James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley 1849-1916, American poet, b. Greenfield, Ind., known as the Hoosier poet. He was at various times a traveling actor, a sign painter, and a newspaperman. Under the name "Benj. F. Johnson of Boone" he began to write verse in the Hoosier dialect for the Indianapolis Journal in 1875, selections first collected in The Old Swimmin'-Hole and 'Leven More Poems (1883). Riley's verse was popular because of its humor, pathos, simplicity, and sentimentality. Especially well-known are his children's poems such as "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Runaway Boy." Among the collections of his verse are Rhymes of Childhood (1890) and Knee Deep in June (1912).

Bibliography: See biography by M. Dickey (Youth, 1919; Maturity, 1922); study by P. Revell (1970).

Riley, James Whitcomb (1849–1916), Indiana poet, tried his hand at such diverse occupations as acting with a patent medicine show and house painting, until his connection with a local newspaper led him into a career of journalism and the writing of verse. His popularity dates from his period on the Indianapolis Journal (1877–85), to which he contributed a series of genial poems in rustic dialect, ostensibly written by “ Benj. F. Johnson, of Boone.” The series, which included When the Frost Is on the Punkin, was published in The Old Swimmin'‐Hole and 'Leven More Poems (1883). This was the first of a number of books marked by the frequent use of Hoosier dialect, a simple sentimentality, a quaint whimsical kindliness, and cheerful philosophy, blended with a frequently obtrusive pathos. The most popular of the poems were Little Orphant Annie, The Old Man and Jim, Knee‐Deep in June, and The Raggedy Man, while the most successful of his books were Afterwhiles (1887), Pipes o'Pan at Zekesbury (1888), Rhymes of Childhood (1890), and Poems Here at Home (1893). He was also popular as a reader of his own poems, and frequently appeared with “Bill” Nye, whose broad humor he complemented with his appealing sentimentality. Meredith Nicholson's The Poet is a fictional biography of Riley.