Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.
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Comments
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From guest Chris (contact)
Tomorrow i have to do a poetry recetation on this poem in language arts class. I havent practiced that much so i hope i do good. I really like this poem and i agree with Zitkala
MOD MESSAGE
Good Luck! -
poem
From guest zitkala (contact)
race in america has always been a problem and this goes to show that from back then to today things have changed but still today we have a long way to go.this poem has a unique twist and really is moving -
From guest The Spider (contact)
I am using this poem as part of my HSC Area of Study on Change for English and it has to be one of the best texts i have because it is so much to the point. I must confess that this is the only one of Cullen's poems i have read but i'm enjoying analysing this one -
From guest Iann (contact)
very moving, Im trying to make my students feel more sensitive about poetry and I decided to study this masterpiece I thought very rich! I want them to think deeper of their own awareness and to urge them into tolerance.... -
incident
From guest jerry l. jackson (contact)
when i first read the poem i was shocked because of the last two lines of the second stanza. i really like this poem. i think it was on of the best i read so far. the rhythm really brought my attention and how the modd change within the poem. all i can say is thank you for creating such a good poem. -
The
From guest S. Samm (contact)
This poem continues to resonate the disappointment and ugliness of ingorance in an intelligent world.Short and so much to the point -
coolieeo
From guest mayaya (contact)
thiis poem is awsome im a eight year old and someone called me a nigger before! -
To my mind Cullen is saying that even the smallest thing said in an unguarded moment can have long lasting repercussions. In this piece he describes how, when he was feeling happy and grown up, the childish taunt of another youngster is the only memory that remains of his early excursion into what was unfamiliar territory to this New Yorker.
Here the phrase "May until December" is probably the actual time but it may be the traditional representation of youth to old age.
Twelve short lines suffice for this excellent wordsmith to convey such an important message.
Jim -
From guest John D. Kaperka (contact)
I am 66 years of age- I learned this poem in the 3rd grade and I remember the first 4 lines and would say them periodically,I told my family it was from a poem that Sister Francis Elizabeth had us learn and not until I found it on the internet with the final two stanzas could I show them how much impact a poem could have when seen thru eyes of a 9 year old -
Countee Cullen is so COOL
From guest Samantha Rmz (contact)
Wow, this is an amazing poem. I am writing a whole english paper about him. HE ROCKS MY SOCKS! LOVE YOU COUNTEE CULLEN!!!! -
the analysis of Incident
From guest Lydia (contact)
The tone of the poem is irony. This poem is very easy to read while it has profound meaning. It indicates the discrimination that the black people at that time faced. "Nigger" is a very harsh word to say to the black people nowadays; however, it seems to be quite normal at that time. Even though the poem is telling about the story of a little boy, the boy may imply the author himself. Besides, the speaker is the author. As a result, it may be the experience of the poet himself. -
From guest sparkle (contact)
this poems makes me shake my head at how freely the black community call each other nigga's and we represent the niggers that white population has called us. so now truely who oppressing us by the use of a single word? -
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To guest Sparkle
I agree that, if written today, the word would be out-of-place. But Cullen wrote this 70 years ago and he was using it to try and tell people how much that word hurts. As he says From May to December all he remembers of Baltimore is that word.
He is most emphatically not using it lightly and, in the use of the term Baltimorean, does not mention the colour of the person who made the original comment (though I believe white is implied both by the generality and perhaps by the use of "whit" at a later point).
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From guest Katie (contact)
It is very easy to read and understand. I think it shows how one little incident can affect the rest of our life. -
More than racism
From guest Ed Knapp (contact)
This poem transcends racism and shows how hatred lasts longer than any happy moments. -
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hmm...I see this poem as a testimony to the lasting effects of racism. Also I shows the how overt and out-on-the-street rascism was. Though there have been significant changes and breakthroughs in the race relations in America, this poem is still relevant because racism still exists and blacks are still offended by that word. This is def. one of my favorite poems.
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I wish that there were more of his poetry on this site. A passionate traditionalist saturated with social commentary and identity's integrity, Cullen was. Can anyone post any Brown Girl on here?
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it's a touching poem
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This poem lucid in its meaning, it gets the theme across directly to the reader. I like it very much, i would like it more if i didn't have to write an essay on it.
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i am doing research on the harlem renaissance's countee cullen and i found this very interesting poem....and it does represent him.And if i was in that position, that would be the only thing i could remember too....
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This is one of my personal favorites! I perform this piece in our "Rhythms of The Harlem Renaissance" production. I am an eight year old girl saying these words. Great to see it here!
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Wow- this was a very sad poem showing the life of an African American in those days. There wasn't much symbolism in this poem, which I felt was good because if there was too much it would disguise the true horror of the treatment of black people in those days. In some ways it reminds me of Huckleberry Finn, in those days slavery was seen as almost normal whereas nowadays we know the true horror of it, especially in cases with children such as these. I thought this was a deep, blunt and quite subtle poem. I liked it and now I'm going to find out more about Cullen.
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Wow...intense...helped me to see just how bad times back then were for the African American race.
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yeah!
ooh intense.
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