Monday, July 4, 2011

In the beehive of the heart







Last night as I was sleeping
I dreamed – blessed illusion! -
I had a beehive
inside my heart
and golden bees
were working inside
to turn old regrets
into beeswax and sweet honey

- Antonio Machado, "Last Night as I Lay Sleeping"

This is my free translation from the original Spanish:

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé ¡bendita ilusión!
que una colmena tenía
dentro de mi corazón;
y las doradas abejas
iban fabricando en él,
con las amarguras viejas,
blanca cera y dulce miel.

4 comments:

  1. My favorite bee quote- Thank you !

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  3. Thank you for introducing me to this beautiful poem, Robert. It brought back a dream with a similar powerful image. Here's how I recorded it in my dream, "Eva's Honey Tree House. "The most wonderful house – a house that is really partly the base of a beautiful big tree. The left side is a bee colony. The right the opening to the tree. The door to a warm, beautiful room, powerful, sunny, cozy."

    This poem feels the same, my heart- my tree; the bees are using the bitter to make the sweet. I feel I have quite a sanctuary to explore in the combination and look forward to spending some time there soon.

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