Dedication: To My Sister Isabel.
Who was, is, and always will be the inspiration of my life. Lovely in childhood, beautiful in youth, but in middle life, 'A nature too Noble for this world'.
The Gum, whose soft fragrance filters with strong yet unassuming sweetness through all the air, a power only to be felt when it is needed, since the gum-blossom is shaded always by the quiet beauty of its hanging leaves - those cleansing leaves which have been used for the healing of many. My wattle has faded, my spring annuals have passed, but my gum stands from age to age - strong, free, high. Its flowers are pure, its leaves heal, its fragrance is more sweet then any scent upon the earth. And so it is with you, the beloved of my life, who stand high above all others and in whose shade my garden has grown.
