Taylor says: "Note how the details of this description are used in
stanza ix.--shingles, bracken, broom."
51. Dank. Damp, moist. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. ii. 3. 6: "and night's
dank dew;" Milton, Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence: "Now that the fields are
dank, and ways are mire," etc.
64. Sooth to tell. To tell the truth. See on i. 476 above. Sooth to say,
to say sooth, in sooth, in good sooth, etc., are common in old writers.
Cf. the Lay, introd. 57: "the sooth to speak."