M.11.169KD.11.177Who-so louethM.11.169: The reading is clearly loueth, but the vowel has perhaps been altered. See lines 171 and 172. nouȝt leue me liueth in deth dei....ynge
Cr1.11.169KD.11.177 Who-so-euer loueth me not , he liueth in death diyng .
C.11.170KD.11.177 ¶ Who-so loueth nouȝt leue me · he leueth in deth deynge
F.8.176KD.11.177Who loveþ not to lovel[e]ve meF.8.176: James Weldon claims ["Ordinatio and Genre in MS CCC 201: A Mediaeval Reading of the B-Text of Piers Plowman," Florilegium 12 (1995, for 1993): 174 n 24], that F's reading "is absurd, since Trajan is the speaker here." However, it is difficult
to say with any confidence that the speaker here is Trajan. Kane and Donaldson, for instance, conclude his speech at the
end of line F8.169, and he has clearly ceased speaking by the my in F8.196. The speeches in the middle section of the poem are not clearly voiced. The way that speeches, or parts of speeches,
are reassigned in the C revision also points to a lack of commitment as to who is saying what in this "dialogus." / he lyveþ in deþis drede.