Last Night As I Lay Sleeping

LAST NIGHT AS I LAY SLEEPING

by Antonio Machado

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.

(Translated by Robert Bly)

As you are beginning to see,
Antonio Machado is one of my favorite poets.
This particular poem to me is exquisite.

I see in it the awakening of a great soul

as he realizes, as if in a dream,

the sublime Truth that God is not

a separate Being. GOD IS, and He lives

in the depths of our being.

This seems to me a sister poem to that

of another great Spanish poet, St. John of the Cross,

when he wrote of another night of awakening, saying:

On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings--oh, happy chance!--
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.

(Instead of the "marvelous error" of Machado,

John says, "oh, happy chance!")

The awakening of the soul is gradual,

coming with a progressive awareness,

as with a flower slowly opening out to full bloom.

The first awareness comes as living water,

water which quenches our thirst

and without which no life can be sustained.

It comes bringing new life.

Then, it comes as a beehive,

where all our failing are gathered

from far and near, brought back to the hive

and transformed by grace

into the sweet honey of merciful love.

This is followed by the fiery sun,

bringing light and warmth,

illuminating all our darkness, while at the same time

blinding our eyes with the tears that come

when the inmost depth of our being

has been touched.

The final revelation is expressed

with the fewest words. There is no language

that can adequately describe what it is.

It simply IS, and can only be adored, praised

and loved in silence.

The soul is now fully awake.