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by Countee Cullen (1903 - 1946)

Incident
 (Sung text for setting by T. Cipullo)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
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.

Composition:

    Set to music by Tom Cipullo (b. 1960), "Incident", 2000 [ voice and piano ], from Climbing: 7 Songs on 8 Poems by African-Americans, no. 4

Text Authorship:

  • by Countee Cullen (1903 - 1946), "Incident"

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-10-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

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