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.
- Antonio Machado (1875 - 1939) | credit
Last Night as I was Sleeping was written by Antonio Machado in 1903. Arguably Spain's most esteemed modern poet, Machado's poetry was characterized by philosophical melancholy, often evoking the stony landscapes and diminished glories of his homeland. "A poet of time and memory", one critic has called him.
[>] listen to Robert Bly's recitation of this wonderful poem. listening, instantly it became my favorite! as if i discovered a spanish Rumi in Antonio Machado.
... Ivan M. Granger comments in Poetry-Chaikhana: "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?
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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