Last Night As I Was Sleeping, by Antonio Machado

[bluepapercup]

ursulav posted one stanza of this poem. The imagery moved me to restlessness, such that I felt compelled to search out the rest of the poem. What an earthy, hungry spirituality this poem embodies.

Last Night As I Was Sleeping

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 (1895-1939, Spain)