SOURCE: Farrell, James T. “The Frontier and James Whitcomb Riley.” In Poet of the People: An Evaluation of James Whitcomb Riley, by Jeannette Covert Nolen, Horace Gregory, and James T. Farrell, pp. 63-106. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1951.

In the following essay, Farrell analyzes the sociological significance of Riley's sentimentality and nostalgia at a time when America was becoming increasingly urban and industrial.

Ii

One of the problems of cultural history and analysis which is all too infrequently dealt with in America is this—how does the consciousness of writers evolve, develop, take shape in this country? Here, however, I can only suggest that such a problem should be posed and dealt with, and that it is also pertinent to the works of James Whitcomb Riley.

The analysis presented above should suggest the kind of cultural climate in which Riley grew up. Riley spoke at length of his boyhood...