How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
But orgies and the company of women were forbidden me. Not even a friend. I could see myself before an angry crowd, facing the firing-squad, weeping with a misery they couldn't have understood, and forgiving them! – Like Joan of Arc! – 'Priests, professors, masters, you're wrong to hand me over to justice. I've never been part of this race. (44)
This is not the first, or the last, time the speaker fantasizes about being executed before an angry crowd. There's nothing more isolating that this kind of experience, which is probably why he keeps coming back to it. Of course, there's also an undeniable distinction in being such an outsider (just ask Joan of Arc).
Quote #5
Ah, that life of my childhood, the highway in all weathers, supernaturally sober, more disinterested than the finest of beggars, proud of having neither country nor friends, how foolish it was. – And only now do I realise! (243)
Later in the poem, the speaker seems to come to his senses—in these lines anyway. He seems to regret rejecting his society and pursuing an isolated life. Whether or not he's truly learned his lesson, though, is up for debate.
Quote #6
But no friendly hand! And where to find help? (280)
Bummer—the speaker ends the poem as he began it: all by himself. When once he was all for his isolation, though, he now laments his lonely state. Do you think he'll change his ways in the future, embracing the society he once so vehemently rejected?