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)
In the beginning of the poem, the speaker is a happy little kid—"heart-filled, head-filled with glee." The poem couldn't have a more cheerful, kid-like start. Even the ballad meter reinforces this gleeful feeling.
Quote #2
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, "N*****." (5-8)
And here, all that glee disappears. We find out how old the boy is—just 8—and then, bam. He, and by extension, we, are hit with the word "n*****." It's a shock to us, so just imagine the shock to the speaker's young self.
Quote #3
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember. (9-12)
This last stanza explains that this distressing incident is a defining moment for the speaker. It defines his experience in Baltimore, and he remembers it all these years later. This incident is a moment of growing up, of recognition of his relationship with the big (and sadly, racist) world out there.