Analysis of Hours Continuing Long
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
HOURS continuing long, sore and heavy-hearted,
Hours of the dusk, when I withdraw to a lonesome and unfrequented
spot, seating myself, leaning my face in my hands;
Hours sleepless, deep in the night, when I go forth, speeding swiftly
the country roads, or through the city streets, or pacing miles
and miles, stifling plaintive cries;
Hours discouraged, distracted--for the one I cannot content myself
without, soon I saw him content himself without me;
Hours when I am forgotten, (O weeks and months are passing, but I
believe I am never to forget!)
Sullen and suffering hours! (I am ashamed--but it is useless--I am
what I am;)
Hours of my torment--I wonder if other men ever have the like, out of
the like feelings?
Is there even one other like me--distracted--his friend, his lover,
lost to him?
Is he too as I am now? Does he still rise in the morning, dejected,
thinking who is lost to him? and at night, awaking, think who
is lost?
Does he too harbor his friendship silent and endless? harbor his
anguish and passion? 10
Does some stray reminder, or the casual mention of a name, bring the
fit back upon him, taciturn and deprest?
Does he see himself reflected in me? In these hours, does he see the
face of his hours reflected?
Scheme | AABCDEFCGHIIJKLMNOPQRSASA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001001101010 101011101101001 11011011011 1010100111111010 01011101011101 0110101 10010010101110101 0111111001011 10111010110111011 011110101 1001001011011111011 111 1011111011011010111 0110 11101101101011110 111 111111111110010010 1011111011111 11 1111011010010101 10010 111010101001010110 110111001 111010100101101110 11110010 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,409 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 958 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 259 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 130 Views
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