Tranströmer also writes, in a fairly early poem, “Restraint, dreams, restraint.” Again, it’s not clear to me whether he is suggesting a circuit—a process, a progression—or simply articulating joints in the poetic body. But I do like this, much more than the usual, tired dialogue about form vs. content, etc. If we can say, with Levertov, that “Form is never more than a revelation of content,” can we also say that restraint is never more than revelation of dream?
