Chevrefoil

This short lay relates an incident from the very well known legend of Tristan and Isolde. Though scholars cannot place the exact date of Marie's compositions, it is likely that her audience would be extremely familiar with the legend from medieval romances, so the meaning of the lay should be understood in terms of an audience who would know the story.

Of course, even if you don't, Marie makes certain that suspense is not an issue here. She tells us in the first section that the lovers story will ultimately end with their tragic deaths, like most of Marie's works. The story of their tragic love is not what Marie wants to focus on in this lai however. Instead, I feel as though Marie wishes to use the hazel branch and honeysuckle as a symbol of a popular theme of hers being the impossibility of private love in a public world. Considering how heavily Marie stresses her skill and the importance of relating lays, it could be argued that she wishes to remind her audience that art and creation are what truly celebrates love, whereas normal life wants to destroy it.