Close
Menu Gratefulness Give

Last Night As I Was 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.

Copyright Antonio Machado. Translation copyright 1983 Robert Bly. Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Wesleyan University Press)

    No reflections found.

Sign up to receive a poem each month in your inbox

See our Privacy Policy

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Additional Resources

View all related resources

This site is brought to you by A Network for Grateful Living, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are fully tax deductible in the U.S.A.

CONTRIBUTE https://gratefulness.org/content/uploads/2015/03/GX-Gold-Participant-L.png

© 2000 - 2018, A Network for Grateful Living