Preface to Lyrical Ballads best question and answers

In this article, we have covered the best questions and answers from “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” By Willam Wordsworth.

Table of Contents

• 1. What are the reasons for decreasing the capability of the human mind?
• 2. How can human capability regain its glory?
• 3.”The invaluable works “which are the works invaluable?
• 4. Who helps Wordsworth to write ” Lyrical Ballads”?
• 5.” Poetry sheds no tears “explain.
• 6. Who is a Poet?___According to Wordsworth.
• 7. How does Romanticism different from neoclassicism?
• 8. What is “Poetic diction”?
• 9. What is poetry according to Wordsworth?
• 10. What is good poetry? Discuss with the reference to “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”.
• 11. What are the stages of poetic creation according to Wordsworth?
• 12: How does Wordsworth believe that poetry should be composed?
• 13: What is the “real language of men” and why is it important for poetry?
• 14:Why does Wordsworth believe that the truly great Poets have often written in low and rustic life?
• 15: What is the intended audience for Lyrical Ballads?

1. What are the reasons for decreasing the capability of the human mind?

Ans: The reasons for decreasing capability of the human mind are great national events which are taking place daily and men are accumulating in cities. Wordsworth said people want instant gratification and sensation which leads to becoming dull-minded.

2. How can human capability regain its glory?

Ans: According to Wordsworth Urban life and instant gratification have brought on the moral decline of humanity, but it can be regained with the new poetry of nature and romanticism.

3.”The invaluable works “which are the works invaluable?

Ans: According to Wordsworth, Elders’ works are invaluable. He said about elders like Shakespeare and Milton. Their works fade away because of frantic novels and sickly and stupid German Tragedies.

4. Who helps Wordsworth to write ” Lyrical Ballads”?

Ans: S.T. Coleridge helps Wordsworth to write  “Lyrical Ballads”.He includes his famous poem like “the ANCIENT MARINER, the
FOSTER-MOTHER’S TALE:, the NIGHTINGALE”.

5.” Poetry sheds no tears “explain.

Ans: Poetry’s tears and blood represent the essence of poetic language. Here, Wordsworth personified poetry, it doesn’t alien from the mortal. According to Wordsworth, poetic language should be the language of the common people.

6. Who is a Poet?___According to Wordsworth.

Ans: According to Wordsworth the poet ” is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of
human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common
among mankind”.

7. How does Romanticism different from neoclassicism?

Ans: The Neoclassical poets emphasised intellectualism over emotion, society, and didacticism. On the other hand, Romantic poets emphasised emotion and imagination over intellectualism, nature over society, simple forms of expression, and simple style. 

8. What is “Poetic diction”?

Ans: Poetic diction is the term used to refer to the linguistic style, vocabulary, and metaphors used in the writing of poetry. Wordsworth defines poetic diction in ” Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, that it is the language of common men. It is not completely alien or different from humans.

9. What is poetry according to Wordsworth?

Ans: Wordsworth defines poetry that it “is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity”.

10. What is good poetry? Discuss with the reference to “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”.

Ans: According to Wordsworth good poetry is” the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.

11. What are the stages of poetic creation according to Wordsworth?

Ans: There are four stages of poetic creation. These are observation, recollection, contemplation and imaginative excitement.

12: How does Wordsworth believe that poetry should be composed?

Ans: Wordsworth believes that poetry should be composed in a “language really used by men,” rather than in a “poetical diction” that is artificial and removed from everyday speech.

13: What is the “real language of men” and why is it important for poetry?

Ans: The “real language of men” is the language that people actually use in their everyday lives, rather than a more formal or artificial language. Wordsworth believes that using this language is important for poetry because it allows the poet to more accurately and effectively convey the emotions and thoughts that are the subjects of the poem.

14:Why does Wordsworth believe that the truly great Poets have often written in low and rustic life?

Ans: Wordsworth believes that the truly great Poets have often written in low and rustic life because “the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of Nature.” In other words, the simplicity and closeness to nature found in rustic life allows for a more genuine expression of emotion.

15: What is the intended audience for Lyrical Ballads?

Ans: The intended audience for Lyrical Ballads is ordinary people, rather than few people.