Chapter 26

[220 foll.] In _The Friend_ the lines were printed continuously. The division into stanzas (as in the MS.) dates from the republication of the poem in Sibylline Leaves, 1817.

[221] as ripe] as they MS.

[224] High on the hedge-elms in the lane MS. erased.

[225] spikes] strikes Sibylline Leaves, 1817. [_Note._ It is possible that 'strikes'--a Somersetshire word--(compare 'strikes of flax') was deliberately substituted for 'spikes'. It does not appear in the long list of _Errata_ prefixed to Sibylline Leaves. Wagons passing through narrow lanes leave on the hedge-rows not single 'spikes', but little swathes or fillets of corn.]

[230] over boughed] over-bough'd MS.

[242] they] he MS. The Friend, 1809.

[260] So five months passed: this mother foul MS. erased.

[278] dark] dank MS. The Friend, 1809.

[308] swinging] singing MS. The Friend, 1809: swaying S. L.

[309] You could not hear the Vicar. MS. The Friend, 1809.

[315] you] thou The Friend, 1809.