Write a Critical appreciation of the poem, Once Upon a Time.
Answers
Once Upon A Time is about a father teaching his son regarding the dangers of fake friends and how times have changed. This infers that it used to happen by the use of the word, ‘now’ because it shows that in the present tense it doesn’t happen anymore because they’ve grown up. The poet also signifies an emotion of disappointment and that he wished he had learned earlier on how to put on a fake smile and deal with people that don’t want to be his friend. The main speaker in the poem regrets about a time in the speakers’ life when people were sincere and caring in their dealings. He speaks regretfully about the present time when people are not like before. He seems to feel that people have lost the innocence and openness which he now sees in his young son. He wants to regain that innocence.
The poet displays how they used to be his friends and something must have transformed for them friends to keep running back to him even though they aren’t true friends.
The Setting of Once Upon A Time:
The mood of the poem is nostalgic. The personality is remembering how things used to be when he was young and innocent, like his son. The poem highlights the guilt and resentment an African man feels for himself to accept the culture of the westerners. He notices a marked change in the attitudes of his people-those who were once so genuine, warm and sincere have now suddenly turned cold and hostile towards him.
The poets’ use of a child like lexical field contradicts the poems morals about growing up. “Once upon a time” leads the readers to believe it to be like a story and the poet does present it in a narrative way, but once we realize he is talking to her son it could suggest the fairy tale feel is on his behalf. The poem is also structured like a mirror as the first 3 stanzas talk about innocence whereas the next 3 portray experience, furthermore, the poet is constantly reflecting on the two times of their life.
Critical Analysis of Once Upon A Time:
The poem received sneering criticism after its release. The poets’ use of a child like lexical field contradicts the poems morals about growing up. The poem leads the readers to believe it to be like a story and the poet does present it in a narrative way, but once we realize he is talking to his son it could suggest the fairy tale feel is on his behalf. The poem is also structured like a mirror as the first 3 stanzas talk about innocence whereas the next 3 portray experience. Furthermore, the poet is constantly reflecting on the two times of their life.
The speakers’ expression of the adult society is extremely negative. The poet industriously portrays how the harsh view of society is actually what he resents about himself. This implies his child may not be very young as they don’t want to see the bad in their parents but we know he still has innocence. This wants to return to the beginning of the poem shows how the poet is desperate to not let him end this way yet it is at the end of the poem that he wants to return to the start. This circular structure imitates how many people want to be older when they are young but want to be young when they are older.
Conclusion
Once Upon A Time highlights the guilt and resentment an African man feels for himself to accept the culture of the westerners. He notices a marked change in the attitudes of his people. Those who were once so genuine, warm and sincere have now suddenly turned cold and hostile towards him.
He realizes that the early values, which always existed in the African society like sincerity, good-natured ness, simplicity, wholeheartedness, hospitality, friendliness, originality, identity, uniqueness and overall satisfaction, have now faced a drastic, dramatic change. He finds himself behaving in the same way as those around him. He feels a great sense of guilt and self-loathing and thinks about how fake he has become losing his identity and donning different, the fixed expression for different occasions, an unnatural smile plastered across his face.
He confesses to his son that he does not like the person he has become and wants to change, and go back to the way he was before, in his childhood. He asks his son to help him go back to who he was, and get back his lost identity. He expresses a desire to unlearn whatever he has forced himself to learn, in order for him to gain his sense of self back. He asks his son to help him be happy once again and acquire the childlike innocence he once possessed as a child.
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