spells she wrought
To win the very wonder of her thought,
And brewed it with her secret hands, and blest
And drew and gave out of her secret breast
To one her chosen and Iseult's handmaiden,
Brangwain, and bade her hide from sight of men
This marvel covered in a golden cup,
So covering in her heart the counsel up
As in the gold the wondrous wine lay close."
SWINBURNE, _Tristram of Lyonesse_.

Brangwaine carefully carried this potion on board the ship, and placed it
in a cupboard, whence she intended to produce it when the suitable moment
came. Iseult embarked with the escort sent from Cornwall, and Tristan, in
order to beguile the long, weary hours of the journey, entertained her with
all the songs and stories that he knew. One day, after singing for some
time, he asked his fair young mistress for a drink; and she, going to the
cupboard, drew out the magic potion, little guessing its power.

As was customary in those days in offering wine to an honored guest, she
first put it to her own lips and then handed it to the thirsty minstrel,
who drained it greedily. They had no sooner drunk, however, than the
draught, working with subtle power, suddenly kindled in their hearts a
passionate love, destined to last as long as they both lived.

"Now that the maiden and the man,
Fair Iseult and Tristan,
Both drank the drink, upon them pressed
What gives the world such sore unrest,--
Love, skilled in sly and prowling arts,--
And swiftly crept in both their hearts;
So, ere of him they were aware,
Stood his victorious banners there.
He drew them both into his power;
One and single were they that hour
That two and twofold were before."
GOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG (Bayard Taylor's tr.).

After the first few hours of rapture had passed, the young people, who
honorably intended to keep their word and conquer the fatal passion which
had overwhelmed them, remained apart, and when Iseult landed in Cornwall
her marriage was celebrated with Mark. Brangwaine, who knew all that had
passed, tried to shield her mistress in every way, and blind the king, who
is depicted as a very unheroic monarch, but little fitted to secure the
affections of the proud young Iseult.

[Sidenote: Tristan and Iseult.] This story of a love potion whose magic
power none could resist, and of the undying love which it kindled in the
unsu