Collected Poems combines examples of James Edwin Campbell's poetry from both of his published books. His traditional American verse poems, which exemplifies those he included in Driftings and Gleanings stand in stark contrast to his poetry in the African-American Gullah dialect, most exemplified in Echoes from the Cabin and Elsewhere. Both, however, demonstrate his skill with words, his tremendous ability to tell a story, and his familiarity with life in the antebellum South.

James Edwin Campbell was born in Ohio and lived for periods of time in West Virginia and Illinois. He was a teacher, journalist, public speaker, college administrator, essayist, and poet. Tragically he died at the age of 28 from pneumonia.