Answering other questions, the poet said: “A college education for the
aspirant for literary success is, of course, an advantage, provided
he does not let education foster a false culture that will lead him
away from his true ideals and the ideals he ought to cling to. There
is another thing that the young man in any artistic pursuit must have
a care for, and that is, to be practical. This is a practical world,
and it is always ready to take advantage of this sort of people, so
that if he wishes what we might call domestic happiness, he might as
well make up his mind to a dual existence, as it were, and must try to
cultivate a practical business sense, as well as an artistic sense. We
have only a few men like Rudyard Kipling and F. Hopkinson Smith, who
seem to combine these diverse elements of character in just the right
proportions, but I believe that it is unfortunate for the happiness and
peace of mind of our authors and artists and musicians that we have not
more of them.”
Riley’s poetry is popular because it goes right to the feelings of the
people. He could not have written as he does, but for the schooling
of that wandering life, which gave him an insight into the struggle
for existence among the great unnumbered multitude of his fellow men.
He learned in his travels and journeys, in his hard experience as a
strolling sign-painter and patent-medicine peddler, the freemasonry of
poverty. His poems are natural; they are those of a man who feels as
he writes. As Thoreau painted nature in the woods, and streams, and
lakes, so Riley depicts the incidents of everyday life, and brightens
each familiar lineament with that touch that makes all the world kin.
One of his noblest poems is “Old Glory.” It speaks the homely, sterling
patriotism of the common people.
“The Little Coat” illustrates his wonderful power to touch the heart.