This will be more clearly apprehended by considering, that as a simile is a more extended metaphor, so an allegory is a kind of continued simile, or an assemblage of similitudes drawn out at full length.

Allegory, strictly so called, is the offspring of an advanced, and not of a semi-barbarous state of society.

"An allegory is the saying one thing, and meaning another; a double-meaning or dilogy is the saying only one thing, but having two in view.

"An allegory is the representation of some one thing by an other that resembles it, and which is made to stand for it.

The parables which he uses, however, are all Christian, and the allegories are all the Fables of Æsop.

"An allegory is a fictitious story the meaning of which is figurative, not literal; a double meaning, or dilogy, is the saying of only one thing, when we have two in view.

Allegory is a beautiful way of inculcating and asserting some special significance in life; but epic has a severer task, and a more impressive one.

An Allegory is a continued narration of fictitious events, designed to represent and illustrate important realities.