Once Upon a Time

Gabriel Okara

Gabriel Okara
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara was born on April 24th
1921 in Bomoundi in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. In 1979, he was
awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.
His most famous poem is Piano and
Drums. He poetry is mainly concerned with
what happens when the ancient culture of
Africa is faced with modern Western

culture, as in his poem Once Upon a Time.

Many of his manuscripts were destroyed
during the Nigerian Civil War.

Once Upon a Time

Ha

Ha

Ha

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,
Search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
They used to shake hands with their hearts:
But thats gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
While they 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 fond 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.

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 Its 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 snakes 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.

Gabriel Okara

What is the poem about?

How people change.
How honest people used to be and how insincere they
are now.
How the author (Gabriel Okara) wishes he could be
the way he used to be. He regrets who he has become.
How adulthood can change a person and how quickly
people adapt to changes.
How parenthood, moving to another country and how
people treat you, can change a persons views.
How children can change the way a person looks on
life.

SMILE
Structure: length of the verse.
Mood / Tone: the mood of the poem and emotions developed.
Imagery / Ideas: similes, metaphors, personification, enjambment,
pathetic fallacy.

Language: rhythm / rhyme, repetition, rhetorical questions,

alliteration, onomatopoeia, enjambment, oxymoronic,
cyclical.

Effect: the effect on the reader, what dies the reader think about.

Structure
By the title Once Upon a Time the reader expects a
Fairytale / bedtime story. The expectation is set up for a
light-hearted, positive story, but the reader soon notices
the opposite occurring.
The structure of the poem makes the reader aware that
he is talking to his son.
There is no formal rhyme scheme used in the poem.
This makes the poem seem more conversational.

Mood / Tone
The poem can be serious and the narrator tells his story without
using humour to lighten the mood. The reader then feels
sympathy for the narrator as he goes to his son for help.
The reactions change from being genuine to insincere.
The poem starts positively with Once Upon a Time but by line
4 the mood changes. But now they only laugh with their teeth.
The last two stanzas show regret. The narrator regrets who he has
become. I want to be what I used to be, line 34. So show me,
son,, line 40. The title of the poem is also repeated in the last
stanza which shows the cyclical nature of the poem which
emphasizes to the reader how it is hard to change.

Imagery / Ideas
Smiles:
I have learned to wear many faces like dresses, line 20/21. This shows he can
change his emotions like you can change a dress.
My teeth like a snakes bare fangs!, line 39. This shows his age as a snake
doesnt have teeth per se, yet he still has a bite
Metaphors:
They used to laugh with their eyes, line 2 a cheerful and positive start to the
poem. It could show genuine laughter and be sincere or it could be mocking?
Ice-block cold eyes search behind my shadow, line 5/6. As the metaphor is
mentioned so early in the poem, it shows the futility of his actions and his tru
feelings.
They used to shake hands with their hearts, line 8. This shows trust and
happiness. But on line 10 the metaphor is used in reverse. Now they shake hands
without hearts. This shows that the trust is broken and there is no longer trust
when they shake hands

Language
Repetition:
Once upon a time, line 1 and 44. The title of the poem is repeated at the beginning
and the end of the poem.
They used to shake hands with their hearts: but thats gone, son. Now they shake
hands without hearts while their left hands search my empty pockets, lines 8 12.
This shows repetition of hands and hearts and how the two are disjointed.
Like dresses homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, cocktailface, lines 2123.
The compound usage here de-personalises the momentum of the poem
Alliteration:
Again, see the above quotation
Rhythm/Rhythm:
At home, once, twice, there will be no thrice, lines 16 and 17. Rhyme is used on
twice and thrice.
Cyclical:
Once upon a time, line 1 and 44. The title of the poem is repeated at the beginning
and the end of the poem. Might this suggest this will occur again in another
relationship?

Effect
The reader sympathises with the narrator
because he is aware of how he has changed. He
also realises how much he wants to change back
to the man he used to be because he regrets his
past.
He is also disappointed how other people have
treated him.