“Shakespeare led a life of allegory: his works are the comments on it.”

—  John Keats

Letter to George and Georgiana Keats (February 14 - May 3, 1819)
Letters (1817–1820)
Context: A man's life of any worth is a continual allegory — and very few eyes can see the mystery of life — a life like the Scriptures, figurative... Lord Byron cuts a figure, but he is not figurative. Shakespeare led a life of allegory: his works are the comments on it.

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John Keats 211
English Romantic poet 1795–1821

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