Question

b) What has the poet in 'Once Upon a Time' forgotten and what is his desire?(See Lesson-25)

Answer 1

in the poem "once upon a time", the poet has expressed in context of a snake that he has forgotten how to smile and laugh with real feelings and pleasure. when he laughs he does not laugh with his eyes and heart but only by showing his teeth.so his desire is to feel that pleasure again

Answer 2

The poet feels sad that like other adults in today’s world he has forgotten how to be a natural person. A laugh that shows the teeth like a snake’s bare fangs brings to mind a laugh that is without real feeling. It brings to mind a person whose laugh is falsely pleasant and therefore dangerous and deceptive like a snake. The poet uses this simile to show that he has forgotten to laugh with real feeling and pleasure. When he laughs he does not laugh with his eyes and heart but only by showing his teeth.

       The poet has a deep desire to go back to the innocence of childhood. He is dissatisfied with his own changed self. He thinks that his son’s genuine laughter can teach him how to express his feelings honestly. He wants to relearn how to behave in a natural way. He wants to get rid of the falseness in his behaviour that makes his laugh unpleasant because he laughs with his lips and teeth and not with his eyes and heart.