Be not too forward, therefore, to conclude

 That I want solidness--that I am rude;

 All things solid in show not solid be;

 All things in parables despise not we;

 Lest things most hurtful lightly we receive,

 And things that good are, of our souls bereave.

My dark and cloudy words, they do but hold

 The truth, as cabinets enclose the gold.

The prophets used much by metaphors

 To set forth truth; yea, who so considers Christ,

 his apostles too, shall plainly see,

 That truths to this day in such mantles be.

Am I afraid to say, that holy writ,

 Which for its style and phrase puts down all wit,

 Is everywhere so full of all these things--

 Dark figures, allegories? Yet there springs

 From that same book that lustre, and those rays

 Of light, that turn our darkest nights to days.