Now with his wife Isolt,
once again he enjoyed
whatever his heart desired,
in fact at least, if not in honor.
He could not claim from his wife
any love or affection
nor any of the dignities
that God has ever made to be
except that in his name
her title was that of Lady and Queen
in that realm where he was king.
He accepted what he had,
treating her affectionately
as though she really loved him.

This was a typical case
of that foolish, unfeeling blindness
described in the proverb
that the blindness of love
blinds both inside and outside.
It blinds eyes and the mind—
neither perception admits seeing
what they see very plainly.
This is what had happened to Marke.
He knew, as sure as death,
and saw plainly, that his wife
devoted all her heart and mind
to her love for Tristan,			17750
fervidly, in every way,
but he didn't want to know that.
Who, then, is to blame
for that unrewarding life
that he continued to live with her?
To accuse Isolt
of any deception
would not be strictly true—
she fooled neither him nor Tristan.
He saw it with his own eyes,
and didn't need eyes to know
that she bore him no love,
yet despite all, he loved her.
Why, you ask, and for what
did he love her so dearly?
Just as so many do today—
one fated to suffer
lust and desire
suffers them diligently.
Oho, how many do we see,
these Markes and Isolts,
if we were to tell the truth,
who are just as blind or blinder
both in heart and of eye!
They are no rarity.
Such a multitude of them
are so attached to their blindness
that they prefer not to know
what they see with their eyes,
declaring what they know and see
to be nothing but an illusion.
Can we blame them for their blindness?
If we look honestly,
we find we have no reason
to blame the women for it.
They are innocent before the man
whom they permit plainly to see
what it is they're up to.
If the man perceives her guilt,
he is not being tricked
or deceived by the woman. 
It is only that desire
has pulled the wool over his eyes.
Concupiscence is the lie
that occludes clearly-seeing eyes
the world over, all the time.
Whatever may be said of blindness,
no blindness blinds so darkly,
with such frightful thoroughness,
as do lust and desire.			17800
We may not like to hear it, 
but the proverb is true that says,
watch out for beauty.
The marvelous comeliness
of Isolt in her flower
so thoroughly blinded
Marke inside and out,
both his mind and his eyes,
that he could not discern
what he wanted to accuse her of,
and all he chose to believe
was only the best about her.
To put it in a nutshell:
he so enjoyed her company
that he overlooked whatever
pain and insult she caused him.
There are more things in the heart
lying sealed and sequestered
than can easily be concealed.
We all are much tempted 
to do what gnaws at our thoughts.
The eye seeks out
and lingers on its pleasure.
Heart and eye alike
take pleasure in retracing
what has always been their joy,
and any who give them liberty,
God knows, only makes it worse.
The more you try to prevent them,
the more they strive for their pleasure
and cling to it persistently.
Just so did Tristan and Isolt.
No sooner had their accustomed
indulgence in delight and pleasure
been put back under surveillance
and proscribed by royal command
than they felt greatly deprived.
insidious desire and lust
now tormented them afresh,
more insistently than before.
Their need for each other
now became far more urgent
than it had been ever before.
The ponderous imposition
of hateful surveillance
lay upon their spirits
heavy as a leaden mountain.
Surveillance, that dire contrivance,
the archfiend of love,
consumed all their attention,		17850
most particularly for Isolt
whose distress was greatest—
deprived of Tristan, she would die.
The more her lord forbid her
any consortion with him,
all the more tenaciously
did her thoughts dwell on him.