Andrew Elkins, the author of The Great Poem of the Earth, contends that not only is Ferril the first major poetic voice to emerge in the Rocky Mountain West, but also that his verse can stand alongside, compare favorably with, and complement (through its different vision) the best modern American poetry.

At the heart of Ferril's work is a vision of humankind's harmony with the world around it - a vision that distinguishes the poet from most of his modern peers. Ferril approaches nature intending respect rather than domination; he sees no need to think of the human world and nature as essentially separate and opposing realms. A genuine, deeply-felt, mutual, truth-producing, and hope-affirming relationship between the poet and the world in which he lives most clearly characterizes Ferril's work.

The world's meaning emerges as one lives in it physically and discovers its plenitude, which includes good and bad, love and hate, life and death. When you establish yourself in the world, as an integral part of the world, then all the world's facts are your facts, related to your being. Elkins examines some of those facts as he explores Ferril's entire body of work, including his lesser-known verses, in which Ferril comes to terms with war, urbanization, and his mortality.