write a speech based on poem once upon a time
Answers
Explanation:
The poet of the poem “Once upon a time” is Gabriel Okara who is a Nigerian. He was born on 24th or 21st of April in the year 1921.In that year Nigeria got independence from Britain so at that time they were still influenced by the British culture. The background of the poem is that he is remembering the way people used to behave and interact with each other and he is comparing it with how people interact with others now. How the people used to do things with their hearts and with pleasure and happiness. It describes what happens when a traditional African culture and civilisation meets with the western culture. My personal opinion of the purpose of this poem is to outline the behaviour and personality people have at the moment and try and bring them back to the personality that people used to have, when they used to do things with emotion and with their heart
The poem is a conversation between a father and his son where the son does things with emotion and the father wants to forget his fake personality and re-learn and create real personalities from his son. And he is asking the son to show him how to express true love and show real personality to others.
It the first stanza the author mentions that people used to laugh with their heart they used to laugh with their emotions, when they would laugh they would do it wholeheartedly and with warmth and they used to laugh with their eyes and show pleasure with them. And know they do it with only their teeth not with their heart, meaning they do not really want to laugh but do it just to get closer to you and with their darky gloomy cold eyes they watch you and wait for you from the corner of their eyes waiting for you to leave “search behind my shadow”. In my opinion the words “they” refer to the white people who had invaded their country and influenced them with their culture. In this stanza the words “ice-block-cold eyes” is used these words emphasize the coldness and the inner hatred they have for you like they can freeze water with their gaze. These also make the poem feel a bit dark and cold and a slight bit sinister
In the second stanza he further talks about the personalities of the people of the past he says “they used to shake with their hearts” here he is trying to say that when you would meet each other you will shake their hands with pleasure and with warmth and do it willingly. “While their left hands search my empty pockets” from this we can see that they are trying to use him to get to his money or receive something from him. This also shows that the people’s personalities are not real and true
In the third stanza he is talking about when people ask you to come again and say “feel at home” you go there once, twice and the third time they will not let you in thinking that you are a pest and that they do not wanted to see you anymore. The words “feel at home” is used for when you want a guest to feel welcomed and that they belong in that household. Here he mentions that “I find the doors shut on me” this shows that they do not even open the door to tell him that he is not wanted and the moment but instead leaves the door closed keeping him standing outside. This also shows that when people speak they lie not telling the truth but just saying something nice to grasp their heart.
Answer
The poem does not rhyme but the poet has used repetition to slow the poem down and make the reader feel the heaviness of heart that the poet feels. The poet uses similes and metaphors throughout the poem for example when he says ‘I have learned to wear many faces like dresses’ implying different expressions for different occasions. The poet has used a very strong metaphor when he writes that his laugh in the mirror is ‘like a snakes bare fangs’. A snake is commonly used in mythology and fairy tales to describe evil, insincerity and dishonesty. This suggests that when he laughs you see his teeth and smile but his intentions are also insincere and dishonest. The poet Gabriel Okara uses this poem to convey his feelings about the loss of traditional African culture against western influences. The overall theme of this poem is about happier times gone past and hopes for a happy ending, for which the writer longs for, as in a fairy tale and therefore the use of ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’ as the title of this poem.
I hope this helps you.