Gabriel Okara’s “Once Upon a Time” is a factual and relevant poem that focuses on the loss of innocence and the absence of genuine human feelings.
These have become the order of the day in this modern era. The poet doesn’t hide his feelings when he remembers his childhood, this makes him feel nostalgic.
The poet, through the use of literary devices like imagery and metaphor, goes deeply into the complexities of the conditions of humans.
He expresses the aftermath of the loss of authenticity caused by the demands of the society. This is a situation where people pretend to conform to the dictates of the society.
About the Poet (Gabriel Okara)
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara was born on the 24th of April 1921 in Bumoundi, in present-day Bayelsa state, Nigeria. He was a renowned poet and novelist.
He was one of the first set of recognized poets from Anglophone Africa. One of his poems titled, “The Fisherman’s Invocation” won him an award in 1978.
His first novel, “The Voice” published in 1964 won him an award. These are some of his poems; Piano and Drums, As I See It, The Dreamer, His Vision.
He died on the 25th of March 2019 at the age of 97 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.
Once Upon a Time- Stanza by Stanza Analysis
The first stanza opens with “Once Upon a Time,” this phrase reveals a sense of nostalgia in the poet. He wishes to be familiar with the past. It also introduces the reader to the ways of life in the past.
Okara, by using the phrase, is able to establish a sharp difference between the idealized past and the present.
The past is the ideal life, when people had true feelings and love for one another, while the present life is full of pretense.
Okara, in the first stanza, tells his son about the ideal life of the past where things are done normally. The people are not controlled by the dictates of the society.
“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.”
The poet expresses his willingness to escape from the society, where he has to conform to the demands of the society.
He longs for a society where there is freedom and life is untethered, where one does not have to bow to the demands of the society.
He also tells his son how the people in the olden days greet with warm handshakes and true feelings. But nowadays, they greet with smiles that do not reach their hearts.
The people, according to the poet, are only interested in meeting and greeting the wealthy and influential people. While the poor people are looked down on.
“while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.”
There are no genuine feelings in their eyes as there is no warmth in them. They only fix their eyes on his status.
In the second stanza, the persona tells his son that they used to shake hands with genuine intentions. Because they were glad to see the guests.
But now handshaking has changed. They now shake hands with one hand while the other hand searches the pocket. Their eyes are fixed on the status of the guest.
“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.”
In the third stanza, the poet explains further that if the modern-day people welcome you the first and second time, there would not be the third time.
They would rather shut their doors on you. This reveals their pretense on the previous visits. He shares his personal experiences here.
“‘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.”
In the fourth stanza, he says that he has learned how to behave in different places to satisfy the people he met in those places. He also learned how to laugh vaguely; not from his heart.
“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.”
His life is full of pretense. He shakes hands just to impress, and says “Goodbye, Glad to meet you, it’s been nice talking to you” when he means the opposite.
“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.”
He yearns for authenticity and rejects the pretense and conformity that dominate the present society. The persona has weighed the past and the present ways of life.
He now loves to be associated with the time he was a child. These he tells his son when he says in the seventh stanza thus:
“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.”
In the last part of the poem, the poet urges his son to teach him how he used to behave then. He wants to go back to his genuine ways of interacting with people. This also serves as advice to his son not to embrace the attitudes of the modern day.
“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.”
Themes of Once Upon a Time
Identity: The poem reflects on the theme of identity as it relates to the loss of genuine identification.
Many people in this modern era have lost their authentic identity due to the demands of society.
The poet is not comfortable with the loss of his true identity due to societal pressure. He remembers his childhood when there was innocence and genuine laughter.
Conformity: The theme of conformity is expressed in the poem when the poet reflects on his childhood. He compares the attitudes of the people then with the current trends of behavior.
People nowadays have to conform to the dictates of the society to gain acceptance. Hence, there is a loss of innocence.
The persona has to wear different looks in different places to conform to the society.
Loss of Innocence: There is a loss of innocence in this modern day as expressed in the poem. The poem’s persona reflects on the changes that take place in his childhood to adulthood.
He yearns for the innocence, purity and genuine interactions of his childhood era. There were genuine laughter and gestures, but now replaced with a vague and artificial demeanor.
Nostalgia: If we study this poem critically, we will realize that it is written based on the theme of nostalgia. The poem’s persona evokes a strong sense of nostalgia when he engages his son with the narrative.
The persona longs for the past ways of life when you don’t have to put on any mask. You don’t have to pretend to be accepted in the society. He longs for genuine and authentic interactions.
Self-Reflection: The poem persona retraces back his steps and evaluates himself. That is why he is able to itemize the differences in his behaviors in the past and present.
He thereby acknowledges his detachment from his real self in order to conform to the society and be accepted.
The poem serves as a clarion call to the readers also to consider their own journeys of self-discovery and the need to remain authentic. One should not be influenced by the society.
Fear: This theme plays an important role in why people conform to the dictates of the society.
The fear of being rejected and becoming vulnerable in the society forces many into the suppression of genuine emotions. They thereby adopt false identities to be relevant in the society.
The Poetic Devices Used in Once Upon a Time
Repetition: This is used to lay emphasis and call attention to the readers. Some words and phrases are repeated in this poem.
The phrase, “Once Upon a Time” is in the opening line and it is also repeated in the last line of the poem.
The phrase is used to emphasize the contrast between the idealized past and the pretentious present.
Contrast: The poem’s persona is able to establish a contrast between the past and the present with the use of contrast.
He contrasts the people’s behavior including his own when he was a boy with the present time. This brings out the themes of innocence, authenticity and conformity.
Imagery: This has to do with the experiences of the readers while reading the poem. Imagery in Literature is the act of having a mental picture of what you are reading.
When you are visualizing the picture of what you are reading in your brain. Imagery is used especially in stanzas one and two and some other lines in the poem.
Lines 2,3&4 of stanza one
“they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth”
In stanza two;
“they used to shake hands with their hearts
Now they shake hands without hearts:”
With these, the readers are able to visualize the difference in the behaviors of the poem persona.
Simile: This is the comparison of two things with the use of as or like. It is used in lines 23, 24 and 39.
Lines 23 and 24-
“cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smiles.”
His facial appearances with the confirming smiles are being compared here.
Line 39- “Shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fang!”
Allusion: The poet’s use of the expression, “Once upon a time” which is associated with folktales is an example of classical allusion.
The expression prepares the readers and gears them up to have an interest in the narrative.
This allusion adds depth to the poem and establishes that there are differences between the past and the present life.
Metaphor: This is a direct comparison of two things without the use of as or like. A good example is in stanza one of the poem.
“while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow”
This means that there is no warmth in their eyes; no feelings at all.
Alliteration: It is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of closely placed words in lines of poems. We have this in lines 33 and 40.
33- “But believe me son”
40- “So show me son,”
Enjambment: This device is used in poems to create a flow and rhythm. It enhances the reading experience. Clauses and sentences run over multiple lines without punctuation.
The discourse in a line extends to the other lines. This is also referred to as a run-on-line in Literature.
What Type of Poem is “Once Upon a Time?”
“Once Upon a Time” belongs to the Satirical category of poetry. Satires are works of art that identify societal indiscipline and excesses.
This indiscipline might be political, religious or moral. The Satirical work of art attacks and ridicules the identified excesses in the society in order to bring solutions or corrections to the immoral acts.
This poem belongs to this category because it identifies the disparity in the ideal ways of life when he was a boy and the present time when he is old.
The poem persona narrates this to his son in the poem and wishes to embrace the old order. He wishes to be himself again and not to impress the society he belongs to through pretense.
He establishes that there is no more sincerity in the people; they embrace and live fake lives. All these identified by Gabriel Okara make the poem a Satire.