Belle Isle

    "Belle Isle" is a song of SELF PORTRAIT, 1970. Although Dylan took the writing credit it is clear from the first line that it is based closely on a traditional Celtic ballad.
    It is an interesting song in that it is a dialogue and Dylan plays the roles with genuine feeling, and the supportive string and vocal arrangement is equally sensitive. Taken together they evoke a Romantic poet on a ramble through the Lake District or the lochs of Scotland.
    But there is also something more. Both the lyrics and the strings suggest something darker going on, the male character is a watcher who declares his secret love in the final verse... and the fair maiden gets nothing to say about this. (www.elsewhere.co.nz)

Below: France, 1970, Edition Tremplin, 4 pages, lyrics in French and English. French version sung by Serge Kerval on his LP SERGE KERVAL CHANTE BOB DYLAN (1970), one of the worst Bob Dylan covers album ever released.