Antonio Machado - Last night, as I was sleeping
Ivan M. Granger May 29th, 2009
Last night, as I was sleeping
by Antonio Machado
English version by Robert Bly
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
/ Photo by sammydavisdog /
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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Antonio Machado
Spain (1875 - 1939) Timeline |
Antonio Machado’s wife died when she was very young. It is through his lifelong anguish over this loss that a kind of sacred spiritual yearning emerges. He begins to see his dead wife as his divine beloved, ever present, ever calling to him, yet ever just out of reach so union can only be found in a mystical embrace. In this way, his unsatisfied romantic yearning was elevated to an experience of the sacred, similar to that sought by the troubadour mystics several centuries earlier.
When his poems speak of this beloved woman, read into it the divine, and see what meaning emerges.
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This work was my first experience of mystical poetry and it fueled a hunger and yearning for more . One of my favorites as well , as I have shared some of his feelings so wondrously expressed . Your generosity has fed my hunger as well . Thank you Ivan . Dave
This one set my heart A-float and made it cry out for more.
Thank you, Ivan. You always seem to capture the spiritual food that is needed at the moment.
I so love this.
Glenda
I have just joined the online community of Gaia and I am having many dreams about the energy I am receiving from my new friends. Energy of springs and suns and red warm intense love. Read my mind some more. You always do.
This poem came to me when I was going through a dark night of the soul and gave me hope…”making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures.” I imagined a beehive around my heart and felt the transformation radiate from inside. Thank you for this food for the soul.
it is infact the truth about ourself that we are lookinng things to happen outside but every thing is inside all springs, hills, ocean waves u will feel when look into yourself
thanks
Well this poem brought tears to my eyes today. Thanks
I love the metaphors of the bees making honey out of old failures. The poems of the mystics feed my soul and expand the feeling of love in my heart.
I’ve gotten a few emails asking 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…
YESSS!!! “BLESSED ILLUSION”,
Suddenly the lines have taken on a different impact Ivan.
Of course- when i was dreaming, it could have been a blessed illusion only.
Thanks for your daily ruminations Ivan. You bring me
water of a new life
that I have never drunk!!
Directed to my heart in this poem, I am inspired to submit an earlier response I didn’t feel up to at the time, about what can count as PRAYER
The slightest contact is worship.
How the toe touches the giant tree when the foot lands beside it safely
How a lady knows someone cares by the way a few fingers support her thin elbow
How you breathe when the phone rings after expectation has inhaled in your heart
Answering a sincere letter you have been waiting for as you wait for a blessing
A wound so light and slim when you have feared a deep cut
A look of appreciation when you anticipated disapproval
The fall of the dice when they cooperate with your gambling streak
Luck when you are saved from damage or undeserved blame
Deliverance from an accident, no matter how small
Soft words spoken to G-d in gratitude for a life you live under his heavenly shelter
i heard the whispers
resembling
the jingles
and the chimes
of a temple
and to
the early
morning prayers
and like
a lovers appreciation
and like a wave
swiftly ending
its being
after meeting the
the shore
and a giggle
of a young child
and in brides
heavy laden eyes
yes!
i hear
god whispering
in me
around me
every moment!