How to tell if it’s going to rain

“The hollow winds begin to blow,
The cloud looks black, the grass is low.
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep,
And spiders from their cob-webs creep.
Last night the sun went pale to bed
The moon in halos hid her head
The boding shepherd heaves a sigh
For see, a rainbow spans the sky.”

So beings the poem “Signs of Rain” by Edward Jenner (1749-1823). Yes, that Edward Jenner of smallpox fame! The poem is also known by its subtitle, “Forty Reasons for Declining an Invitation to an Excursion.”

These three typed pages of this poem belong to the Indiana Writers Program Collection, Special Collections Department at Indiana State University Library.

This assignment on folklore and poetry was completed by Lucile Conn. To view the document more closely, click here.

Remembering his dream

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17, Wabash Valley Visions & Voices shares this program from the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Commemoration Dinner at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana. Those attending the dinner were welcomed by then-ISU President Dr. Lloyd Benjamin III. Miss Nicollette Whittington, Miss Ebony 2005-’06, served as the mistress of ceremonies.

The speaker for the evening was Mrs. Joyce Rogers, CEO/president of Indiana Black Expo. The oratory address, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” was delivered by the Rev. Elester Wilkerson of Danville, Illinois.

This program, in the Indiana State University Library collection, is available here.