"They pass, I also pass, any thing passes, none can be interdicted,
None but are accepted, none but shall be dear to me. "
These lines insinuate how the open road is unbiased and accepting to all. "Here the profound lesson of reception, nor preference nor denial," establishes that the open road receives all and prohibits none from the experience of traveling.
(From sixth stanza)
"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth."
In my opinion, travel is being defined as an opportunity for personal growth. Just like the open road, the potential for personal growth has no boundaries, biases, or "limits/imaginary lines." Unhindered by the confines of daily life which breed complacency, the traveller in the expanse of the open road will be able to grow in wisdom and to realize what it is he/she possesses within themselves.
I believe the lines you quoted from the sixth stanza also establish the idea that the author has a new sense of what types of people he views as admirable, good people, or in his words "the best persons." He now sees those who have traveled, experienced and allowed themselves to be molded by the open road as people who are well-off in life. The lines preceding that text quote:
ReplyDelete"Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear, it would not amaze me;
Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear’d, it would not astonish me."
This text further supports the idea that people seeking personal growth via the open road are more amazing and astonishing to the author than those who simply may be wealthy, successful or possess physical beauty. These are society's typical views of people who are "perfect" and "beautiful", but the author is noting that after having experienced the open road himself, he no longer sees those traits as impressive.
HFAULKNER, I agree that "They pass, I also pass, any thing passes, none can be interdicted,
ReplyDeleteNone but are accepted, none but shall be dear to me. " is the best way to describe the way that that Walt Whitman defines travel.
In these lines, Whitman describes that no individual is left behind when it comes to travel. The road allows anyone to take its paths and it doesn't seclude wether it is someone not as fortunate or someone who is mischievous. He further describes this by stating "The black with his woolly head, the felon, the diseas’d, the illiterate person, are not denied;" This almost makes the reader feel that the road is the one thing that all of these different people have in common with one another. The road is one thing that all of these different kind of people do and experience at the same time while they are all making separate journeys. We all pass one another while traveling in today's society so this is very relevant to how we could consider travel in our own world.