Whitman quote

Perhaps Kerouac chose to quote Whitman at the beginning of his scroll because he admired him as a writer and hoped to write the book in a similar way. The particular quote that is chosen reminds me of the relationship between Neal and Allen that Kerouac describes. The book is also dedicated to their memory so it's not unlikely that Kerouac saw them in the quote. Another thought is that the quote describes what Kerouac once "said" to the road, when he gave himself over to it completely and wondered if he would ever part with it.