How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
The Soul travels;
The body does not travel as much as the soul;
The body has just as great a work as the soul, and parts away at last for the journeys of the soul. (184-186)
Section 14 is where our speaker really starts to wax cosmic about the whole voyage metaphor. Here we learn that the Soul is itself a kind of traveler, one that hangs out in the body for a while, but that keeps on truckin' once the body calls it a day.
Quote #5
All parts away for the progress of souls;
All religion, all solid things, arts, governments,—all that was or is apparent upon this globe or any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of Souls along the grand roads of the universe. (187-188)
The open road is not just some path that can take you from Long Island to New Orleans. In these lines, the speaker suggests that the universe is filled with open roads, and those roads are in turn filled with traveling souls making their way along the paths of existence. We wonder if they have a Waze app for that.
Quote #6
Of the progress of the souls of men and women along the grand roads of the universe, all other progress is the needed emblem and sustenance. (189)
Here the speaker cuts to the chase. What's so great about the open road? Well, it's both a sign of, and training for, the ultimate voyage that every soul is on. Whether you know it or not, you are a traveler through the cosmos. Getting out on the open road connects you to that spiritual reality. Far out.