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Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus (ou gommier) - الكينا
Description
The eucalyptus has an important role to play in the environment; it provides shelter for many animals and helps to sequester carbon. Its scent also repels mosquitoes. Its wood is used to make essential oils, medical products, furniture and paper.
Eucalyptus trees first appeared in Lebanon during the French mandate to drain the marshes. They can be found along river banks and close to the seaside.
The eucalyptus’ in the garden were planted as soon as the property was acquired in 1926 to protect it from mosquitoes. Over the years, the trees have grown steadily, and although their size adds as sense of majesty to the garden, they do drink a lot of water and have unfortunately dried out the subsoil.
Poem
Psychology of a Tree
This beautiful eucalyptus, bearing
Its noble forehead to the stars,
Drawing from the heavens diamonds
Twinkling in its eyes and piercing
The lobe of an outstretched ear.
Dressed in an emerald coloured gown
That matches dawn’s pale green light
While blending with its darker folds.
Majestic, it catches its breadth
Filling its body with height and space;
It seems impervious to misfortune.
And yet, if an axe cuts off a branch,
The new growth bows mournfully
Towards the ground, like a weeping willow!
Published in La Petite Cosmogonie Sentimentale.Éditions De la Revue Phénicienne, 2004
Improbable Affinities
I had a good friend*, caring and unpretentious
With whom we would wander at dusk
In a nearby garden, where we imagined
What the flowers and the bees had to say.
One day, as he was late, I waited
Gazing at the trunk of the tree he liked so much;
That great eucalyptus, so tall it seemed to stretch
Towards the heavens.
The sky was serene, no wind, no storm,
And not the slightest breeze under its shade;
When suddenly, before me, this strong young tree
Snapped at the base and toppled to the ground.
At the same moment, by a greater mystery
My dear friend, far away, suddenly dropped dead!
*The writer Ameen Rihanni (1876-1940).
Published in La Petite Cosmogonie Sentimentale. Éditions De la Revue Phénicienne, 2004
