Oh, grassy glades! oh, ever vernal endless landscapes in the soul; in ye,–though long parched by the dead drought of the earthy life,–in ye, men yet may roll, like young horses in new morning clover; and for some few fleeting moments, feel the cool dew of the life immortal on them. Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingled, mingling threads of life are woven by warp and woof: calms crossed by storms, a storm for every calm. There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the last one pause:–through infancy's unconscious spell, boyhood's thoughtless faith, adolescence' doubt (the common doom), then scepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood's pondering repose of If. But once gone through, we trace the round again; and are infants, boys, and men, and Ifs eternally. Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary? Where is the foundling's father hidden? Our souls are like those orphans whose unwedded mothers die in bearing them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must there to learn it.

In this introspective passage from "Moby-Dick," Melville explores the cycle of life and the elusive nature of human understanding. The imagery of "grassy glades" and "ever vernal endless landscapes" suggests a yearning for eternal peace and renewal. Yet, he acknowledges the inevitability of life's storms, contrasting fleeting moments of tranquility with the relentless turbulence that inevitably follows. Life's journey is portrayed as cyclical, echoing the stages of human evolution from childhood innocence to adult skepticism, underscoring the perpetual search for meaning. The metaphor of the "final harbor" evokes a longing for a definitive end to life's uncertainties, while the unanswered questions about the "foundling's father" signify the mysterious origins and destinies we all grapple with. Ultimately, Melville contemplates the spiritual quest for understanding, likening our souls to orphans seeking answers buried in the grave.