Taming the Beast in the DreamDreams have long been the basis of in-depth analysis, their meanings being interpreted and reinterpreted. Some people believe that dreams reflect our pent-up emotions, providing a necessary outlet for the negative aspects of our reality. Others find answers through dreams, believing that dreams provide simple solutions to seemingly complex problems in our lives. Louise Bogan, in her poem “The Dream,” describes a dream that expresses both repression and solution. It's a poem about fear, and Bogan's message - the message of the dream, in fact - is that fear can be tamed by trust. In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker describes the frightening dream she had. Bogan introduces the symbol of a powerful horse that embodies the fear and punishment carried from the speaker's childhood, fear and punishment that have been "kept for thirty-five years" (3). Bogan uses metaphorical language effectively when she describes personified fear in the horse as it "pours through its mane" (3) and punishment as it "breathes through its nose" (4). The source of his fear is unclear, but it could be that the horse is a symbol of life that can be both beautiful and terrifying. The imagery created when the speaker tells us, "the terrible horse has begun / To scrape the air and come towards me with its blows" (1-2) describes a feeling of entrapment as life corners and spits out a repressed fear and punishment. , emotions that must be faced. The speaker's shame at her cowardice is clear in the second stanza when she describes how she "lay down on the ground and wept" (5). It is at this point that Bogan introduces another symbol into the poem, that of a woman who “took the reins” (6). The strength and court of the stranger...... middle of paper ......the meaning is clear, the last line contains three successive iambics in "lowered the head in love". Additionally, after a routine abab rhyme scheme in the first three stanzas, Bogan introduces new tension in the last stanza with an abba rhyme scheme. The word “love” rhymes freshly and unexpectedly with “glove,” just as Bogan’s poem emphasizes that with trust comes peace, often just as fresh and unexpected. Louise Bogan points out in her poem that life is rarely as predictable as we are. we might like to, but we have to face it, whatever our fears. Like the speaker, we may be surprised by the gentleness and peace we find when we face life head on, offer it our love, and surrender to its power, just as it surrenders to ours. Works Cited Bogan, Louise. “The dream”. The Riverside Literature Anthology. Ed. Douglas Hunt. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1990. 730.