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Incident by Countee Cullen

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A young Black child visits Baltimore, filled with excitement and joy.

Poet
Countee Cullen
Core theme
Childhood
The PoemFull text

Incident

Countee Cullen

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.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A young Black child visits Baltimore, filled with excitement and joy. He smiles at another kid his age, only to be met with a racial slur in return. That one moment of cruelty erases all the memories from his entire eight-month stay. The poem illustrates how a single act of racism can overshadow everything else in a child's experience.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. Once riding in old Baltimore, / Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,

    Editor's note

    The speaker arrives in Baltimore as a child, full of happiness and curiosity about the world. The phrase "heart-filled, head-filled with glee" emphasizes that joy — it fills both his feelings and his thoughts. The word "old" adds a sense of history and significance to Baltimore, subtly preparing us for the contrast that lies ahead.

  2. Now I was eight and very small, / And he was no whit bigger,

    Editor's note

    Cullen takes a moment to emphasize how young and equal these two children truly are. "No whit bigger" indicates that the other boy isn't even slightly larger — they're equals in every physical aspect. This makes what happens next feel even more shocking: the hatred didn't arise from any sense of power or size; it emerged from a completely irrational place.

  3. I saw the whole of Baltimore / From May until December;

    Editor's note

    Eight months can feel like an eternity, particularly for a child. The speaker likely experienced parks, markets, and the changing seasons. Yet Cullen doesn't mention any of that. The stretch from May to December—almost a full year—intensifies the emptiness of what comes next.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone begins with a light, almost sing-song quality—the short lines and rhyme scheme resemble a children’s nursery rhyme, making the racial slur in the second stanza hit like a slap. After that, the poem falls into a quiet, flat rhythm. There’s no anger, no tears, no moralizing. This restraint is intentional: the speaker doesn’t need to articulate the pain. The silence conveys it all.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Baltimore
Baltimore represents America — a city rich in promise and history, yet still presents racism to a Black child unexpectedly and without remorse.
The smile
The speaker's smile is a genuine expression of kindness. It shows the openness the child brought to the encounter, and the other boy's rejection of it makes the cruelty feel even more intentional.
May until December
The nearly full year embodies all the experiences, sights, and memories that racism has erased. It stands as a reminder of joy and childhood taken away.
The tongue and the slur
The act of poking out a tongue along with the racial slur reveals that this hatred is both immature and deeply ingrained — the other boy has clearly picked up on adult racism and used it as a weapon.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Countee Cullen published "Incident" in his 1925 debut collection *Color*, right during the Harlem Renaissance—a vibrant period of Black art, literature, and music based in New York City. Cullen emerged as one of its most prominent young voices, known for using traditional European poetic forms while addressing the harsh realities of Black American life. The poem captures the everyday racism that Black Americans encountered in the early twentieth century, particularly in Northern cities like Baltimore, which straddled the line between North and South and reflected the social codes of both regions. Cullen's decision to employ a light, almost playful ballad form to discuss such a painful topic was both intentional and revolutionary—it compels the reader to experience the innocence of childhood alongside the harshness of racism.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

The poem suggests that one act of racism can shape a person's entire experience and linger indefinitely. Eight months of life in Baltimore condense into a single memory: the slur. Cullen illustrates how racism doesn't just inflict pain in that moment — it overshadows everything else.

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