Look on a Poem 'Once Upon A Time '

Once Upon A Time …

Gabriel Okara is a Nigerian writer. His poems show great sensitivity, perceptive judgments and a tremendous energy. Okara also shows a concern regarding what happens when the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern western culture, for example in his 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.

A Poetic Person who asking to his  son .  The entire poem has the man talking to his son. There are no other voices in the poem, and the son remains mute throughout the entire poem.  The past, according to the poet, is better than the present.

Learn  -   Acquire knowledge of a subject or a skill through studying

Unlearn -  Something that you have learned, forget it or ignore it

  Relearn -  Learn again 

Change - how people change over the years and become false and untrustworthy

Influence - the influence of the white western world on African nations; countries like Nigeria were more honest before being developed by the west.

Dishonesty/hiding true intentions

Innocence/childhood.

How these process apply in poem:

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 ‘It’s been

nice talking to you’, after being bored.

In this material and artificial world, the poet has learnt many things – especially wearing many faces . Poet learned how to ‘laugh with teeth’ he also learned even when shaking hands with others, they are very artificial and hence mechanical. Learned all formal things. Persona unlearn the things which he learned. He expresses a desire to unlearn whatever he has forced himself to learn, in order for him to gain his sense of self back. And then he want to relearn  as before.

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.

Effect

We sympathise with him because he recognises how he’s changed, and because he wants to return to how he was. We relate to him because we can all  understand the feeling of not wanting to be dishonest with ourselves and two faced.

Apart from above things poem also deals with these idea , like as Mannerism , Behaviorism, Change in  Human Nature, Factor of Time , Living in  the world of Illusion, effect of Urbanization and Globalization.