"Death is only a launching into the region of the strange Untried; it is but the first salutation to the possibilities of the immense Remote, the Wild, the Watery, the Unshored; therefore, to the death-longing eyes of such men, who still have left in them some interior compunctions against suicide, does the all-contributed and all-receptive ocean alluringly spread forth his whole plain of unimaginable, taking terrors, and wonderful, new-life adventures; and from the hearts of infinite Pacifics, the thousand mermaids sing to them- 'Come hither, broken-hearted; here is another life without the guilt of intermediate death; here are wonders supernatural, without dying for them.'"
Musings: There are many moments in Moby-Dick where I gain a deeper understanding into people who take off on ships of all kinds to escape from both life and death. For today, I throw myself on the mercy of Melville's words.