From Woody's Couch

In the early days,  OSU’s yearbook, the Makio, did not include photos, only illustrations to go along with annual updates on the classes and student organizations. It was seen more as a literary publication, which meant there also was plenty of fiction inside, including poetry.

Today, to celebrate “Poetry in Your Pocket Day 2012” (April is National Poetry Month), we decided to find a short OSU-related poem we could share with you from an early Makio, in case you’re desperately looking for something you can stick in your back pocket as a way to honor the day.

Portrait of Edward Orton Sr., 1890

Our selection comes from the second issue of the Makio – 1882 – which also happened to be the year after OSU’s first president, Edward Orton Sr., ended his tenure in this role.

While president, he also served as chairman of the Department of Geology, and after his presidency, he served as state geologist until his death in 1899. After his presidency, he witnessed the construction of a building to house the geology department, which resulted in the aptly named Orton Hall in 1893. The building not only housed the geology department, but also a geology museum, which was started with a gift from Orton of his own collection of 10,000 geological specimens.

Skeleton of ground sloth, no date

For the geology building, Orton encouraged the use of stone native to Ohio, and in fact, the exterior stone is composed of 40 varieties of Ohio stone, placed in the order in which they appear in the bedrock. Instead of mythic gargoyles surrounding the top of the tower, there are carvings that represent various prehistoric animals,  and inside above the pillars in the vestibule, there are carvings of fossils dating from the time when Ohio was under a vast warm, shallow sea.

Are you beginning to see a theme here?

So, among the poetic “Faculty Pokes” on page 89 of the 1882 edition of the Makio, the editors have some fun with their beloved ex-president’s passion for geology:

“I conned the rocks with anxious eye,

A student meek and docile;

When a distant whisper floated by,

Oh, come and be a fossil!”

Orton Hall Tower, featuring carvings of prehistoric animals, 1982