Once Upon a Time

By: Gabriel Okara

Gabriel Immotimi Gbaingbai
n Okara
born on April 21, 1921 in Bumodi, Nigeria
•
• a Nigerian poet and novelist who may be pronounced as highly or
iginal and uninfluenced by other poets.
•
• he has been extremely successful in apprehending the moods, sig
hts and sounds of Africa.
•
• his poems show great sensitivity, perceptive judgements and a t
remendous energy..
• Okara also shows a concern on the topic of what
happens when the ancient culture of Africa is fa
ced with modern western culture, for example, in
his poem ' Once upon a time".
 What it's about?
how attitude and people change.
•
• how honest people used to be and how deceitful th
ey are now.
•
• how the author wishes he could be like he used to
.
•
• how adults can learn from innocent children- role
reversal
• how adulthood can change you and how quickly peop
le adapt the changes.
How parenthood can change your views of the world.
• It informs the listener about the society and the
innocence when a child;
• Displays the pain of growing up, and the loss of
innocence.
 Themes
Change - how people change over the years and b
ecome false and untrustworthy.
•
• Influence - the influence of the white wester
n world on African nations; countries like Ni
geria we're more honest before being develope
d by the west.Dishonest/hiding true intention
s
• Innocence/childhood
Once Upon a time
By: Gabriel Okara
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:

they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me.
So I have learned many things, son.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – home face,
office face, street face, host face,
cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say ,’ Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
√ The poem illustrates the changes a father has s
een in him throughout his life which have been inf
luenced by the way society has changed.

√ it is about the artificiality of relationships

and manners prevailing in the present day world. T
he past, according to the poet, is better than the
present; because there were love, sincerity and fa
ithfulness in the past. Now that in the present, e
verything has changed. Hence the poet wants to rel
ive the past.
• The poem is written as though a father were tal
king to his son.

• the poem starts with the well-known words 'Onc

e upon a time', suggesting what the speaker is goi
ng to say is a fairy tale, something so far-fetche
d it might not even be believed.

• this makes us think that honesty in expressing

emotions is so rare nowadays that it practically i
s a fairytale
• In the first stanza, at the start of the poem Oka
ra writes “they used to laugh with their hearts a
nd… eyes; but now they only laugh with their teet
h while their ice-block cold eyes search behind my
shadow.”
• it illustrates the change in the way people act sh
owing that their laughs used to be genuine and hea
rtfelt however now their attitudes have changed.
• the description of “laugh with their teeth” illu
strates someone showing false interest. The dark i
magery “ice-block cold eyes” which follows shows
that there is no emotion or feeling in the action.
 In the next stanza Okara describes how “they use
d to shake hands with their hearts” implying that
the actions were genuine and were also symbolic of
good intentions however;
“Now they shake hands without hearts while their
left hands search my empty pockets.”
•
• This phrase illustrates that all good intentions
have gone and how now it is every man for him
• Everybody is only focusing on their own personal
gain. The use of a metaphor emphasizes how there is
a lack of trust as everybody is trying to use each o
ther.
• Guests are no longer welcome these days. They are
given a warm reception only once. If they visit thei
r friends or relatives thrice or more number of days
, the doors are shut on them.
• In this material and artificial world, the poet h
as learnt many things – especially wearing many fac
es like putting on many dresses. One has to have ‘h
ome face’, ‘office face’, ‘cocktail face’ and s
o on. All are fixed just like the portrait smile.
• As this is the way of the world, the poet – cum
– speaker has also learnt laughter with teeth;
the art of saying ‘ goodbye’ when he means ‘G
ood riddance’; ‘Glad to meet you’ when he is
not glad; and ‘Nice talking to you’ when bored
.

• The poet wants to be like his son with all the e

xemplary conduct. He himself becomes the victim
of the present showing ‘the fangs of a snake’.

• Towards the end of the poem, the poet appeals to

his son to show him how to smile wholeheartedly.
" Desire to relive th
e past is nothing but
a yearning for the in
nocence, faithfulness
and sincerity".
 Structure and Form

• 1st person

• Written in free verse: irregular stanzas and lack of rhym

e could mimic the speakers distress and struggle; his mind i
s incoherent as a result of the corruption surrounding him.

• Unpoetic: seems natural and conversational - the audience

is his young son, so the style of writing must be accessible
and the message clear and simple.
 Critical Analysis

- The poem receive sneering criticism after its relea

se. The poets use of a child like lexical field con
tradicts the poems morals about growing up.

- The poem lead the readers to believe it to be like

a story and the poet does present it in a narrative
way, but once we realize he is talking to his son it
could suggest the fairytale feel is on his behalf.
- The poem is also structured like a mirror as the
first 3 stanzas talk about innocence whereas the ne
xt 3 portray experience.

-The speaker's expression of the adult society is e

xtremely negative. The poet industriously portrays
how the harsh view of society is actually what he r
esents about himself.

-This circular structure imitates how many people w

ant to be want to be older when they are young but
want to be young when they are older.
 Poetic Devices

- One of the poetic devices is Metaphor. Th

e poet says that " people's eyes are cold
as ice".
- This means that there is no warmth or rea
l feelings in the words that they say, or
how they behave . This metaphor literally
allows you to visualise a block of ice ,
cold and unwelcoming.
- The use of Simile is reflected in several areas.
The poet compares people's face to " smiles in p
ortrait".
-
- If you think about a portrait, it is usually ver
y formal and stiff, even uncomfortable. Therefore
the implication is that the smiles are actually fa
ke and stiff.
- They are confirming or trying to fit, to a preco
nceived mold that is set up by societal expectat
ions. The poet compares the persona's 'laugh to
snakes'.

- When you think of a snake, words such as sneaky

and deceitful come to mind. Therefore, the impli
cation is that the persona is false just like th
e people he despises.
 Dialogue

• The speaker is an elderly figure, could be a father as he calls the

listener ''son'.
• The speaker has knowledge and experience of the society.
• The listener is a younger person, could be a ''son'- a person wh is not
aware of society and is being informed.
• However, as the listener does not respond it can be implied that the
'son 'is a representative for everyone who does not know the truth of
society.
THE END. THANK YOU FOR LIS
TENING!