Wednesday 28 March 2018
Critical Analysis of the Poem ‘Once Upon A Time’
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Name :- Kailash P. Baraiya
Roll No :- 9, Batch:- 2016-2018
Topic: - Critical Analysis of the Poem ‘Once Upon
A Time’
Paper No.: 14, The African Literature
Paper No.: 14, The African Literature
Submitted To:- Department of English, M.K.
Bhavnagar University
‘Once Upon A Time’ By Gabriel Okara
About the
Poet: 
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain
Okara (born April 21, 1921 in Bumodi, Nigeria) is a Nigerian poet and
novelist who may be pronounced as highly original and uninfluenced by other
poets. He has been extremely successful in apprehending the moods, sights and
sounds of Africa. His poems show great sensitivity, perceptive judgements and a
tremendous energy. Okara also shows a concern on the topic of what happens when
the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern western culture.
Poem:-
Once Upon a Time
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.
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.
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.
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 – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, 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.
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!
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.
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
Once Upon A Time is about a father teaching his son regarding the
dangers of fake friends and how times have changed. This infers that it used to
happen by the use of the word, ‘now’ because it shows that in the present tense
it doesn’t happen anymore because they’ve grown up. The poet also signifies an
emotion of disappointment and that he wished he had learned earlier on how to
put on a fake smile and deal with people that don’t want to be his friend. The
main speaker in the poem regrets about a time in the speakers’ life when people
were sincere and caring in their dealings. He speaks regretfully about the
present time when people are not like before. He seems to feel that people have
lost the innocence and openness which he now sees in his young son. He wants to
regain that innocence.
The poet
displays how they used to be his friends and something must have transformed
for them friends to keep running back to him even though they aren’t true
friends.
Annotations Once Upon A Time:
In the
first stanza of the poem, the poem tells of the conversation between what seems
to be a father and son, where the father wants to learn from his son how to go
back to normality and no longer fake. The poem starts by the father telling his
son how the people used to laugh with their hearts’. Also, this description in
the poem gives the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people.
Stanza two of
the Gabriel Okara poem then reveals more of the past when it is said that,
‘they used to shake hands with their hearts’, again this image reveals true and
genuine emotion. But just as in the first Stanza the present reality is then
discussed when it is said that, ‘that has gone, now they only shake hands
without hearts while their left hands search his empty pockets’. This shows
that again the people are not true and seem to be using the man to see what
they can get.
Stanza three of the poem starts
positive with the phrases, ‘feel at home’, ‘come again’, but then goes on to
say that he will come again, ‘once, twice’ but there will ‘be no more thrice’
for the ‘I find doors shut on me’. This shows that the people lie when they say
the positive phrases and after a few visits they have all that they want from
the man. Their falseness is reflected in the language they use.
Stanza four
presents the adaptations and solutions that the man has found to counter the
problems. It starts by saying that the man has, ‘learned many things’, already
suggesting that he has changed to fit in.
He tells of the
false personalities or of his ‘many faces’. He tells that he has learned to
‘wear’ these faces, suggesting that he wears faces for different situations.
For example, he says he has an ‘office-face, street-face, and host-face,
proving that he acts differently under different circumstances. He then adds
that they have, ‘conforming smiles, like a fixed portrait’. This suggests, even
more, falseness and changes.
The Setting of Once Upon A Time:
The mood of the poem is nostalgic. The personality is
remembering how things used to be when he was young and innocent, like his son.
The poem highlights the guilt and resentment an African man feels for him to
accept the culture of the westerners. He notices a marked change in the
attitudes of his people-those who were once so genuine, warm and sincere have
now suddenly turned cold and hostile towards him.
Critical Analysis of Once Upon A Time:
The poem
received sneering criticism after its release. The poets’ use of a child like
lexical field contradicts the poems morals about growing up. The poem leads 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 fairy tale feel is on his behalf. The poem is also structured like a mirror
as the first 3 stanzas talk about innocence whereas the next 3 portray
experience. Furthermore, the poet is constantly reflecting on the two times of
their life.
The speakers’
expression of the adult society is extremely negative. The poet industriously
portrays how the harsh view of society is actually what he resents about
himself. This implies his child may not be very young as they don’t want to see
the bad in their parents but we know he still has innocence. This wants to
return to the beginning of the poem shows how the poet is desperate to not let
He ends this
way yet it is at the end of the poem that he wants to return to the start. This
circular structure imitates how many people want to be older when they are
young but want to be young when they are older.
Poetic Devices in Once Upon A Time:
One of the
poetic devices used is Metaphor. The poet says that people’s eyes are as cold
as ice. This means that there is no warmth or real feeling in the words that
they say, or how they behave. This metaphor literally allows you to visualize a
block of ice, cold and unwelcoming.
The use of Similie is reflected in several areas. The poet
compares people’s faces to smiles in a portrait. If you think about a portrait,
it is usually very formal and stiff, even uncomfortable. Therefore, the
implication is that the smiles are actually fake and stiff. They are conforming
or trying to fit, to a preconceived mold that is set up by societal
expectations. 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
implication is that the persona is false just like the people he despises.
The Theme, Tone, and Central
Idea of Once Upon A Time:
The poem has
mixed feelings of childhood, regret, and innocence. The child in the poem is a
symbol of innocence, purity, enthusiasm, happiness, and genuineness lacking in
society. The child represents the group of people who have not been affected by
Western Culture and abode by their own culture. The poet, struck by a sense of
self-loathing and regret, turns to his son in his time of need and asks him to
help him unlearn whatever he has learned and helped him regain his child-like
innocence.
Innocence is a
fading aspect in the man’s society. People always appear deceitful and cunning.
The child, however, is a picture of innocence and acts without any malice or
ulterior motive. The man wishes to gain this innocence from his son, though he
fails to realize that innocence is not learned, a state of mind. Once it is
lost, it is gone forever.
Conclusion:-
Once Upon A
Time highlights the guilt and resentment an African man feels for himself to
accept the culture of the westerners. He notices a marked change in the
attitudes of his people. Those who were once so genuine, warm and sincere have
now suddenly turned cold and hostile towards him.
Bibliography
Abhishek. Once Upon a Time Summary by Gabriel
Okara. Vers.
https://beamingnotes.com/2015/02/24/upon-time-summary-gabriel-okara/. 24
February 2015. 27 February 2018.
Basu, Neha. Critical
Analysis of Once Upon A Time by Gabriel Okara. 31 August 2017. 27
February 2018 <https://beamingnotes.com/2017/08/31/critical-analysis-upon-time-gabriel-okara/>.
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