Hours Continuing Long

The first part of the poem, in which the word “hours” appears once in every line (Lines 1-7), puts the emphasis firmly on the passage of time. The poet is in a state of distress throughout these lines, and he is conscious of how time is dragging. As the first line states, “Hours continuing long.” Time appears to pass slowly because Whitman is obsessing on his own misery. As the hours go by, his unhappiness is all that he knows. It seems from the poem that he cannot find anything constructive to occupy his time with—he cannot even sleep—so he broods endlessly, hour after hour after hour. This consciousness of the monotonous passing of hours that turn into “weeks and months” (Line 5) thus becomes a recurring motif. It is as if the poet’s mind is stuck; time trudges wearily on, but he cannot get beyond the endless circulation of his negative feelings: Hours are long when the heart aches.