identify the poetic device used in the poem once upon a time and state their examples
Answers
Answer:
Once Upon A Time is a free verse poem that focuses on a father's attitude to cultural change and times past, before the incoming Western culture affected the native African way of life.
In the poem the man (presumably a father) addresses the son, telling him in a rather nostalgic manner, how things used to be. People were different back then, more genuine it seemed, and that is what the speaker would like to do now - return to a restored world - if he can only learn from the youngster.
Back then people weren't after your money, they could look you in the eye and smile real smiles. But nowadays, although the smiling teeth are on show, and they'll shake your hand, all they want to know is your financial status.
And so the poem progresses, the early stanzas revealing more of the negative changes that have occurred during the father's lifetime. He is old enough to have watched decent human standards drop to the wayside as western ideals (together with capitalism) gradually took over.
The speaker wants to relearn from the as yet untainted son; how to laugh and be genuine again. It's rather a pathetic plea, coming from the adult to the youngster - for what can the son realistically do? Can the clocks be put back? Can an ancient culture be retrieved from the overwhelming modern culture?
The themes are: how society changes, cultural shift, capitalism, values.
Perhaps the tone is ironic, perhaps the speaker knows deep inside that he'll never regain that purity, he won't be able to turn back time and relive life as a transformed person. That's why the title could be from a fairytale; the speaker's wishes are a fantasy.
Gabriel Okara (1921 - 2019) is considered to be one of the first modern African poets. Born in Nigeria he uses folklore, religion, myth and social issues to explore tradition and transition. His work first appeared in the magazine Black Orpheus from 1957. This poem is included in his book The Fisherman's Invocation published in 1978.
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 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.
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.
Explanation:
Answer:
poetic device in the line to unlearn all these muting things