Malice prepense does not excuse a murder, though it makes it more interesting.

Finally, the manner in which _Sordello_ was written did not please him.

He left it behind him, and _Pippa Passes_, which followed _Sordello_, is as clear and simple as its predecessor is obscure in style.
Thirdly, the language of _Sordello_, and, in a lesser degree, that of all Browning's poetry, proves--if his whole way of thought and passion did not also prove it--that Browning was not a classic, that he deliberately put aside the classic traditions in poetry.

In this he presents a strong contrast to Tennyson.

Tennyson was possessed by those traditions.