“Once Upon a Time” Introduction

• 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.