The lyrics have often been used as a metaphor for life's difficult choices, and many see the boat as referring to one's self or a group with which one identifies. Rowing is a skillful, if tedious, practice that takes perfection but also directs the vessel. When sung as a group, the act of rowing becomes a unifier, as oars must be in sync in a rowboat.
The idea that man travels along a certain stream, suggests boundaries in the path of choices and in free will.
The third line recommends that challenges should be greeted in stride while open to joy with a smile.
The final line, life is but a dream, is perhaps the most meaningful. With a religious point of view, life and the physical plane may be regarded as having equivalent value as that of a dream, such that troubles are seen in the context of a lesser reality once one has awakened.
LINK: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
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