Incident

 Incident by Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

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. 


Taken from: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/incident/


Explorations of the Text

1. What is the nature of the interaction between the two boys?

Basically in this poem, the two boys don't have good communication skills. In other words, the Baltimorean boy called the black-skinned boy with bad words "nigger" and it is very offensive words for black people. The black boy try to be friend with the white boy when he smiled to him, but the white boy responds with a rude gesture, racist epithet. 

2. Why does the speaker remember nothing more than the incident, even though he stayed in Baltimore from "May until December"?

The speaker says, while he was enjoying the moment riding through the Baltimore,he saw Baltimorean boy keep looking at him and he wandered why that boy keep looking at him for no reason. He gave the Baltimorean friendly smile but that boy responded to him in a very offensive way. This can be seen in second stanza, "And so I smiled, but he poked out, His tongue and called me "Nigger". That incident happened when he was 8 years old, and that boy who just staring at him was not older than him. This clearly shows that how worst the impact of prejudice and racism, even children are being taught right from their age and to keep apart from the blacks. The speaker remember nothing more than the "incident" because to him, that incident really painful. When the white boy called him "nigger" , that was most painful thing he had faced and when he grown up, the only thing that he remembered about Baltimore was when the white boy called him with such offensive word!

The Reading/Writing Connection

1. In a paragraph, compare your experience of prejudice with the persona in the poem. 

Well, talking about my own experience on prejudice.. I think I've experienced it before . That was few years ago. Prejudice against literature and science student. Some people think that literature stream are bad and that was totally wrong! While in this poem, the persona faced trauma of racism that he faced. 

Ideas for Writing

1. What do its form and rhyme add to this poem?

The rhyme scheme in the first stanza is A,B,C,B. 

The second stanza has a rhyme scheme of A,B,C,D. 

The last stanza has a rhyme scheme of A,B,C,B.

In this poem , it rhyme such as "glee", "me". "bigger" , "nigger" , "Baltimore", "December", "there" and "remember". 

2.What is the power of language? What are the effects of the use of the term "nigger"?

Power of language refer to the words used in literary works to make it more meaningful. 

Nigger is very offensive word for black people and in this poem, the persona explains that racism is very painful and no matter at what age you experienced it, it leaves scar in your mind for a lifetime!