I’ve been translating a book about Hortense’s banishment from France and the problems politics was causing her.
Here we have some words written by Hortense to shade the narrative.
Ton écorce n’a plus d’odeur / Ta feuille hélas paraît flétrir / Bel arbre d’où vient ta langueur / Je ne suis plus dans ma patrie
Your bark has no smell / Your leaf alas seems to wither / Beautiful tree why do you languor / I'm no longer in my homeland.