| 💿 Act 2: “Isolde! Geliebte!... Tristan! Geliebter!” | |
| Both | Isolde! |
| Tristan! | |
| Beloved! | |
| Art thou mine? | |
| Have I regained thee? | |
| May I embrace thee? | |
| Dare I believe it? | |
| At last! At last! | |
| Upon my breast? | |
| Feel I thee truly? | |
| See I thee surely? | |
| These thine eyes? | |
| This thy mouth? | |
| Here thy hand? | |
| Here thy heart? | |
| Is't I? Is't thou? Hold I thee fast? | |
| Is't I? Is't thou? Is this no guile? | |
| Is this no dream? | |
| O wondrous bliss of soul! | |
| O sweetest, noblest, boldest, loveliest, holiest joy! | |
| Without equal! | |
| Overflowing! | |
| Overwhelming! | |
| Endless! | |
| Ageless! | |
| Unforeseen, unfathomed! | |
| Exultant, exalted! | |
| Joy-resounding! | |
| Bliss-abounding! | |
| Heaven-highest | |
| World-transcendence! | |
| Mine! | |
| Tristan mine! | |
| Isolde mine! | |
| Tristan mine! | |
| Isolde mine! | |
| Mine and thine! | |
| Mine and thine! | |
| Ever! | |
| Tristan mine, Isolde ever thine! | |
| Isolde mine! | |
| Tristan! | |
| Isolde! | |
| Tristan! | |
| Isolde! | |
| Forever, forever... | |
| One! | |
| Isolde | How long so far! |
| How far so long! | |
| Tristan | How far so near! |
| So near how far! | |
| Isolde | O foe of friendship, |
| Cursèd distance! | |
| Laggard Time's lingering hours! | |
| Tristan | O far and near, harshly sundered! |
| Blessèd nearness! | |
| Barren farness! | |
| Isolde | In darkness thou, |
| In light was I! | |
| Tristan | The light! The light! |
| O, cruel light— | |
| How long unquenched this night! | |
| The Sun had sunk, | |
| The Day was dead, | |
| But then its spite | |
| Was stifled not: | |
| Its baleful beacon | |
| Soon did ignite, | |
| And set at my dear one's threshold, | |
| Thus I was barred from her hold. | |
| Isolde | But thy dear one's hand |
| Quenchèd the light, | |
| What the maid protested | |
| Brought me no fright. | |
| In Dame Minne's might and shield, | |
| I bade the Day to yield! | |
| Tristan | The Daylight! The Daylight! |
| The traitorous Daylight! | |
| For Day's blazing torment: | |
| Wrath and lament! | |
| As thou the light— | |
| O might I the Sun— | |
| For Love's anguish wreak vengeance: | |
| Quell brazen Daytime's ascendance! | |
| Is there a woe, is there a pine, | |
| Left unwakened by its shine? | |
| Yet in the Night’s dimming delights: | |
| My sweet love kept it near; | |
| From her home did it leer! | |
| Isolde | What thy loved one kept near her home, |
| In his own heart how wild it shone, | |
| There my dearest bore it boldly: | |
| Tristan—when he betrayed! | |
| Was it not Day that through him lied, | |
| When he to Ireland sought a bride, | |
| To Marke my hand would he bind, | |
| To Death his troth be enshrined? | |
| Tristan | The Day! The Day that round thee glist'd! |
| To where she shone like the Sun, it seemed, | |
| In highest honour's splendour gleamed, | |
| Isolde—reft from me! | |
| And though mine eye rejoicèd so, | |
| My heart was sunk to earth below: | |
| In Day's resplendent shine, | |
| How was Isolde mine? | |
| Isolde | Was she not thine, |
| When thee she chose? | |
| What lie did evil Day impose, | |
| To draw thee from the destined | |
| Belovèd thou betrayèdst? | |
| Tristan | What gleamed round thee |
| For glory's chance: | |
| The honour's glint, | |
| The power's glance. | |
| On these my heart was hanging, | |
| Delusion’s thrall enslaving. | |
| That which doth beam most radiant shine, | |
| Upon all heads its splendours blind, | |
| The World's most vaunted glory: Day's Sun, | |
| With all its rays of vain elation, | |
| Through brow and mind drove deep in mine, | |
| Down to my heart's most inner shrine. | |
| What once the chaste, pure Night | |
| Darkly concealed from sight, | |
| Beyond delusion's ken, | |
| Was dawned upon me then: | |
| A vision dread with wonder | |
| Mine eyes dared not to ponder, | |
| But by Daylight's shine awoken, | |
| Was then laid glist'ring open! | |
| What seemed exalted past all peer, | |
| I praised before the host to hear; | |
| Before all peoples, praised in pride | |
| The Earth's most beauteous royal bride! | |
| The spite in me that Day had laid, | |
| The fervour which my joy dismayed, | |
| The envy that made pride frown | |
| As vows began to weigh me down, | |
| All these I defied! | |
| In troth I'd bide: | |
| I'll save my fame and honour, | |
| For Ireland, weigh anchor! | |
| 💿 Act 2: “O eitler Tagesknecht!” | |
| Isolde | O vain Day-slave! |
| Beguiled by that which beguiled thee, | |
| How I for loving thee did suffer! | |
| When in the Daylight's hollow splendour, | |
| Unto its dazzle he'd surrender, | |
| There where the Love had consecrated, | |
| My deepest heart then blazed with hatred! | |
| Ah, to my heart's ground intruding, | |
| How deeply smote his wounding! | |
| Him there I in secret yearned— | |
| Yet then from me he turned, | |
| When on the Daylight's altar, | |
| My cherished one did falter, | |
| From Love's glances he fled— | |
| A foe stood in his stead! | |
| That which as a traitor illumed thee, | |
| From the light of Day I longed to flee, | |
| And there into Night draw thee with me: | |
| Where the falsehood endeth, | |
| My heart did promise, | |
| The forefelt illusive veil shall sever; | |
| Then would we drink of Love forever, | |
| With thee, forsake the Sun— | |
| Hallow to Death as one. | |
| Tristan | In thy hand sweet Death was hid, |
| As I recognized what thou didst bid; | |
| Noble forefeeling, sure unto me, | |
| Showed what atonement promised to be! | |
| And then dawned with a mild, exalted might: | |
| My bosom filled with Night; | |
| My Day: it was finished. | |
| Isolde | Thou wast gulled by the guileful drink, |
| So that again the Night did sink, | |
| And he seeking Death alone | |
| Was back to Day then thrown! | |
| Tristan | O hail the potion! |
| Hail to the draught! | |
| Hail to its magic power's craft! | |
| Through the gates of Death, | |
| To me it flowed, | |
| Far and broad, | |
| It to me disclosed: | |
| That place my dreaming glimpsed but a sight: | |
| The wonder-realm of Night! | |
| From the view in my deep heart's sheltering shrine, | |
| It drove back Daylight's devious shine; | |
| So Night-sighted, mine eye be | |
| Worthy to see it truly! | |
| Isolde | Yet revenge it took, the rejected Day, |
| It found thy guilt and made thee pay, | |
| What thou wast shown by dark, dawning Night, | |
| To the Daytime Star's regal might, | |
| Thou yet wast forced to surrender: | |
| Dwell alone | |
| In desolate light, | |
| Gleaming midst | |
| Bleak splendour. | |
| Could I bear it then? | |
| Can I bear it now? | |
| Tristan | O, now we are by Night anointed! |
| That treacherous Day, with envy pointed, | |
| Part us, might its disguise, | |
| But no longer cheat us with lies! | |
| Its idle pomp, and its arrogant rise, | |
| Are mocked when the Night hath blessed our eyes! | |
| Its flickering light of flittering flashes | |
| Dazzle us no more! | |
| Who doth Death's dark Night fondly behold, | |
| For whom her deepest secrets unfold: | |
| The frauds of Daylight, pride and fame, | |
| Might and lucre, in shine's acclaim: | |
| Seem dust, forlorn and scattered, | |
| Adrift in sunbeams shattered! | |
| Amidst Day's deluded churning | |
| Remaineth one single yearning: | |
| The yearning for the Holy Night, | |
| For All-Eternal's solely true | |
| Loving-wonder's delight! | |
| 💿 Act 2: “O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe” | |
| Both | O sink upon me, Night of Loving, |
| Grant oblivion of my living, | |
| Take me up unto thy breast, | |
| Loose me from the World's unrest. | |
| Tristan | Extinguished now |
| The light which deceived... | |
| Isolde | What we perceived... |
| What we conceived... | |
| Tristan | All rememb'ring... |
| Isolde | All reminding... |
| Both | Hallowed gloaming, |
| Wordless knowing, | |
| Banish now delusion's thrall: | |
| World-redeeming all. | |
| Isolde | Deep in bosom |
| The Sun is hidden, | |
| Shine with laughter, | |
| Stars of rapture! | |
| Tristan | Thy spell enfolds me, |
| Soft its weaving, | |
| Before thy gazing, | |
| Sweet my fading! | |
| Isolde | Heart on heart, one beat to sound, |
| Tristan | Mouth on mouth, one breath we're bound, |
| Both | My gaze breaks, the bliss blinding me, |
| It pales the World most radiantly, | |
| Isolde | That which the Day falsely doth light, |
| Tristan | And sets its illusions cheating our sight! |
| Both | Even then... |
| Am I... | |
| The World! | |
| Bliss supremely woven, | |
| Love borne holy in the living; | |
| Nevermore-awaking's | |
| Falseless, | |
| Sweetly conscious wish. | |
| 💿 Act 2: “Einsam wachend in der Nacht” | |
| Brang. | Lonely, watching |
| In the Night, | |
| To whom the dream | |
| Of Love holds tight: | |
| Hear the one who | |
| Keeps the sight! | |
| For the sleepers | |
| Danger's nigh, | |
| Warn I— | |
| Heed mine awaking cry! | |
| Ye beware! | |
| Ye beware! | |
| Soon shall dawn Night's heir. | |
| 💿 Act 2: “Lausch, Geliebter!” | |
| Isolde | Hark, |
| Beloved! | |
| Tristan | Let me perish! |
| Isolde | Jealous watcher! |
| Tristan | Never waken! |
| Isolde | Yet for Day must Tristan waken? |
| Tristan | Let the Day to Death be taken! |
| Isolde | Day and Death, with their equal striking, |
| Shall they reach our Love's uniting? | |
| Tristan | Reach our Loving? Tristan's Loving? |
| Thine and mine, Isolde's Loving? | |
| Which of Death's strokes ever | |
| Could cause its surrender? | |
| Stood he 'fore me, that Death with might, | |
| With my life and body in plight, | |
| Which I willingly for Love would forfeit, | |
| Could he, with all his striking | |
| Reach Love Itself to destroy it? | |
| Die now, would I, | |
| Death I'd gladly cherish, | |
| But how could the Love | |
| Within me perish, | |
| The All-Eternal, | |
| With me... | |
| Ended? | |
| If perisheth not his Loving, | |
| Could dying part Tristan from his Love? | |
| Isolde | But our Loving, |
| Is it not Tristan... and Isolde? | |
| This sweet little word: “and”... | |
| What it binds as one, | |
| The lovers' bond, | |
| If Tristan dies, | |
| Be it destroyed by Death? | |
| Tristan | What could end with Death, |
| But all that spurns | |
| What Tristan yearns: | |
| Isolde for my Loving? | |
| Eternally for her living? | |
| Isolde | Yet, this little word: “and”, |
| Were it destroyed, | |
| How other than with Isolde's own life given, | |
| Would Tristan, in Death, find union? | |
| 💿 Act 2: “So starben wir, um ungetrennt” | |
| Tristan | So let us die |
| To be made one... | |
| Ever melded, | |
| Not undone... | |
| Without waking, | |
| Without aching, | |
| Namelessly | |
| In Love embracing, | |
| Of ourselves, all given, | |
| For Love alone still living! | |
| Isolde | So let us die |
| To be made one... | |
| Tristan | Ever melded, |
| Not undone... | |
| Isolde | Without waking, |
| Tristan | Without aching, |
| Isolde | Namelessly |
| Both | In Love embracing, |
| Of ourselves, all given, | |
| For Love alone still living! | |
| Brang. | Ye beware! |
| Ye beware! | |
| Now yielding to Day, Night's care. | |
| Tristan | Should I hearken? |
| Isolde | Let me perish! |
| Tristan | Must I waken? |
| Isolde | Never waken! |
| Tristan | Should the Day make Tristan waken? |
| Isolde | Let the Day to Death be taken! |
| Tristan | Have Day's looming threats been dashed forever? |
| Isolde | From its fraud, evermore flying free! |
| Tristan | Its dim dawning shine affrights no longer? |
| Isolde | Endlessly now: the Night! |
| Both | Eternal Night, |
| Sweetest Night! | |
| High-exalted | |
| Loving Night! | |
| Whom thou enfoldedst, | |
| On whom thou smil'dst, | |
| How then, unconsoled, could | |
| He wake, from thee exiled? | |
| Now banish all fearing, | |
| Gracious Death, | |
| Longingly-craved, | |
| Love-in-Death! | |
| In thine arms yearning, | |
| Vowed to thee, | |
| Primal-holy warming, | |
| From all waking's woe... set free! | |
| How to grasp it? | |
| How to leave it? | |
| This bliss sublime, | |
| Far from sunshine, | |
| Far the morrow's | |
| Parting sorrows! | |
| Without spurning, | |
| Gentle yearning. | |
| Without fearing, | |
| Sweet endearing. | |
| Without sighing, | |
| Hallowed dying. | |
| Without pining, | |
| Night-enshrining. | |
| Without thwarting, | |
| Without parting, | |
| Us alone... | |
| Just us alone | |
| Ever home | |
| In unimagined realms where | |
| Beatific dreams we'll share. | |
| Thou, Isolde... | |
| Tristan, thou... | |
| Tristan, I... | |
| I, Isolde... | |
| No longer Isolde... | |
| No longer Tristan. | |
| Without naming... | |
| Without parting... | |
| New realizing... | |
| New igniting... | |
| Without end... | |
| Ageless one-awareness... | |
| Endless... | |
| One-awareness... | |
| Endless... | |
| Ageless... | |
| Ageless... | |
| Endless! | |
| Fervent burning of | |
| Utmost joy of Love! | |
| Endless, ageless! | |
| Fervent burning of | |
| Utmost joy of Love... | |
| Utmost Love's joy! | |
Tristan und Isolde
Act 2: Love Duet
New English translation of Richard Wagner's German libretto, synchronized to the recording
In the garden of King Marke's castle, with the king away hunting by night, Isolde has put out the torch that was the signal for Tristan to come. He rushes to her, and the lovers curse the Day, whose lure of honour and fame led him to win her as a bride for Marke. They sink into the Night of love. Brangäne's warning from the tower goes unheeded as they long to die together, never to wake, their names and selves dissolved in endless love. And yet, Night must yield to Day.