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Writer's pictureKirsty Macdonald

Friday Poem - 'Tree, tree' by Federico García Lorca (Arbolé, arbolé)

Sometimes inspiration needs to come from the outside in order to ignite something on the inside of us. When it comes to letting go of stress, burnout or any other of modern life's ills, it can be something beautiful to read, to listen to, or to look at in the form of a painting or something in nature that can give the internal lift that makes the difference. It's from the small shifts in perception and habit and energetic state that the larger change occurs.


I've loved Lorca ever since I picked up a copy of his collection 'Poet in New York' when I was in my 20's. His work has a soul that directly speak to mine through its depth and beauty. If you allow it, you can almost feel the breath of a good writer as you read their words and know the pulse of their life-force expressing as they ignite your imagination with theirs. In my choice of this Friday's poem, Tree tree, or Arbolé, arbolé to give it its true Spanish title, I'm giving little hints of an exciting announcement that I shall be making over the coming weeks. Watch this space..!




Olive tree | Lorca poem 'Tree, tree' | www.KirstyMacdonald.co.uk


Tree, Tree by Federico García Lorca


Tree, tree, dry and green.

The girl with the lovely face is out picking olives. The bold seducing wind grabs her round the waist.

Four riders passed by on Andalusian ponies, in azure and emerald suits and long shadowy cloaks.

'Come to Cordoba, young lady!' The girl ignores them.

Three young bullfighters passed by, slim and wasp-waisted, wearing suits of bright orange and swords of antique silver.

‘Come to Seville, young lady!’ The girl ignores them.

When the evening turned mauve and began to fade, a young man passed by clutching roses and the myrtle of moonlight.

‘Come to Granada, young lady!’ And the girl ignores him.

The girl with the lovely face goes on picking olives with the wind’s grey arms tight around her waist. Tree, tree, dry and green.


Tree, tree. English translation by Paul Archer of Lorca's Arbolé, arbolé.


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