"Curse thee, thou vain toy; and cursed be all the things that cast man’s eyes aloft to that heaven, whose live vividness but scorches him, as these old eyes are even now scorched with thy light, O sun!"
Musing: Ahab has been looking through the Quadrant to chart his course. While looking to the sun, he suddenly becomes angry and rebukes science altogether. Ahab vows to rely on nothing but himself to guide his way to Moby-Dick. This can be read as his final cut-off with the sun/Sun/God as well. Ahab's isolation is nearly complete.