by Countee Cullen (1903 - 1946)
Translation Singable translation by Josef Luitpold Stern (1886 - 1966)

Incident
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.

Authorship

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

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

Erlebnis
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Ich fuhr einmal durch Baltimore,
O Knabenglück und Maienlicht,
Ein weißer Junge neben mir,
Der sah mir ins Gesicht.

Acht Jahre waren beide wir
Ich ohne Argwohn lach' ihm zu.
Da streckt er seine Zunge aus:
"Verdammter Nigger, du!"
Ich habe Baltimore geseh'n
Vom Fliederblüh'n zum Flockenschnei'n,
Von allem, was auch sonst gescheh'n,
Fällt stets nur dies mir ein . . .

Authorship

Based on

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)


Researcher for this text: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 62