Effie Waller Smith was recognized as a promising young black poet. Her poems reflect her love of nature, her faith, and her experience as a black woman in Appalachia. Although she only published three volumes of poetry during her lifetime, the poems are as relevant today as when first published. Perhaps she is best described in this poem by Peter Clay: "To Effie Waller. Far upon among the mountains, Where rivers leave their fountains, And happy birds send forth their merry thrills, There dwells a little poet, Though few there be who know it, Whose voice is an echo from the hills."