How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me. (1-4)
The poem starts on a happy note, then transitions to a curious one. What's up with this Baltimorean dude? Why's he staring at our speaker?
Quote #2
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger, (5-6)
These lines establish that the speaker and the other boy are peers—they're both little kids. Maybe these two, in a different life, could be best pals. That makes the other boy's remark that much more tragic.
Quote #3
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger." (7-8)
The force of these lines is always like a smack in the face. The blatant racial prejudice in these lines is overwhelming, and we are forced to look the racial slur "nigger" in the face, just as our speaker is. The poem makes clear that the speaker wasn't expecting this hatred, and, to be frank, neither were we.