Once Upon a

Time
By Gabriel Okara
Participating group members
Sekaye Campbell

Rayanna Moses

Hannah Ramlogan

Shornick Phillip

Janessa Layne

Saahil Mohammed
Who was Gabriel Okara
● Nigerian poet & novelist

● Born 1921, died 2019

● Educated at North Western University

● In his poetry, he draws from Nigerian

folklore and religion while also exploring
extremes within daily life.
‘Once Upon a Time’ Overview
In the poem the man (presumably a
father) addresses his son, telling him in a
nostalgic and cautionary manner, how The poem is:
things used to be when he was a child. ● Written in first person
He tells him about the deceptive and ● Free verse
artificial nature of expression in ● 43 lines which are
adulthood. He also contrasts it with the separated into 7 stanzas.
innocent and genuine expression
displayed in childhood.
Themes
Loss of Cultural
innocence Crisis

The speaker references the

In the poem, the speaker is
corporate, fake “pleasant”
contrasting how genuine and
facade people are expected
open he was with his
to use every day instead of
emotions in his youth with
giving open, hearty greetings
how masked he is with them
people may have given as
as an adult.
children.
Themes
Deception
Regret

Gabriel highlights how Gabriel expresses regret for his

people manipulate and
deceive each other every day
with their pleasantries and
fake kindness.
conform to the expectations of
corporate society; regret for
changing his form of
expression to make others
more comfortable.
Themes

Childhood
vs Adulthood

This is an integral part of the poem.

There is a comparison between the
norms in childhood and adulthood.
During childhood you are given the
freedom to express yourself whilst in
adulthood, there are many more
expectations for you and how you
carry yourself and converse with
others, causing there to be this
standard, kind persona.
Literary Devices
Alliteration Alliteration is lightly scattered about this poem for example “So
show me, son,” “But believe me”

Metaphors are a very integral part of ‘Once Upon a Time’ “ice-

Metaphor block-cold eyes,” “homeface,” “officeface,” etc.

There are many similes in this poem, it is in fact the most used literary
Simile device here. For example,“with all their conforming smiles/ like a
fixed portrait,” and “shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs?”

This poem contains several images that include shaking hands,

Imagery
smiling, and facial expressions in different situations.
Literary Devices
Assonance is not used much in this poem but is quite
Assonance noticeable“So show me, son,” “But believe me”

Enjambment Several metaphors are used in this poem such as “ice-block-cold

eyes,” “homeface,” “officeface,” etc.
 Once upon a time, son,
They used to smile with their hearts

Stanza 1 And laugh with their eyes;

But now they only laugh with their
teeth,
While their ice-block-cold eyes search
The poet opens speaking in first person to his son. He recounts behind my shadow.
nostalgically, a time before, in his youth, when people were more
sincere and natural in their kindness.

Metaphors: Eyes are used as a metaphor here for people’s emotions.

When speaking about his youth, eyes are seen as a window to the
soul; they opened you up to someone’s warm and happy emotions.
When speaking on adulthood, eyes give no indication of real
emotion, they are described as cold and emotionless.
Laughter was hearty and emotive in youth, signifying real happiness
while in adulthood it simply act as a facade, and a method of making
sure others are comfortable around you.
 There was a time indeed
Stanza 2 they used to shake hands with their hearts
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
In this stanza, Gabriel contrasts a time in his life when the nature of my empty pockets.
gestures and expression, like handshakes, with the deceptive,
backhanded nature of gestures and expression now.

In many cultures, hands and handshakes are a sign of respect and

trust. It is used here to highlight how self serving and deceptive
people’s gestures are in adulthood.
 ‘Feel at home’! ‘Come again’:
Stanza 3 they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice –
Here, it is expressed how people welcome others with open arms for then I find doors shut on me.
only to abandon them when it is no longer convenient. This
emphasizes the scarcity of real close connections in adulthood.
 So I have learned many things, son.
Stanza 4 I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming
In this stanza the poet speaks of how he has adapted to adult smiles
expectations. Line 21-23 “homeface, officeface, streetface…” like a fixed portrait smile.
expresses how he has had to change his mannerisms, demeanor and
expressions based on the people who are around him to make them
comfortable. But he also highlights that no matter where, he must
always maintain a smile as expected of him.

- NB ‘Homeface’ also implies that the poet must even keep up a

facade in his own home with people he is expected to know
and trust.
 And I have learned too
Stanza 5 to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’;
Gabriel writes about how his words have now evolved to conform to to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
the needs of others. How he no longer expresses his genuine feelings without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
in exchange for the comfort of others. nice talking to you’, after being bored.
 But believe me, son.
Stanza 6 I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want 35
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
The poet expresses desire and yearning for the real open feelings of a how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
child; his son. shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare
He talks on how he has lost his real smile and his real life to now fangs!
blend into the same disingenuous expressions of other adults.

- Simile- Compares his smile to te fangs of a snake emphasizing

how it scares him.
 So show me, son,
Stanza 7 how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
Gabriel makes a request of his young son to help him relearn his
innocence and the genuine emotion he lost with age and conditioning
that his son still possess.
Comparing and Contrasting with other poems

Dreaming Black Boy

In Dreaming Black boy, the poet speaks on how
1 society sees black children, how it leaves them
behind and discriminates against them. In Once
Upon a Time, Gabriel talks about how society
views emotions and expression. How society
leaves it behind, how uncomfortable people get
with genuine expression as they do with black
people, though not to the same extent.

An African Thunderstorm

2 Both poets were born in the same era and

may have had similar societal views.
Although the poems cover very different
topics, they both use a lot of the same
devices to achieve much different effects,
highlighting the versatility of the poets.
 Birdshooting Season
Both poems express how people and their
expressions are largely a product of their
3 environment. In Birdshooting Season, it is
looked at from the angle of gender, how
children are trained and taught-whether it be
implicitly or explicitly- to fit the mold of
societal gender roles. In Once Upon a Time, the
expressive aspect of societal pressure, how the
culture around us forces us to conform as in
adulthood.

My Parents

4
Although these two poems differ in most ways,
covering vastly different themes of class, they have
similarities. The parenting aspect is there, the poet in
Once Upon a Time is the parent here, teaching their
child how society expects them to be, coaching them
even but the parent in Once Upon a Time resents the
way society teaches us to be and wishes to have the
freeing innocence of childhood, while Stephen
Spender was taught to lose that from a young age.