Original poem reprinted online here: "Last Night As I Was Sleeping" by Antonio Machado
Originally read: December 14, 2012
More information about the Poet: Antonio Machado
On my notes, I note a lot of places where I see cliches: in the first stanza, the discussion of water as a symbol for new life, cleansing, healing etc, and in the third stanza, the sun as being a life comforting force. These images are not only cliche but a little bit sentimental with "brought tears to my eyes."
Yet in the last stanza I note this about these lines:
Last night as I slept,
I dreamt--marvelous error!--
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.
"I feel this is subverted; however, it can be taken literally -- so it's up to thewriter reader to figure out how to figure out how to interpret the text."
I like how I crossed out writer in my own notes. I don't know anything about Antonio Machado or his religious leanings. However, I do feel a struggle in this poem after reading the last stanza again and again.
The anaphora in this poem is kind of a dual edged sword. Lines repeat so the lines can be remembered; however, the poem doesn't state why the reader or writer is remembering them. In my mind there's a subversion because of the odd connotation with "marvelous error" -- something great, but it's a mistake.
I wonder that, in this poem, does the cliche images turn into something more. In the first stanza there's the line: "Oh water, are you coming to me, / water of a new life / that I have never drunk?" Which can be seen as anticipation or lament for something not attained -- maybe both.
And in the third stanza, "and sun because it gave light / and brought tears to my eyes." I'm not sure what the tears are for after reading the last stanza, a new hope, or a blind sort want. The strength of this poem is that there's assumed emotion with action (crying for happiness, anticipation for new life), but even after reading this poem a couple more times, I see this poem as a subversion to the overly zealous -- and I'm pretty sure I'm wrong with my analysis.
Originally read: December 14, 2012
More information about the Poet: Antonio Machado
On my notes, I note a lot of places where I see cliches: in the first stanza, the discussion of water as a symbol for new life, cleansing, healing etc, and in the third stanza, the sun as being a life comforting force. These images are not only cliche but a little bit sentimental with "brought tears to my eyes."
Yet in the last stanza I note this about these lines:
Last night as I slept,
I dreamt--marvelous error!--
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.
"I feel this is subverted; however, it can be taken literally -- so it's up to the
I like how I crossed out writer in my own notes. I don't know anything about Antonio Machado or his religious leanings. However, I do feel a struggle in this poem after reading the last stanza again and again.
The anaphora in this poem is kind of a dual edged sword. Lines repeat so the lines can be remembered; however, the poem doesn't state why the reader or writer is remembering them. In my mind there's a subversion because of the odd connotation with "marvelous error" -- something great, but it's a mistake.
I wonder that, in this poem, does the cliche images turn into something more. In the first stanza there's the line: "Oh water, are you coming to me, / water of a new life / that I have never drunk?" Which can be seen as anticipation or lament for something not attained -- maybe both.
And in the third stanza, "and sun because it gave light / and brought tears to my eyes." I'm not sure what the tears are for after reading the last stanza, a new hope, or a blind sort want. The strength of this poem is that there's assumed emotion with action (crying for happiness, anticipation for new life), but even after reading this poem a couple more times, I see this poem as a subversion to the overly zealous -- and I'm pretty sure I'm wrong with my analysis.
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