Richard Wagner
Tristan and Isolde
Act I
Translated by Abigail Dyer © Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved.
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Contents
Act I, Scene 1
‘Study of scene design for Tristan und Isolde’
Nicholas Roerich (Russian 1874-1947)
WikiArt
A tent-like room on the foredeck of a seafaring ship, richly curtained with tapestries. At the start of the Act, these close off the Upstage from view. On one side a narrow staircase leads to the ship's interior. Isolde is on a couch, her face pressed into its cushions. Brangäne has pulled one of the curtains back and is looking out to sea.
VOICE OF A YOUNG SAILOR (sounding as if from a height, from the top of the mast)
Westward sweeps her view.
Eastward sails the crew.
Her homeland's wind blows fresh to say:
My Irish lass, what keeps you away?
Is it your tearful sighing
That sets my sails flying?
Pour forth, pour forth, you wind!
Poor you, poor little kid!
My Irish girl,
You wild, passionate girl!
ISOLDE (suddenly startling)
What man dares to mock me?
(looks around, disturbed)
Brangäne, you? Say, where are we?
BRANGÄNE (at the opening in the curtains)
Bands of blue arise in the eastern sky.
Smooth and swift sails the ship.
On such a calm sea, by evening
We'll safely have set foot on land.
ISOLDE But which land?
BRANGÄNE Cornwall's verdant strand.
ISOLDE Nevermore! Not now, not ever!
BRANGÄNE (lets the curtains fall shut and hurries worriedly to Isolde)
What is this! Mistress! Ah!
ISOLDE (staring wildly in front of her)
Degenerate race! Shameful descendent!
For this, Mother, you gave up the power
To command the sea and the storm clouds?
Insipid art of sorcery that just boils healing brews!
Awaken again, my powerful force!
Rise up from my heart where from me you hid!
Hear now my will, you hesitant whirlwinds!
Send sound and fury, thundering rain!
Send blustering storms, tremendous tornadoes!
Snatch from her dreams this slumbering sea!
Wake from the depths her malevolent greed!
Show her the plunder I shall provide her!
She'll shatter this insolent ship
And suck down what splinters are left!
And all of the souls aiding aboard her,
I will to you winds as your wage!
BRANGÄNE (greatly alarmed, attends to Isolde)
Oh, no, ah, ah, the evil that I foresaw!
Isolde! Mistress! Dear heart mine!
Confide in me your pain!
You shed no tear at leaving your father and mother,
No parting kiss for those whom you left behind
As you left your homeland, stoney cold,
Pale and silent on the boat,
Without eating, without sleep,
Stiff with misery, wild with rage.
How I suffer to adore you
And to see your pain,
Yet to be ignored!
Oh, now tell me of your pain!
Tell me, mistress, why you hurt!
Mistress Isolde,
How to console her?
If you trust me, explain it.
Now tell all to Brangäne!
ISOLDE Air! Air! How I suffocate!
Open! Open up wide!
(Brangäne hurriedly draws the two center curtains apart.)
Act I, Scene 2
(The entire length of the ship is visible, back to the helm and over the stern to the sea and horizon. Around the main mast, Center, sailors are busy rigging the lines. Beyond them are knights and pages, also busily occupied, and, standing a bit apart from them, Tristan. He stands with his arms folded, looking pensively out to sea. Kurwenal lounges casually at his feet. From high up on the mast we hear once again the voice of the Young Sailor.)
VOICE OF A YOUNG SAILOR (Off, up on the mast)
Westward sweeps her view.
Eastward sails the crew.
Her homeland's wind blows fresh to say:
My Irish lass, what keeps you away?
Is it your tearful sighing
That sets my sails flying?
Pour forth, pour forth, you wind!
Poor you, poor little kid!
My Irish girl,
You wild, passionate girl!
ISOLDE (as soon as she spots Tristan, stares fixedly at him. Dully, to herself:)
He, my chosen.
Him, I lost him.
Hero he.
Cowardly!
Death-devoted head!
Death-devoted heart!
(to Brangäne, laughing eerily)
What think you of that servant?
BRANGÄNE (following her gaze)
Which servant?
ISOLDE Him, the hero
Who turns his gaze
From mine away,
Ashamed and shy,
With downcast eye.
What's your take on him?
BRANGÄNE Could you mean Tristan, mistress mine?
The marvelous and fearless,
The subject of each bard?
The hero brave and peerless,
Good reputation's guard?
ISOLDE (mocking her)
The knight who lost his swagger,
Who flees from everything
Because a living cadaver
He brought to wed his king!
You think my poem's
Rather grim?
Ask him yourself, the rakish man:
Dare he approach me now?
The homage due and reverence for
His lady mistress, these he discards
So her gaze can no more be near his,
This hero brave and peerless!
Oh, he knows well why not!
Greet the splendid man.
Tell him his lady says
At my beck and call speedily to appear.
BRANGÄNE
So I should see if he'll come greet you?
ISOLDE You'll order him, the braggart bold, to
Fear his mistress, heed Isolde!
(At Isolde's dismissive wave of the hand, Brangäne departs and walks, ashamed, the length of the deck, passing the sailors as they work. Isolde, watching her with a fixed stare, returns to her couch where she remains throughout the following, her eyes unwaveringly on the helm.)
KURWENAL (who sees Brangäne coming, tugs on Tristan's cloak but doesn't get up)
Look out, Tristan! Message from Isolde.
TRISTAN (startling)
What's that? Isolde? My lady mistress?
(quickly pulls himself together as Brangäne approaches and bows to him)
Here's her ever-faithful servant.
With what courteous missive comes the maid?
BRANGÄNE My master Tristan,
To attend her bids Isolde, lady mine.
TRISTAN She must be weary but we're nearly there.
Before the sun has set we'll be on land.
May what my lady commands be faithfully performed.
BRANGÄNE Then let Sir Tristan pay a call.
That is my lady's wish.
TRISTAN There, where the verdant pastures
Are flecked with violet shadows,
There my king awaits his bride.
To bring her out to greet him
I'll take the fair and bright one.
I'd cede to none else that grace.
BRANGÄNE My master Tristan, listen well:
Do your duty as she bids. Attend her now.
Approach her where she awaits your call.
TRISTAN Where e'er I am, what e'er I do,
I serve most faithfully my lady's good repute.
I'm at the helm and cannot leave.
How else could safely I steer
The ship to King Mark's land?
BRANGÄNE Tristan, my master! You mock me now?
You may ignore me, a foolish maid,
But mark my mistress well!
She bid me I should tell you:
You'll order him, the braggart bold, to
Fear his mistress, heed Isolde.
KURWENAL (jumping up)
Can I supply the answer?
TRISTAN (calmly)
What answering word would you give?
KURWENAL This she should tell the maid Isold':
Who Cornwall's crown
And England's land
On Ireland's maid bestows,
No deference owes
The girl he brings
To be his uncle's bride.
A worldly man
Is brave Tristan!
Speak thus, though it emboldens
The wrath of thous'nd Isoldes.
(Tristan tries to cut him off with a gesture. As Brangäne turns to leave, indignant, Kurwenal sings after her at the top of his voice:)
"Sir Morold came to us by sea
For Cornwall's tribute money.
An island in those waters deep
Is where he now lies buried.
His head, though, hangs in Ireland
As tribute paid by England:
Hey! That's our brave Tristan!
How he paid back that man!"
(Kurwenal, admonished by Tristan, goes below. Brangäne returns, dismayed, to Isolde. She closes the curtains after her but the whole crew can still be heard singing outside:)
SAILORS "His head, though, hangs in Ireland
As tribute paid by England:
Hey! That's our brave Tristan!
How he paid back that man!"
Act I, Scene 3
(Isolde and Brangäne alone, the curtains fully closed. Isolde rises with despairing gestures of rage. Brangäne throws herself at Isolde's feet.)
BRANGÄNE How? How ever can I bear this?
ISOLDE (on the verge of a terrible outburst, quickly pulls herself together)
What news from Tristan? Tell everything he told you.
BRANGÄNE I couldn't say!
ISOLDE Come, speak without fear!
BRANGÄNE He spoke politely; said not much.
ISOLDE But then when you insisted?
BRANGÄNE Well, when I bid him to your side,
Where he is now, he said to me,
He serves most faithfully
His lady's good repute.
He's at the helm and cannot leave.
How else could safely he steer
The ship to King Mark's land?
ISOLDE (bitter, painfully)
"How else could safely he steer
The ship to King Mark's land?"
(strident, fiercely)
To take to him the tribute
He took from Ireland's shore!
BRANGÄNE But when I gave the message,
Relayed in your own words,
He let his servant Kurwenal--
ISOLDE Him, I heard loud and clearly.
No word escaped my ear.
You’re witness now to my shame
So learn just how it began.
They snicker at me, singing chanties.
I'll give them back an answer!
There came a small and shaky raft
To Ireland’s rocky strand.
Inside, an ashen, ailing man,
Pitifully close to death.
Isolde's skill, he heard, would cure.
With rare ointments and balsam pure
The wound that caused his misery
She mercifully healed.
But "Tantris" --a name chosen to disguise him--
Was Tristan! Isolde recognized him!
She saw a notch was missing
From his blade as it just lay there.
That notch precisely matched the splinter
That as message had been sent her
In Ireland's hero's head
When Tristan struck him dead!
A cry of vengeance from the grave!
To obey its call, I took the blade
And drew it on the villain.
For Morold's death, I'd kill him.
Upon his cot he looked my way,
Not at the sword, not at my hand,
He met my gaze and held it.
'Twas his suffering that tore at my heart.
The sword, I just let go of!
The wound that Morold gave him,
I healed it so I could save him,
So homeward he could journey,
Where his gaze could no longer hurt me.
BRANGÄNE My goodness! I've been such a ninny!
The guest, the one I helped you tend--
ISOLDE His praise, you hear them singing:
"Hey! That's our brave Tristan!"
Yes, he was that miserable man!
He swore a thousand oaths to me,
Ever to be faithful.
Now hear how the brave keep their word!
I let "Tantris" sneak away to his homeland.
As Tristan, he came back to call.
Upon his ship, he did demand
Ireland's heiress to wed as a wife
For Cornwall's tired monarch,
Its king, his Uncle Mark.
If Morold lived still,
What man would have dared
To do us such grave dishonor?
For this vassal, this Cornish princeling,
To sue for Ireland's Kingdom!
But I'm to blame!
Secretly I brought dishonor,
Caused this shame.
The sword of revenge,
I could have swung it!
Weak, I let the blade fall!
So now I serve our vassal.
BRANGÄNE When words of peace and friendship
By everyone were spoken,
It seemed such a happy day.
How could I have known the grief it caused to you?
ISOLDE My eyes were blind, my heart was stupid.
Courage, tame; my silence, hopeless.
For Tristan broadcast far and wide
The secret I had kept!
In silence she restored his life.
From violent foes, she her silence kept.
Her silent shield, her healing hand,
All that, he tossed aside!
Victorious and bold, he bragged
Loud and clear all about me:
"That girl's quite a prize, my uncle, Sire.
Would you take her to wed?
The dainty Irish girl I'll bring.
I know my way--I've been before.
One sign, I'll fly to Ireland's shore
To bring you back Isolde!
What fun you'll have to hold her!"
Curse you, betrayer!
Cursed be your head!
Vengeance! Death!
Death, together!
BRANGÄNE Oh, sweetheart! Darling! Mistress golden!
Fairest beauty! Dear Isolde!
(gradually leads Isolde back to the couch)
Listen! Hear me! Come sit down!
Are you mad? What useless misery!
Why get into a tizzy?
He's not a bad man, is he?
Whatever Tristan may have owed you
He pays back once and for all
With this, the glorious crown of Cornwall.
He faithfully served his uncle king
He gave you his own most valuable thing:
His own inheritance, well-intentioned,
He nobly laid down before you,
So Cornwall's queen he could call you!
(Isolde turns away)
If he chose Marke to be your spouse
Why would you sit and grouse about it?
Mark's kingly worth, you doubt it?
Of noble art and gentle mien,
Who's e'er seen his like
In splendid might?
Whom the noblest knight so faithfully serves,
Who'd not want to have the fortune
As wife to share his portion?
ISOLDE (rigidly staring ahead)
Unadored by him and yet near him every moment!
How could I withstand the torment?
BRANGÄNE You wicked child! Unadored?
(approaches Isolde, flatters and pets her)
Go find me the man who doesn't love you,
Who Isolde saw and to Isolde
Lost not his heart and soul.
But the man who chose you,
If he be cold or if some magic put him off,
That wicked man, I'd quickly catch him
And bind him with spells of love.
(secretively confiding in Isolde)
Do you not know your mother's arts?
Think you that she, who plans so well,
E'er would let you sail away
With me, without sending aid?
ISOLDE (darkly)
My mother's aid will serve me well.
I gladly welcome what she sends:
Vengeance for a betrayal,
Peace in the face of heartbreak!
That chest there, bring it here!
BRANGÄNE In there you'll find a cure.
(fetches a small golden chest, opens it and points out the contents)
Like so arranged your mother
The potent magic potions:
For wounds and bruises, here's the balm.
Here's deadly poison's antidote.
(takes out a vial)
The finest brew, I hold right here.
ISOLDE You're wrong. I know one better.
I marked it specially here on its cap.
(takes a vial and holds it up)
This brew is what I need.
BRANGÄNE (pulls back, horrified)
The deadly brew!
(Isolde has risen from her couch and hears with growing alarm the sailors' call:)
SAILORS (Off)
Ho! He! Ha! Hey!
Take in the sail
And lower mast!
Ho! He! Ha! He!
ISOLDE That means a journey swift.
Sorrow! Soon we'll arrive!
Act I, Scene 4
(Kurwenal barges in through the curtains)
KURWENAL Up, up, you ladies!
Look you sharp! Up and at 'em!
Rise and shine and make it quick!
(more formally)
To Dame Isolde, this I convey
From brave Tristan, master mine:
We've raised our joyful banner.
It flutters out toward the coast.
In Marke's royal palace
They see the craft approach.
He bids Isolde to make ready
To land in Cornwall shortly
So that he can escort her.
ISOLDE (having first shrunk back in fear at his message, pulls herself together. With dignity:)
To Tristan carry my regards
And bring him this, my message:
If I'm to stand beside him
Upon the monarch's arrival,
That can't be done properly or right
Unless he seeks me in advance
And offers to atone
For injuries he's done.
(Kurwenal makes a defiant gesture. Isolde continues with increasing intensity:)
You, listen well and tell it true!
Nobody will escort me
To land in Cornwall shortly,
Nor will I go stand beside him
Upon the monarch's arrival
Unless he comes here
To seek my pardon.
Propriety demands it thus
For injuries he's done.
Then I'll let him atone!
KURWENAL Rest assured I'll tell him so.
Let's see how he reacts!
(He exits quickly. Isolde hurries to Brangäne and hugs her fiercely.)
ISOLDE Now farewell, Brangäne!
Send my regards! Kisses to Father and Mother!
BRANGÄNE What's this? What madness?
You wish to flee? But wither should I follow?
ISOLDE (quickly gets ahold of herself)
Did you not hear? I'll stay put.
Tristan I wish to wait for.
Now carry out what I command.
Atonement's drink, go prepare.
You know which one I mean.
(takes the vial from the chest)
BRANGÄNE What brew is that?
ISOLDE This one here!
In the golden chalice pour it out.
That cup will hold it all.
BRANGÄNE (takes the vial, horrified)
How can this be?
ISOLDE Do as I bid!
BRANGÄNE The brew--for whom?
ISOLDE All who betrayed.
BRANGÄNE Tristan?
ISOLDE Drink to atonement!
BRANGÄNE (throwing herself at Isolde's feet)
The horror! Spare me! Have pity!
ISOLDE (very forcefully)
You should spare me, unfaithful maid!
Do you not know my mother's arts?
Think you that she, who plans so well,
E'er would let me sail away
With you, without sending aid?
For wounds and bruises, she sent balsam.
For deadly poison, antidote.
For deepest pain, for sharpest grief,
Sent she the deadly brew.
Now death gives thanks to her!
BRANGÄNE (barely conscious)
Oh, deepest pain!
ISOLDE You'll do as I bid?
BRANGÄNE Oh, sharpest grief!
ISOLDE Faithfully serve?
BRANGÄNE The brew?
KURWENAL (coming in)
Sir Tristan!
(Brangäne stands in shock and confusion. With tremendous effort, Isolde tries to pull herself together.)
ISOLDE Sir Tristan may approach!
Act I, Scene 5
(Kurwenal exits. Brangäne, barely conscious, moves Upstage. Isolde, using all her strength to collect herself, walks slowly and with great dignity toward the couch and leans against it as she watches the entryway. Tristan comes in and remains courteously at the entryway. Isolde, very upset, is lost in his gaze. Long silence.)
TRISTAN What is madam's heart's desire?
ISOLDE Surely you know what I desire.
Did not the fear I would fulfill it
Keep you from coming here?
TRISTAN Honor kept me away.
ISOLDE Yet little honor showed you to me,
With blatant scorn, refusing all obedience to my command.
TRISTAN Obedience alone held me back.
ISOLDE So then does your duty to your lord
Call for the improper behavior you show to his wife?
TRISTAN Proper men, where I come from,
Who bring brides to their bridegrooms,
Keep away from brides!
ISOLDE And why is that?
TRISTAN Ask what's proper!
ISOLDE Since you're so proper, good Sir Tristan,
Propriety dictates also this:
Your foe's still your foeman
Until he's made atonement.
TRISTAN And who's this foe?
ISOLDE Ask what you fear!
Bloodguilt hangs between us.
TRISTAN That was resolved.
ISOLDE Not between us!
TRISTAN Out on a field, before a crowd,
We swore our satisfaction.
ISOLDE But that's not where I Tantris hid,
Where Tristan to me fell.
He stood in public healed and whole.
But what he swore, I swore it not.
I'd learned my silence to keep.
When he lay in silence, sick in bed,
With the sword I stood before the man.
I stayed my hand, I silenced my voice.
But what with my hand and voice I once vowed,
I swore in silence to keep it.
Now this is my chance. I'll seize it!
TRISTAN What vow was that?
ISOLDE Vengeance for Morold!
TRISTAN Why the fuss?
ISOLDE Dare you to mock me?
Morold was my betrothed,
An Irish hero great.
Morold's weapons, I sanctified.
For me, he went to fight.
When he was fallen,
Fell my good name.
From my suffering heart,
I swore of his death:
If no man took retribution
Then this maid herself would do it.
Sick and weak and in my power,
Why did I not kill you then?
You know yourself how this will end.
I healed and cured him
So when I restored him,
He'd be killed by the man
Who would win me back from Tristan.
Your fate? Well, you yourself can assess it:
If all men have pledged Tristan their friendship,
Who's left to bring him vengeance?
TRISTAN (pale and grim)
Was Morold such a friend?
Then take the sword again
And this time hold it just so
So you don't happen to let go!
(offers her the sword)
ISOLDE So badly could I treat your master?
Whatever would King Mark think of me
If I should smite his servant good
Who for him won Ireland,
His best, most faithful man?
Care you so little for his reward?
You bring him Ireland's queen to wed!
Would he not scold if I slew the envoy
Who won him a truce
And brings the pledge for his use?
Put back your sword! I took it when
I saw the chance for Morold's revenge.
When you looked in my eyes to calculate
If I Lord Mark might please as his mate,
The sword, I dropped that moment.
Now drink to our atonement!
(She summons Brangäne. Brangäne shudders and moves hesitantly. Isolde spurs her on with ever more emphatic gestures. Brangäne turns to the preparation of the brew.)
SAILORS (from Off)
Ho! He! Ha! He!
Take in, take in
The topsail now!
TRISTAN (speaks from the depths of his gloom)
Where are we?
ISOLDE Near the end!
Tristan, you'll make atonement?
What words have you to tell me?
TRISTAN (darkly)
The queen of silence wants me silent:
I see what she cannot say.
I say not what she can't see.
ISOLDE I see your silent hedging around.
Will you make atonement now?
(At Isolde's impatient gesture, Brangäne hands her the goblet, which has been filled.)
SAILORS Ho! He! Ha! He!
Ho! He! Ha! He!
ISOLDE (walks to Tristan with the goblet. He stares fixedly into her eyes.)
You hear the call? We're at the end.
In just a bit we'll stand before King Marke.
(lightly mocking)
When you walk me in won't it be sweet
If you thus address him:
"Uncle and Lord, come check her out.
A nicer girl you'll never find.
Even after I struck her fiancé dead
And sent her home his head,
The wounds her fiancé's weapon made
She healed so helpfully.
My life lay in her power mild.
She gave it me, the gentle child,
Along with Ireland defiled,
A second gift, so she
Your wedded wife could be.
Such bounteous graciousness, I think,
Earned me atonement's sweetest drink.
She mixed it meek and mild,
All guilt to reconcile."
SAILORS (Off)
Man the ropes!
Anchors up!
TRISTAN (wildly startling)
Up the anchor and into the tide!
To wind the sails and mast!
(grabs the goblet from her)
I know the Queen of Ireland well
And well I know her wondrous skill.
The tonic took I that she gave.
The goblet take I now
So fully I'll recover.
Give heed to the atonement oath
I take as well, to thank you:
Tristan's honor's utmost faith!
Tristan's heartache, boldly scorned!
Heart's betrayal!
Dream's presentment!
Boundless sorrow's only balm:
Oblivion's gentle drink,
From you I shall not shrink!
(puts his lips to the goblet and drinks)
ISOLDE Betrayed here, too?
Half is mine still!
(snatches the goblet away from him)
Betrayer! I drink to you!
(She drinks, then throws the goblet aside. The two, gripped by terror, gaze rigidly but with great agitation into each other's eyes. Their expressions soon turn from deathly defiance to the glow of love. Trembling, they embrace. They grab, cramped, at their hearts, touch their hands to their brows. Then they look into each other's eyes again. They sink again into confusion and come together again with increasing longing.)
ISOLDE (with tremulous voice)
Tristan!
TRISTAN (overwhelmed)
Isolde!
ISOLDE (sinking onto his breast)
Unfaithful lover!
TRISTAN (ardently embraces her)
Lady adored!
(They remain in a silent embrace.)
(Trumpets are heard in the distance, Off.)
CHORUS Hail to King Marke! Hail!
BRANGÄNE (her face turned away in terror and horror, she had been leaning overboard. Now she turns and sees the lovers embracing. She stumbles Downstage, wringing her hands in confusion.)
No! Oh, no!
They eternal torment get
Instead of death!
Foolish, faithful deed of betrayal
Brought their sorrow about!
(Tristan and Isolde come out of their embrace.)
TRISTAN (confused)
What dream had I of Tristan's honor?
ISOLDE What dream had I of Isolde's shame?
TRISTAN Did you renounce me?
ISOLDE Did you reject me?
TRISTAN Magic's deceitful, cleverest trick!
Isolde, tenderest maid!
ISOLDE Umbrage's stupid, empty threat!
Tristan, dearest of men!
TRISTAN AND ISOLDE See how our two hearts lift up and flutter!
See how our senses ardently shudder:
Passionate longing's budding refulgence,
Ravening love's enraptured indulgence,
Breast's burning cry,
Joyful delight!
Isolde! Tristan!
From all the world freed!
You're won unto me!
Nothing but you exists!
Utmost loving bliss!
(The curtains are pulled wide open. The ship is filled with sailors and knights who wave joyfully over the side of the boat towards the shore, which is visible and crowned with a fortress on its cliff. Tristan and Isolde remain lost in each others' eyes, unaware of all this.)
BRANGÄNE (to the ladies who come up from below deck at her command)
Quick, her mantel! Her royal crown!
(throws herself between Tristan and Isolde)
Sorry souls! Up! Hear where we are!
(dresses Isolde, who remains oblivious, in her royal mantle)
MEN Hail, hail, hail!
Hail King Marke! Hail!
KURWENAL (enters jovially)
Hail Tristan, fortunate knight!
With his distinguished courtiers,
On his barque, arrives King Marke.
He's getting such a kick
Out of this wedding trip!
TRISTAN (looks around confused)
Who comes?
KURWENAL The monarch!
TRISTAN Who? What monarch?
(Kurwenal points overboard)
MEN (waving their hats)
Hail to King Marke!
To King Marke hail!
(Tristan stares blindly toward land.)
ISOLDE (confused)
What's that, Brangäne? What's that cry?
BRANGÄNE (despairingly)
Isolde! Mistress! Gather yourself!
ISOLDE (stares horrified at Tristan)
Where am I? Living? Which was that brew?
BRANGÄNE (despairing)
Eternal love!
ISOLDE Tristan!
TRISTAN Isolde!
ISOLDE Must I live on?
(she faints onto his breast)
BRANGÄNE (to the ladies)
Help our mistress!
TRISTAN Oh, wonderful and spiteful!
Oh, rapture blessed by guile!
MEN (general rejoicing)
Cornwall! Hail!
(sound of trumpets from the shore)
(People have climbed aboard; others have lowered the gangplank. Their behavior indicates the imminent arrival of the King's retinue as the Act I Curtain quickly falls.)
ACT I CURTAIN