Hours Continuing Long

The word “Hours” is repeated at the beginning of Lines 1 to 5 and again in Line 7. (The word also appears in Line 6, but the order is altered, with the description of the hours coming before the word itself.) Repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of a line is known as anaphora or epanaphora. In this case, the many repetitions of the word “hours” create continuity and a feeling of increasing intensity. The repetitions literally develop the notion of “Hours continuing long,” the phrase with which the poem begins (Line 1). Each mention of the hours is distinguished by how Whitman is experiencing them, for example, “Hours sleepless” (Line 3) and “Hours discouraged, distracted” (Line 4). Thus, each line, while beginning with the same word, advances the theme of the poem by the accumulation of more detail.

Lines 8 and 9 continue the pattern of anaphora, because both lines begin with the same word, “Is,” and the second part of Line 9 introduces the form of the questions that will follow: All begin with the word “Does,” which is the first word in Lines 10, 11, and 12.

Whitman frequently referred to his poems as songs, which gives a clue to how this pattern of repetition might be understood. Music depends on repetition in a way that prose or poetry does not. One can imagine this poem set to music (as so many of Whitman’s poems have been). The first note, accompanying the word “Hours,” would likely be a bass note and chord, followed by a melody continuing for several measures before the music returns to the same bass note/chord for the “Hours” in Line 2, followed by another melodious passage, and so on.

Like repetition, the placing of phrases or sentences in parentheses is a common occurrence in Whitman’s poetry. It occurs here in Lines 5 and 6. Whitman uses the parentheses to step back from the immediate narrative and reflect on it. The parenthetical passages thus add to the cumulative effect of the poem. In Line 5, for example, he extends the time covered from hours to “weeks and months,” which provides a longer perspective. He then lengthens this still further by saying he can “never” forget, suggesting that the passage of these long, gloomy hours will likely be endless.

Similarly, the parentheses in Line 6 allow Whitman to pause and consider the emotions he is feeling. He makes a negative judgment about himself, saying that he is “ashamed,” and then tries to deal with such feelings of remorse with self-affirmation: “I am what I am” (Line 6). The passage in parentheses, therefore, provides insight into how he is processing his difficult emotions.