SOURCE: Revell, Peter. “The Victorian Poet.” In James Whitcomb Riley, pp. 57-73. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1970.

In the following essay, Revell examines several key Victorian influences on Riley's poetry, noting that on several occasions the poet's verse very closely resembles the work of such “fireside poets” as Eliza Cook.

In replying to a request from W. D. Howells for contributions to The Cosmopolitan, Riley asked: “But do you want dialect—or serious work—or both.”¹ The implication that work in dialect could not be serious is more typical of the general critical attitude of the late nineteenth century than of Riley's attitude to his own work (though perhaps one reason for his general tendency to deprecate its value). Serious poetry was that written in “correct” English, but there was plenty of scope within this style for a greater or lesser admixture of poetic diction for the advocates...