The Strange Leper, whose hood has fallen back during the conflict, goes quickly to the foot of the steps. His forehead is bound with a narrow band. Iseult stands motionless with closed eyes.

Str. Leper.
Iseult!

(Anxiously, wonderingly and imploringly.)

Iseult!

Iseult (throws back her head, shuddering. She keeps her eyes closed. Slowly and heavily.)
Thou beast! Thou dog!

Str. Leper.
Iseult! 'Tis I who call!

Iseult (hastily, as though to cover herself with the words).
I beg thee, beast, thou evil beast, speak not!
If in thy loathsome carcass there still dwells
Some remnant of a man, I pray thee slay
Me, but speak not!

Str. Leper (uncertainly).
Iseult!

[He falls on his knees opposite the steps,
but at a distance from them; and leans
back until his thighs rest upon his heels.]

Iseult.
Speak not! Be still,
And kill me now! They've left me not so much
As one small pin with which to kill myself!
Behold! I kneel to thee, and like some low
And humble maid, I beg thee, beast, to kill
Me, and I'll bless thee!

Str. Leper.
Oh, Iseult, dost thou
No longer love Lord Tristram who was once
Thy friend?

Iseult (stares at him for a moment).
Thou speak'st, thou speak'st, thou beast, and star'st!
Yet God shall punish thee since, though I beg,
Thou would'st not kill me now!

Str. Leper (crying out despairingly).
Iseult, awake!
Oh Golden One, 'tis Tristram calls!

Iseult.
Thou seekst
With scorn and biting words to martyr me,
And kill me then! Oh say that thou wilt kill
Me afterward—when thou hast railed enough!
—And thou wilt come no nearer than thou art?

Str. Leper.
Iseult, awake! Awake, Iseult, and speak,
And tell me if thou lovest Tristram still!

Iseult.
Ah, he was once my friend! Why dost thou use
The dagger of his name to prick my heart?
I loved him once, and 'tis for that I stand
Here!—Kill me now!

Str. Leper (going to the foot of the steps).
God help me! Hear me speak,
Iseult, for I'm—

(His voice breaks with a sigh.)

I'm Tristram's messenger!
Thine erstwhile friend—Him whom thou loved'st!

Iseult (angrily).
Would'st shame
Me in my shame? Thou beast!

Str. Leper.
I wish to save
Thee now. Dost thou love Tristram still?

Iseult (going down a few steps, slowly and carefully).
Thou art
A messenger of his?—And dost thou come,
Perchance, to take me to him?

(Breaking out.)

Does thy Lord
Desire me, to give me as a gift
From some strange land, to his new bride?

[The Strange Leper hides his face in his
hands.]

Am I
To sit within a cage and watch him kiss
Her? Listen to him call his wife "Iseult?"
Was this his sweet design, or does Iseult
The Snowy Handed crave my golden hair
To make a pillow for voluptuous hours?
How strange that Tristram should so long for me
That he sends forth his messengers! And will
He lay us both within the self-same bed?
Caress and kiss us both at once throughout
The night's long, heavy hours? In other days
More modest was thy Lord in his desires.

(Passionately.)

Now kill me, kill me, beast! I've lived enough.

Str. Leper.
Iseult, dost thou not know me yet?

Iseult.
How should
I know thee, beast, or in what roadside ditch
Lord Tristram found thee as he fled away
This morning through the Morois from a man
Who called upon him in my name?

Str. Leper.
Oh, judge
Him not too quickly. Queen Iseult! He stood
And waited for the man, who in thy name
Had called!

Iseult (in fierce anger).
He stood, say'st thou? Why then
He has not wed Iseult, white handed Queen?
I dreamed it all, and sobbed but in my dreams,
Perhaps? 'Twas then dream-tears I wept at this
Report?

Str. Leper.
Be merciful to Tristram, Queen!

[Iseult descends a few more steps; looks
at him searchingly, and speaks, in a way,
questioningly.]

Iseult.
Wast thou his servant while he still was true,
And caught'st the plague while on his wedding trip?
Then weep for him, thou poor diseasÈd beast!
I know thee not. And if thy master stood
Here too,—Lord Tristram, whom I once did love
And who returned my love in youthful years—
If he now stood before me here, I should
Not recognize his face behind the mask
Of cowardice which he has worn of late.
His faithlessness sticks to him like black slime!
Go tell him that!—I hate him in this mask!
He was so loving and so true when first
I knew and loved him! God shall punish him!

Str. Leper.
Iseult, great God has punished him enough;
His soul is writhing in its agony
Before thy feet!

Iseult.
His soul is leprous, ay!
And 'tis an awful thing when one's own soul
Is leprous grown!—I loathe and hate him now!

Str. Leper (leaping up).
Iseult!

Iseult (wildly).
Go call the Vultures, call them forth!
I want to dance in their white arms, and flee
From Tristram's leprous soul that has betrayed
And shamed me thus!

Str. Leper.
May God in mercy help
Him, for he loves thee still, Iseult, in life
And death! [He starts toward the gate.]

Voice of Lord Denovalin.
Let none go out! Draw up the bridge,
And close the castle gates! I'll catch the hound!

[Iseult staggers a few steps and collapses.]

Str. Leper.
Denovalin, Iseult! Our hated foe
Denovalin! Quick, hide thy nakedness
Within this cloak!

[He covers her with his cloak and bends
over her.]

Dear lady I will kill
This man and then myself!

(Denovalin enters.)

Denovalin.
Thou, there! Who art
Thou? Speak, thou hound! Who dares thus brazenly
To set at naught King Mark's decreed commands?

Str. Leper (who has sprung upon the curbing of the wall).
Denovalin, a second time thou shalt
Not flee from me!—Take heed, and guard thyself!

[He springs at Denovalin and overthrows
him. He then swings himself up on the
wall and stands there for a second; his
leper's garment is thrown back and he
appears in a coat of silver mail, shining
in the sunlight.]

Denovalin.
Tristram of Lyonesse!

Str. Leper (pulling his cloth from his head).
Dost recognize
Him by the stroke? God help me now!

[He leaps down from the wall. The stage
remains for a time empty. The organ
sounds; the gates are opened and two
guards stand on either side of the steps.
The church is gradually emptied.]