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Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time. Gabriel Okara. 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

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Once Upon A Time

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  1. Once Upon A Time Gabriel Okara

  2. 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 snakes 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. 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.

  3. What It’s About • How attitudes and people change • How honest people used to be and how deceitful they are now • How the author wishes he could be like he used to • How adults can learn from innocent children role reversal • How adulthood can change you and how quickly people adapt to the changes • How parenthood can change your views of the world

  4. Imagery • Simile line 20/21 “I have learned to wear many faces like dresses” Makes expressions and emotions seem like they’re disposable, and you can choose how to feel and when to feel it. • Simile line 39 “...laugh in the mirror shows my teeth like a snakes bare fangs!” Shows how poisonous(like a snake)he feels that he’s become. • Metaphor line 5 “ Ice-block cold eyes” • Metaphor line 11/12 “their left hands search my empty pockets”

  5. Structure • Free verse • No rhyme scheme • The structure of the poem makes it seem like he’s actually talking to his child

  6. Mood/ Tone • Serious throughout • End stanza shows hope

  7. Effect • We sympathise with him because he recognises how he’s changed, and because he wants to return to how he was. • We relate to him because we can all understand the feeling of not wanting to be dishonest with ourselves and two faced.

  8. Linked with... • Old Man, Old Man U. A. Fanthorpe • Follower Seamus Heaney • At Grass Phillip Larkin Added by: Zainul Abideen Kodi:H.S.A EnglishVPKMM HSS, Puthur Pallikkal, Malappuram

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