Wordsworth tried and found wanting—The parables of the
Lord examined and found absolutely free from metaphor—The
poetic mind never fully matures—The Fame Insurance Company’s
proceedings—Shakespeare a master of simplicity, and
comparatively free from metaphor, which is not strictly
sincere—The Prodigal Son and the Ten Virgins, perfect
models—Milton’s style magnificent and insincere—The
retrospective and prospective imagination of the parables; the
introspective only belongs to the poet who substitutes himself
for Nature, of whom he knows little 132