Gabriel Okara's "Once Upon a Time" laments the social pretensions of modern life. The poem's speaker reflects on a time when people were earnest and friendly; when they meant what they said and could still "laugh with their hearts." The world has become insincere, mistrustful, and selfish—and the speaker has, too. The speaker thus turns to their son, asking him to show them the way back to real joy and sincerity. The world and people alike can become cynical as they get older, the poem suggests—but a child's happy, earnest way of greeting the world might offer a cure for despair. This poem first appeared in Okara's 1978 collection The Fisherman's Invocation.

• Read the full text of “Once Upon a Time”

• “Once Upon a Time” Summary

• “Once Upon a Time” Themes

  • 

    Distrust, Conformity, and Insincerity in the Modern World

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-43
  • 

    The Innocence and Openness of Youth

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 33-43

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Once Upon a Time”

  • Lines 1-6

    Once upon a ...
    ... behind my shadow.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-12

    There was a ...
    ... my empty pockets.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-18

    "Feel at home!" ...
    ... shut on me.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-24

    So I have ...
    ... fixed portrait smile.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-32

    And I have ...
    ... after being bored.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 33-39

    But believe me, ...
    ... snake's bare fangs!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 40-43

    So show me, ...
    ... was like you.

    

    

    

    

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• “Once Upon a Time” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 20-21: “I have learned to wear many faces / like dresses”
    • Lines 23-24: “all their conforming smiles / like a fixed portrait smile”
    • Lines 38-39: “my laugh in the mirror / shows only my teeth like a snake's bare fangs”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “their ice-block-cold eyes / search behind my shadow”
    • Lines 11-12: “their left hands search / my empty pockets”
    • Lines 35-36: “I want / to unlearn all these muting things”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Once upon a time”
    • Line 2: “laugh with their hearts”
    • Line 3: “laugh with their eyes”
    • Line 4: “laugh with their teeth”
    • Line 7: “There was a time”
    • Line 8: “shake hands with their hearts”
    • Line 10: “shake hands without hearts”
    • Line 19: “I have learned”
    • Line 20: “I have learned”
    • Line 25: “I have learned”
    • Line 26: “laugh with only my teeth”
    • Line 27: “shake hands without my heart”
    • Line 34: “I want”
    • Line 35: “I want”
    • Line 37: “I want”
    • Line 40: “show me”
    • Line 41: “show me”
    • Line 43: “once upon a time”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-12: “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.”
    • Lines 33-36: “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.”
    • Lines 40-43: “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.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “hearts / and”
    • Lines 5-6: “eyes / search”
    • Lines 7-8: “indeed / they”
    • Lines 10-11: “hearts / while”
    • Lines 11-12: “search / my”
    • Lines 14-15: “come / again”
    • Lines 15-16: “feel / at”
    • Lines 20-21: “faces / like”
    • Lines 23-24: “smiles / like”
    • Lines 25-26: “too / to”
    • Lines 26-27: “teeth / and”
    • Lines 31-32: “been / nice”
    • Lines 34-35: “be / when”
    • Lines 35-36: “want / to”
    • Lines 37-38: “relearn / how”
    • Lines 38-39: “mirror / shows”
    • Lines 41-42: “how / I”
    • Lines 42-43: “smile / once”

• “Once Upon a Time” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Ice-block-cold
  • Thrice
  • Homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, cocktailface
  • Conforming
  • Fixed
  • Muting
  • (Location in poem: Lines 5-6: “while their ice-block-cold eyes / search behind my shadow.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Once Upon a Time”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Once Upon a Time” Speaker

• “Once Upon a Time” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Once Upon a Time”

• More “Once Upon a Time” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Okara's life and work via the Encyclopedia Britannica.

    • Okara's Legacy — Read Okara's obituary and learn more about his influence on Nigerian literature.

    • An Interview with Okara — Listen to a 1974 interview with Okara in which he discusses and reads his work.

    • The Nigerian Civil War — Learn more about the conflict that influenced Okara's visions of a broken, mistrustful society.

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