Witness thou

The dear companion of my lonely walk,

My hope, my joy, my sister, and my friend,

Or something dearer still, if reason knows

A dearer thought, or in the heart of love

There be a dearer name.[356]

[356] Compare Byron's Epistle to Augusta--

My sister! my sweet sister! if a name

Dearer and purer were, it should be thine.

It is a mere coincidence, as Byron could not have seen the Wordsworth MS.--ED.