"You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here;
I believe that much unseen is also here." (stanza 2)
"O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you--yet I love you;
You express me better than I can express myself;" (stanza 4)
"Allons! we must not stop here!
However sweet these laid-up stores--however convenient this dwelling, we cannot remain here;
However shelter'd this port, and however calm these waters, we must not anchor here;
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us, we are permitted to receive it but a little while." (stanza 9)
Whitman sees travel as an open road with endless possibilities. With the "unseen" he is saying there is more to learn about yourself and others than you could possibly imagine. Whitman argues that by giving yourself entirely to the experience of travel on the open road you begin to express your true self; someone that you may never have known was there, or forgotten about. It's more than just traveling on the road; you begin to learn about yourself and life. Whitman further encourages us to not settle or become content with the life we have. We must go out and experience the open road to enjoy life, and learn about ourselves.
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I really feel that this passage from Whitman's "Song of the Open Road," describes in dept what he means when he says "travel." He sounds extremely confident and comes off as a bold and daring traveler. Whitman states that there is much to see out on the "Open Road" and, that one must not stop exploring. Even though the water is calm, and the port is shelter'd, "we must not anchor here."
ReplyDeleteWhitman seems to be referring to the road as his familiar trek of life. To continue on the road would be to love the road because it would be easy and void of risk. However, he knows there is more then just the road and he knows that even though he loves the road he cannot be afraid to leave it.
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