Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Secular or Eclectic 20th Century	About Antonio Machado Timeline (1875 - 1939)
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English version by Ivan M. Granger Original Language Spanish	The Waterwheel
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Heart   Honey   Night   Sexual Union     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	Evening fell sad and dusty.      The water was singing its rustic verse in the pockets of the weary water wheel.      The mule was dreaming -- poor old mule! -- to the rhythm of shadows drowsing in the water.      Evening fell sad and dusty.      I don't know which poet, noble and divine, joined the sorrow of the eternal wheel      to the sweet music of the sleepy water and covered your eyes -- poor old mule!      It must have been a poet, noble and divine, a heart matured by nighttime and knowledge.
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

The mule or ass is a traditional Western symbol for the little self, what we'd call the ego today.

The mule, like the ego, is blind... or, rather, blinders have been placed over it. The fact that the mule's blinders have been put in place by an unknown "noble and divine" poet should tell us that Machado is unpacking a poetic or possibly esoteric metaphor.

We have the "eternal wheel" which is a wheel of "sorrow." This is the wheel of time, the ongoing struggles of life. But, somehow, the turning of that sorrowful wheel has also been "joined" to the "sweet music" of "sleepy water." In fact, the mule's blinders that joins the music to the wheel.

The music is the gentle flowing sound we hear when the mind is at rest. The soft ringing or whisper heard in meditation or silent prayer. It is the sound of the divine water of life flowing through the individual awareness.

That water, when consciously recognized and felt, can bring us into such profound stillness that one can appear to be asleep. To be more precise, the mule, the ego, falls asleep... while the true Self in full awareness finally awakens.

Is all this what Machado truly intended with this poem? I don't know if that's so important. That doesn't have to stop us from diving deep into these layers of meaning anyway.

And how about that closing phrase, "a heart matured / by nighttime and knowledge." Mm.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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