brave
Her magic she would use and his life would save.
As promised Kaherdin sailed with sails of white
Not knowing the plans brewing with each passing night.
And when at last the ship on the horizon was seen,
Isolde, wife to Tristan, was filled with jealous mien.
As wife to Tristan she told him what was there
That black sails unfurled tall to speak of despair.
Without a tear, hope fled Tristan's soul
And Tristan's wife suddenly realized the terrible toll
Her revenge was just and swift she had known
One breath later Tristan's soul had flown.
Queen Isolde, Isolde the fair, arrived much too late,
To save her love from this terrible fate.
Isolde of the White Hands could not even meet her eyes
As her husbands great love's tears did rise.
She watched as the queen went unto her man
Knowing there was nothing left to scan.
Isolde the Queen, Isolde the fair,
Fell to his side as he lay there.
And life left her too, and they finally found peace
Two bodies lay empty after the soul's release.
Weep for all there at the terrible sight
Weep for the impossible love in their plight.
Black sails sailed home To Mark the King
To harold the death of his beautiful Queen.
He buried the two, separated by paces
Cursing them apart in this holy of places.
But overnight two trees grew taller than ages
And like true lovers embraced in their branches.
A furious and wounded King, ordered them burned
Yet cut down and destroyed, each night they returned
but yes unfortunately it could be wrong place wrong time when people meet...is it destiny/fate?
