arelineswhichhavedonemuchmischief。Asregardsthegreatertruths，menoftenererrbyseekingthematthebottomthanatthetop；Truthliesinthehugeabysseswherewisdomissought-notinthepalpablepalaceswheresheisfound。Theancientswerenotalwaysrightinhiding-thegoddessinawell；witnessthelightwhichBaconhasthrownuponphilosophy；witnesstheprinciplesofourdivinefaith-thatmoralmechanismbywhichthesimplicityofachildmayoverbalancethewisdomofaman。
“WeseeaninstanceofColeridge’sliabilitytoerr，inhis’BiographiaLiteraria’professedlyhisliterarylifeandopinions，but，infact，atreatise_deomniscibilietquibusdamaliis。_Hegoeswrongbyreasonofhisveryprofundity，andofhiserrorwehaveanaturaltypeinthecontemplationofastar。Hewhoregardsitdirectlyandintenselysees，itistrue，thestar，butitisthestarwithoutaray-whilehewhosurveysitlessinquisitivelyisconsciousofallforwhichthestarisusefultousbelow-itsbrilliancyanditsbeauty。
“AstoWordsworth，Ihavenofaithinhim。ThathehadinyouththefeelingsofapoetIbelieve-forthereareglimpsesofextremedelicacyinhiswritings-anddelicacyisthepoet’sownkingdom-his_ElDorado-butthey_havetheappearanceofabetterdayrecollected；andglimpses，atbest，arelittleevidenceofpresentpoeticfire；weknowthatafewstragglingflowersspringupdailyinthecrevicesoftheglacier。
“Hewastoblameinwearingawayhisyouthincontemplationwiththeendofpoetizinginhismanhood。Withtheincreaseofhisjudgmentthelightwhichshouldmakeitapparenthasfadedaway。Hisjudgmentconsequentlyistoocorrect。Thismaynotbeunderstood-buttheoldGothsofGermanywouldhaveunderstoodit，whousedtodebatemattersofimportancetotheirStatetwice，oncewhendrunk，andoncewhensober-soberthattheymightnotbedeficientinformalitydrunklesttheyshouldbedestituteofvigor。
“Thelongwordydiscussionsbywhichhetriestoreasonusintoadmirationofhispoetry，speakverylittleinhisfavor：theyarefullofsuchassertionsasthisIhaveopenedoneofhisvolumesatrandom-“Ofgeniustheonlyproofistheactofdoingwellwhatisworthytobedone，andwhatwasneverdonebefore；’-indeed？thenitfollowsthatindoingwhatisunworthytobedone，orwhat_has_beendonebefore，nogeniuscanbeevinced；yetthepickingofpocketsisanunworthyact，pocketshavebeenpickedtimeimmemorial，andBarrington，thepickpocket，inpointofgenius，wouldhavethoughthardofacomparisonwithWilliamWordsworth，thepoet。