The Sandstone Bird - by Edward Hitchcock After publishing a scientific description of the dinosaur trackways of the Conneticut Valley, Edward Hitchcock also submitted an accompanying poem based on his research. The publisher declined to print it however, so Edward submitted to the literary magazine, The Knickerbocker, under the pseudonym "Poetaster" instead. Guest artwork by October Seagrave.
Category: featured
Ode to a Trilobite - by Timothy Abbott Conrad Timothy Conrad was known for both scientific mind and "melancholic" demeanor. Today, we might have said he had depression. Timothy poured himself into science and literature, and this poem is a product of his love for both. Guest artwork by John Meszaros.
Oldhamia antiqua - by John Joly This poem is about a type of trace fossil from the Cambrian, and dramatically muses on how fossils must feel about deep time. Guest artwork by Brigid Christison.
Untitled - by Thomas Chesmer Weston This was the first poem ever found for Palaeopoems. Published in Thomas' 1899 memoirs, it's about one of the earliest fossil-hunting expeditions to western Canada and reflects Victorian ideas about dinosaurs. Guest artwork by Katrin Emery.
The Tilly-bat - by Dr. Glenn Jepsen This poem is unique in that it involves not one by three palaeontologists! Central to the poem is the founder of palaeoneurology and first female president of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Dr. Tilly Edinger. Possibly the nerdiest of all Palaeopoems, this one summarizes a friendly (and still unresolved) feud about a fossilized braincase and which extinct mammal it may have belonged to. Guest artwork by Greer Stothers.
A Botanical Dream - by Dr. Ellen Marion Delf-Smith 20th century botanist and pioneering woman in science Dr. Marion Delf-Smith uplifted generations of young women to follow in her footsteps... and also dabbled in writing Palaeopoems. Marion wrote "A Botanical Dream" for a women-run botanical comedy magazine in the early 1910s. This post is in honour of her birthday, January 31st, 1883. Guest artwork by John Meszaros.
