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Last night, as I was sleeping by Antonio Machado (1875 - 1939) Timeline English version by Robert Bly Original Language Spanish Secular or Eclectic 20th Century Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that a spring was breaking out in my heart. I said: Along which secret aqueduct, Oh water, are you coming to me, water of a new life that I have never drunk?      Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures.      Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that a fiery sun was giving light inside my heart. It was fiery because I felt warmth as from a hearth, and sun because it gave light and brought tears to my eyes.      Last night, as I slept, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that it was God I had here inside my heart.     -- from Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly Amazon.com   / Photo by sammydavisdog /	Themes   Dream   Fire   Heart   Honey   Light Recommended Books Antonio Machado: Selected Poems, by Antonio Machado / Translated by Alan S. Trueblood Border of a Dream: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, by Antonio Machado / Translated by Willis Barnstone The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell Six Masters of the Spanish Sonnet: Francisco de Quevedo, Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz, Antonio Machado, Federico Garcia Lorca, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel, Translated by Willis Barnstone Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

This is my favorite poem by the Spanish poet Antonio Machado. Actually, it's one of my favorite poems, period.

It speaks so richly for itself that no commentary is necessary to be caught in its spell, but I want to point out how strongly it suggests the mystic's ecstatic experience...

In the poem, Machado discovers continual delights in his heart. In the ecstatic state, the heart seems to expand, filling with a joy that encompasses everything.

The spring "breaking out" in his heart, running along a "secret aqueduct," bringing "water of new life" -- this is often part of sacred ecstasy. Mystics often experience a sensation of drinking some unknown liquid that warms the heart and fills you with a sense of life you hadn't known before.

This "drink" is perceived as being sweet, eliciting comparisons to honey or wine. Thus, Machado discovers "white combs / and sweet honey" in his heart.

In such overwhelming delight you feel radically whole. All past guilts and "failures" seem somehow resolved, transformed into the very matter that this joy is built upon.

In this blissful state, you are also filled with an awareness of light and a great warmth that permeates your whole body, like a "fiery sun."

Indeed, caught up in this experience, how can you doubt that it is God you have inside your heart?

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A note about that phrase "marvelous error" which has some people confused. I think Bly's translation of that line is misleading. Machado's actual line in Spanish is "bendita ilusión." A more exact translation might be "blessed illusion or dream." When I read that, I don't hear Machado calling this experience an "error"; it's more of a vision...

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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