He says he is three score and ten,
But others say he's eighty.

A long blue livery-coat has he,
That's fair behind, and fair before;
Yet, meet him where you will, you see
At once that he is poor.]

[Variant 3:

1827.

... five and twenty ... 1798.]

[Variant 4:

1845.

And, though he has but one eye left,
His cheek is like a cherry. 1798.

And still the centre of his cheek
Is blooming as a cherry. 1820.]

[Variant 5:

1827.

No man like him the horn could sound,
And no man was so full of glee;
To say the least, four counties round
Had heard of Simon Lee;
His master's dead, and no one now
Dwells in the hall of Ivor;
Men, dogs, and horses, all are dead;
He is the sole survivor. 1798.

Worn out by hunting feats--bereft
By time of friends and kindred, see!
Old Simon to the world is left
In liveried poverty.
His Master's dead, ... 1827.

The fourth stanza of the final edition being second in 1827, and the
second stanza being third in 1827.]

[Variant 6:

1827.

... race ... 1798.]

[Variant 7:

Of strength, of friends, and kindred, see.

In MS. letter to Allan Cunningham, Nov. 1828.]

[Variant 8:

1832.

His hunting feats have him bereft
Of his right eye, as you may see:
And then, what limbs those feats have left
To poor old Simon Lee!
He has no son, he has no child,
His wife, an aged woman,
Lives with him, near the waterfall,
Upon the village common. 1798.

His hunting feats have him bereft
Of his right eye, as you may see,
And Simon to the world is left,
In liveried poverty.
When he was young he little knew
Of husbandry or tillage;
And now is forced to work, though weak,
--The weakest in the village. 1820.]

[Variant 9:

1798.

But ... 1820.

The text of 1832 reverts to that of 1798.]

[Variant 10:

1827.

His little body's half awry,
His ancles they are swoln and thick;
His legs are thin and dry.
When he was young he little knew
Of husbandry or tillage;
And now he's forced to work, though weak,
--The weakest in the village. 1798.

His dwindled body's half awry, 1800.

His ancles, too, are swoln and thick; 1815.

And now is