Once Upon a Time

HOPE YOU ARE REVISING!! Here is a revision exercise and some notes on Gabriel Okara's poem, "Once Upon a Time"

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.

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 learnt 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 learnt 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.


Gabriel Okara (1921– ), poet and novelist, is one of the
most significant literary figures in Nigeria today. He
established the River State Government Paper, The
Nigerian Tide. His poetry made a great impact on the
people through the pages of The Black Orpheus, the
most famous magazine of Africa. He was given the
Commonwealth Poetry Award. He visited India in 1989
to participate in the World Poetry Festival.

GLOSSARY
conform: behave according to socially acceptable conventions or
standards
good-riddance: expression of relief at being free of an unwanted
person

Exercises
1. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences each.
2. What expressions does the poet use to denote contrast in
3. the poem?
4. What does the poet mean by “goodbye” and “good-riddance”?
5. What does the poet want to be?
6. What does the poet want to relearn?
7. Why do the “conforming smiles” look like a “fixed portrait
8. smile” to the poet?
9. II. Answer the following questions in about 100–150 words each.
10. The poet contrasts the past with the present. What does this
11. signify?

12. . Is this poem a criticism of modern life? Explain.
13. Why does the poet address this poem to his son?
14. What does the title of the poem indicate?
15. Note the following expressions in the poem and write their
meanings in one or two sentences.
(i) laugh with their hearts
(ii) laugh with their teeth
(iii) shake hands with their hearts
(iv) shake hands without hearts
(v) hands search my empty pockets
(vi) feel at home
(vii) there will be no thrice
(viii) learned to wear many faces like dresses
(ix) like a fixed portrait smile
(x) I want to unlearn all these muting things
(xi) my teeth like snake’s bare fangsActivity
(not for evaluation)
Satire has been used from classical times to mock human
vices and frailties. In this poem satire is implied in the
expression “Glad to meet you”. Here the poet is ridiculing a
host who welcomes his friend by saying “Glad to meet you”
whereas in reality he is not glad.
Find two more satirical expressions in the poem and explain.

Check this website for an explanation of the poem:

http://thestar.com.my/english/story.asp?file=/2005/7/15/lifefocus/11400842&sec=lifefocus


Here is another explanation from the web:

02/13/2001
Betty Gilson
http://www.artistrue.com ENC 1102
Once Upon a Time
By Gabriel Okara
Interpreting Poetry
Revision

“Once Upon a Time” is an emotional poem about the story of a grown up man—who
once was an innocent child.

His adult world has lost the charm of his childhood years. The poet describes how the
process of growing up transforms the innocence of childhood. After entering the adult
world, the young adults will gradually forget how to “laugh with their hearts.”
While growing up, the cold world intimidated our main character. He used to sense
people’s insincerity and their superficial laughs, because “they only laugh[ed] with their teeth,/while their ice-block-cold eyes/search[ed] behind [his] shadow’.

It is a vicious circle: once someone has entered the adult world, he will change—then
change others. Our character will learn how to say things that he doesn’t really mean: “I have also learned to say, “Goodbye,”/when I mean “Goodriddance”;/to say “Glad to meet you,”/without being glad; and to say “It’s been/nice talking to you,” after being bored”

Like everyone else, our main character was forced to grow up—in order to adapt to the
adult world: “I have learned to wear many faces/like dresses—homeface,/officeface,
streetface, hostface, cock-/tail face, with all their conforming smiles/like a fixed portrait smile”

In this selfish world, our character learned how to adapt; he adapted a little too well. He now can play the adult role without any problem. However, once he became a parent, parenthood seems to have helped him to remember the innocent world of his childhood. Because of his son, he wants to re-learn how to be sincere. His son holds the key to this old, forgotten world.

What a wonderful poem! It presents in such a simple manner, such a complicated subject:the pain of growing up, and the loss of innocence.

Works Cited
Okara, Gabriel. “Once Upon a Time.” Angles of Vision: Reading, Writing, and the Study
of Literature. Eds. Arthur W. Biddle, and Toby Fulwiler. New York: McGraw-
Hill, Inc., 1992. 624-625.