Ut sit tam similis sibi nec ipsa, &c. &c.

2137 lede] = 'speech', 'tale'. Whether Whiting got this from Chaucer's 'ledene' one cannot say; but he seems to have been a man of some reading.

2150 worlds] Play on 'globes'?

2154 'And' would make the next line and a half refer to Bellama, which does not seem likely.

2174 'Lorretta is, all things considered, a rather unfortunate feminizing of Loretto to denote Our Lady thereof.

2188-93 Is this one of the 'misplaced staves' so very coolly left to the reader's discovery in the Errata-note? (v. inf., [p. 551]). It looks as if it ought to come after its present successor.

2196 'rosies', another coinage, of which Whiting was fond: see ll. 2523, 3344, 3348, 3436. [Return]

2220 his] Not that the Prioress thought him masculine as yet.

2226 camp] Orig. 'came'—from the rhyme an obvious misprint, but why 'lanky'? Because of mortifications? Cf. 2199 'lankcloister' and 2553 'lanky crew'. [Return]

2301 rape] Probably for 'rap', 'valueless coin'.