When describing himself finding the tree he writes, a little while I stood,/ Breathing with such suppression of the heart/As joy delights in and, with wise restraint/ Voluptuous, fearless of a rival, eyed the banquet(21-25). He takes simple words, and a conventional setting, then spins them into innovative phrases. Wordsworths talent in expression is notable in Nutting as he describes himself beneath a perfectly undisturbed hazel nut tree. However, while this style may be attractive to many, it is his ability to weave common speech into imaginative patterns that truly makes the poem exceptional. The diction of the poem is a very customary language, as Wordsworth settles comfortably into his self-imposed formula. The poem tells the story of Wordsworth as a youth, going into the forest in search of hazel nuts, an activity that would have been very familiar to anyone reading the poem at the time. Wordsworths devotion to the ordinary things in life can be fully seen in his poem Nutting. It balances creativity with the ordinary which, when combined with common setting and speech, elevates Wordsworths work above many of his contemporaries, and increases its appeal to commoners and scholars alike. An excellent example of this balance is in his poem Nutting, published in the second version of Lyrical Ballads. The reason for this is that although he does put a large amount of weight on using common language, Wordsworth also counterbalances his style of poetry by striving to throw over a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way(241).

This is demonstrated by the fact that his poems are still a valuable piece of literature for study. However, despite the value placed on simplicity, his poems are far above what many readers would perceive to be elementary.

He emphasizes the idea of simplicity and familiarity of both topic and language, arguing the superiority of a poem that appeals to the common person. William Wordsworths description of his poetry in Preface to Lyrical Ballads gives the impression that it feel much like a modern newspaper to a reader basic and with wide appeal. Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth

Wordsworth preface to lyrical ballads