Towards nightfall, in a garden
with a fountain beneath a pine tree
Tristan was sitting beneath the tree
awaiting adventure.
He disguised his human language
with a skill he had learned long ago:
he imitated the nightingale,
the parrot, the oriole
and the birds in the forest.
Iseult, the queen, was listening
as she lay next to King Mark,
but she did not know where the birdsong was coming from.
She could not tell whether this voice
came from the park or garden,
but she understood clearly from this song
that her lover was nearby.
Tristan was very clever:
in his youth he had learned
to imitate each bird
that comes to or inhabits the forest.
Tristan made such a melody
that its great sweetness could be heard far away.
There is no heart filled with murderous intent
that would not have been softened by this song.

Tristan Rossignol