[276:1] In the MS. of _The Friend_, Part III is headed:--'The Three Graves. A Sexton's Tale. A Fragment.' A MS. note _erased_ in the handwriting of S. T. C. is attached:--'N. B. Written for me by Sarah Stoddart before her brother was an entire Blank. I have not _voluntarily_ been guilty of any desecration of holy _Names_.' In _The Friend_, in _Sibylline Leaves_, in 1828, 1829, and 1834, the poem is headed 'The Three Graves, &c.' The heading 'Part III' first appeared in 1893. LINENOTES: [4] In the silent summer heat MS. alternative reading. [14] Why these three graves all in a row MS. alternative reading. Stretch out their dark and gloomy length MS. erased. [33] turned] strove MS. erased. [49] happy] wedding MS. variant. [81] A deadly] The ghastly MS. erased. Part III] III MS. erased. [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. Part IV] The Three Graves, a Sexton's Tale, Part the IVth MS. [395] O Sir!] Oh! 'tis S. L. [447] you're] how MS. [473] we] one MS. The Friend, 1809. [483] Lone] Some MS. The Friend, 1809. [487] a] the MS. The Friend, 1809. [490] friends] dears MS. erased. [507] in] in MS. The Friend, 1809. [511] _inserted by S. T. C._ MS. [530-1] He sat upright; and with quick voice While his eyes seem'd to start MS. erased. THE WANDERINGS OF CAIN[285:1] PREFATORY NOTE