Once Upon A Time: Questions and Answers

i. Based on your understanding of the poem answer the following questions in one or two sentences each:

i. What do you associate with the title of the poem?

 The title clearly indicates about the past. I associate that a fairytale may be in a poetic form. Here ‘Once upon a Time’ suggests how people were once. It is far from what is being witnessed in the society now.

ii. What is the relationship between the narrator and the listener?

 The relationship between the narrator and the listener is father and son.

iii. What happens to the poet when he visits someone for the third time?

 When the poet visits someone for the third time, they will get fed up and slam the doors shut. In other words they won’t allow him to come into their house.

iv. Pick out the expressions that indicate conflicting ideas.

 The expressions that indicate conflicting ideas are “laugh with their hearts and laugh with their eyes”, and “laugh with their teeth”. Laughing with one’s heart and eyes reveal real gladness. But laughing with one’s teeth reveals one’s external showy love.

v. How does the poet compare his face with dresses?

 The poet learnt how to change faces in different situations. Like changing dresses, he is forced to wear facial expressions.

vi. What does the poet mean when he says ‘good bye’?

 The poet has been able to change with the society. He has learnt learnt to say ‘good bye’ in an unnatural way.

vii. What pleasantries does the poet use to fake cordiality?

 In the first line of the third stanza “Feel at home!”, “Come again” the poet uses fake cordiality. People welcome the guests for two times but the third time they will treat the guests differently.

viii. What does he desire to unlearn and relearn?

 The poet desires to learn how to say goodbye in a nice way. He desires to unlearn all the bad habits he has picked up over the years.

ix. How is the poet’s laugh reflected in the mirror?

 The poet’s laugh reflected in the mirror is like a snake’s bare teeth.

x. What does the poet long for?

 The poet longs for child-like innocence.

xi. Mention the qualities the child in the poem symbolises.

 Innocence and ignorance are the qualities of the child in the poem symbolizes.

2. Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem:

The poet Okara in this narrative monologue painfully condemns the (a)duplicity displayed by adults, both in their words and actions. Here, a father laments to his son about the negative changes that creep into the attitude and behaviour of humans, when they grow into (b) adults. He says that people used to be (c)genuine when they laugh and the honesty would be reflected in their eyes. But, people of modern times laugh (d) superficially. Their handshakes used to be warm and happy conveying a sense of togetherness, but nowadays the handshakes have become a mere (e) fakes. He warns his son that people are not trust-worthy and have become so selfish that they are concerned only about their own (f)personal benefits.

People utter words of welcome and exchange (g) pleasantries, but those words come only from the tip of their tongues and not from the depth of their hearts. Humans have learnt the art of changing their (h) facial expressions according to situations merely to ensure social acceptance. They wear (i) falsity and exhibit multiple faces. The narrator admits that he has also changed into a hypocrite. However, he tells his son that though he (j)masks his expressions, he does all these against his will. He says he wants to become a (k) child again and laugh genuinely. He wants to (l) unlearn the unreal things and (m) relearn how to laugh as he had done once upon a time. When he laughs before the (n) mirror, he sees no expression. His teeth are bare like that of the (o) fangs of a snake. So, he asks his son to show him how to laugh the way he used to laugh, when he was a kid like him.

3. A. Interpret each of the following expressions used in the poem, in one or two lines.

i.               laugh with their eyes

The poet means once the people laugh whole heartedly.

ii.               shake hands without hearts

The poet means nowadays people shake their hands without any involvement. They shake just for formality.

iii.               like a fixed portrait smile

Just like people keep changing dresses to suit different occasions, the poet has learnt to behave differently in different situations

iv.               hands search my empty pockets

Nowadays people introduce themselves without any involvement and they estimate other’s value.

v.               to unlearn all these muting things

The poet wants to get rid of this false laugh showing only the teeth.

B. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow.

i. ‘But now they only laugh with their teeth, 

While their ice-block-cold eyes…’

a.        Who are ‘they’?

They are people of modern days.

b.   Explain: ice-block-cold eyes

The expression ‘ice-block-cold eyes’ refers to eyes without any warmth of feeling.

c.         Identify the figure of speech used here.

Metaphor

ii. ‘Most of all, I want to relearn

How to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror 

Shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!’

a.        Why does the poet want to relearn how to laugh?

The poet wants to show his real feelings.  Hence he wants to relearn how to laugh.

b.   Whom does the poet want to relearn from?

The poet wants to relearn from his son.

c.         Mention the figure of speech used here.

like a snake’s bare fangs - Simile

ADDITIONAL APPRECIATION QUESTIONS:

1. 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. 

a) What does the poet convey through the oft-repeated phrase, ‘once upon a time?’

 Here ‘Once upon a Time’ suggests how people behaved in the past. Maybe the poet thinks that expecting sincerity in people’s actions is like a fairy tale, which is not real.

 b) Whom is the poet talking to? 

The poet is talking to his son.

 c) What does the poet mean by “laugh with their hearts” and “laugh with their teeth?” 

Laughing with one’s heart reveals real gladness while laughing with one’s teeth reveals one’s external showy love. 

d) What are ‘they’ searching behind the poet’s shadow? 

Search behind one’s shadow means that people have a habit of accepting shadows rather than accepting real people. 

e) What do you understand by ‘laughing with teeth?’ 

Laughter or smile is the outcome of happiness. When we pretend to be happy, then we smile by showing our teeth by opening the mouth as wide as possible. 

f) How is laughing with heart different from that with teeth? 

Laughing with heart is the genuine expression of happiness and harmony. On the other hand, laughing with teeth is fake. 

g) What does ‘ice-block-cold eyes’ suggest? 

‘Ice-block-cold eyes’ refers to people’s insensitivity and lack of gentle emotions to fellow beings in the society. 

h) Why does the poet address the poem to his son? 

The poet is sad that he belongs to a fake society, fake expressions and smile. He doesn’t want his son to have this hollowness of the society. So he addresses his poem to his son, in the poem.

i) What is the poet’s emotion when he says, ‘Once upon a time, son, they used to laugh with their hearts?’ 

The poet is sad and helpless. He feels nostalgic about the lost charm of the society, once upon a time.

2. 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. 

a) How do people shake hands without hearts?

People express fake intimacy with people they don’t like. They shake hands without hearts. 

b) What do people’s left hands do while their right hands shake hands with people? 

While shaking hands with their right hands, people send their left hands into their friends’ pockets. It means friendship and intimacy is all for selfish motives.

3. ‘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. 

a) Why do people invite repeatedly? 

People repeatedly invite their friends but they don’t expect them to accept the invitations. They invite without any sincerity. 

b) Why is there no ‘third time’ for the poet to feel at his host’s home? 

When the poet visits someone for the third time, the host will get fed up and slam the doors shut. The host won’t allow the author to come into his house.

4. So I have learned many things, son. 

I have learned to wear many faces 

like dresses – home face, 

office face, street face, host face, 

cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles 

like a fixed portrait smile. 

a) What has the poet learnt about faces?

The poet has learnt how to change faces according to different situations. 

b) Why is the poet forced to wear faces? 

The poet is forced to wear faces because many people wear smiles like dresses and none is sincere and honest.

5. 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.

a) Do you think that the poet has been able to change with the society? Give an example. 

Yes, I think that the poet has been able to change with the society. He has learnt to laugh artificially and learnt to say hello in an unnatural way.

b) What do you mean by ‘good riddance’?

It is an expression of relief at being free of any unwanted person, 

c) Mention the poetic device employed here. Explain with an example. 

The poet used Oxymoron here. It is known from the line “It’s been nice talking to you’ after being bored.

6. 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 snake’s bare fangs! 

a) What is the poet asking his son to teach him? Why? 

The poet is asking his son to teach how to behave as a young boy. The poet is getting tired of all the artificial and unnatural attitude of people. 

b) Which muting things is the poet referring to? 

Laughing unnaturally and shaking hands inwardly with contempt and hatred but outwardly with a fake smile are the muting things the poet is referring to. 

c) What made the poet’s teeth look in the mirror like those of a snake?

The artificial smile of the poet made his teeth look in the mirror like those of a snake.

7. 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. 

a) Who is the speaker here? 

The poet is the speaker here. 

b) What does the poet ask his son to show?

The poet asks his son to show how to laugh and smile. 

c) What is the figure of speech employed in the last line?

when I was like you - Simile 

d) What is the message conveyed in these last lines?

The poet wants the younger generation to behave naturally and sincerely.

C. Explain the following lines with reference to the context.

i. Once upon a time, son

They used to laugh with their eyes:

Context: The above lines are taken from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet.  

Explanation: The poem is a father’s address to his son., where the father wants to learn from his son how to go back to normality and no longer fake. The poem starts by the father telling his son how the people used to laugh with their hearts in olden times. 

Comment: This description in the poem gives the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people in the past

ii. There will be no thrice.

Context: The above lines are taken from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet. 

Explanation: In the first line of the third stanza “Feel at home!”, “Come again” the poet uses fake cordiality. 

People welcome the guests for two times but the third time they will treat differently. 

Comment: Their falseness is reflected in the language they use.

iii. I have learned to wear my faces Like dresses …

Context: The above lines are taken from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet. 

Explanation: The poet presents the adaptations and solutions that the man has found to counter the problems. He tells of the false personalities or of his ‘many faces’. He says that he has an ‘office-face, street-face, and host-face, proving that he acts differently under different circumstances. He then adds that they have, ‘conforming smiles, like a fixed portrait’. 

Comment: This suggests, even more, falseness and changes.

iv. I want to be what I used to be.

Context: The above lines are taken from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet.

Explanation: The poet tells his son that he wants to go back to his childhood. He wants to get back his lost identity. He expresses a desire to unlearn whatever he has forced himself to learn.  

Comment: He asks his son to help him be happy once again and acquire the childlike innocence he once possessed as a child.

ADDITIONAL :

Stanza 1

Once upon a time, son 

They used to laugh with their eyes:

But now they only laugh with their teeth,

While their ice-block-cold eyes

Search behind my shadow. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by “Gaberiel Okara”, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation: Here ‘Once upon a Time’ suggests how people behaved in the past. ‘Once upon a Time’ is a phrase used in ‘fairy tales’. Maybe the poet thinks that expecting sincerity in people’s actions is like a fairy tale, which is not real. In the past people were honest, sincere in their dealings with one another. But now the laugh does not express any real happiness. People laugh showing their teeth. “Ice-block-cold eyes” refers to absence of any real feeling. The idiom “to be under somebody’s shadow” means to receive less attention than another person. Here the poet means that while greeting each other people don’t have any real love or attraction. 

Comment: These lines give the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people.

Stanza 2

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. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by “GaberielOkara”, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation: The poet uses the words ‘hearts’ and ‘faces’ to refer to emotion. He says that people in the past showed emotions on their faces coming from the heart when shaking hands or when laughing. It is true that we can see the emotion in one’s eyes. 

Comment: These lines give the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people in the past. 

Stanza 3

‘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. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a time” written by ‘Gaberiel Okara’, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation : The poet says that people these days are not sincere when they say ‘feel at home’ and ‘come again. They do not really invite other people. The words are used only for the sake of formality.

Comment: These lines brings out the false love and respect expressed.

Stanza 4

So I have learned many things, son. 

I have learned to wear many faces

Like dresses – home face,

office face, street face, host face,

cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles

like a fixed portrait smile. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by ‘Gaberiel Okara’, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation: The speaker tells us that he has learnt to deal with this fake, insincere world by changing himself like other those people. Like others, he too hides his real feelings. He says that he has learnt “to wear many faces like dresses” Just like people keep changing dresses to suit different occasions, the poet has learnt to behave differently in different situations. 

Comment: The poet dramatically pictures falseness and changes.

Stanza 5

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. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by ‘Gaberiel Okara’, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation: The poet admits that he has learnt to say what fits each situation instead of speaking the truth. He fakes his behaviour. When he feels like saying ‘Good-riddance’, he says ‘Goodbye’. When he feels like saying ‘Good-riddance’, He says ‘Glad to meet you’, without feeling glad. 

Comment: The poet says he has also learnt to greet people with pretended gladness.

Stanza 6

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 snake’s bare fangs! 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a time” written by “Gaberiel Okara”, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation: Here ‘muting’ refers to ‘changing all the time’. The poet has learnt to behave with pretended gladness. He tells his son that he wants to get rid of this false laugh showing only the teeth. The comparison of his laugh in the mirror to a snake’s bare fangs brings out the fact that the smile is artificial and might be dangerous. The poet regrets his fake behaviour and so expresses his desire to unlearn all those bad things and learn how to laugh sincerely. 

Comment: These lines express the poet’s longing to go back in time and have his childlike innocence and sincerity.

Stanza 7

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. 

Context: The above lines are from the poem “Once upon a Time” written by “Gaberiel Okara”, a Nigerian Poet. 

Explanation 

The poet asks his son to show how to laugh sincerely. Children do not fake things. They show what they really feel. Again, the phrase ‘once upon a time’ reiterates the fact that he wants to be what he used to be long time ago as a boy. 

Comment: The poet asks his son to help him be happy once again and acquire the childlike innocence he once possessed as a boy.

4. Answer the following questions in about 100 – 150 words each.

i. Explain the things the poet has learnt when he grew into an adult.

Gabriel Okara (the Nigerian poet) brings out the difference between the behaviour of the people in the past and their behaviour at present. In the past people laughed with their hearts sincerely. They greeted one another with real gladness. But now, people laugh with any real happiness and greet one another with an artificial, pretended smile. Okara says that he has also learnt to behave in an artificial manner like other people.

ii. This poem is nothing but a criticism of modern life. Justify this statement.

The background of the poem is that the poet remembers the way people used to behave and interact with each other in the past and how people interact with others now. The purpose of this poem is to try to bring them back to the past behaviour with emotion and with their heart. The poem is a father’s address to his son. The son is a small boy and he does things with real emotion. The father wants to forget his fake personality and re-learn really the cordial behaviour. And he is asking the son to show him how to express true love and show real feelings to others.

iii. ‘Face is the index of the mind.’ Does this adage concur with the views of the poet?

“Face is the index of the mind” is a proverb. It means that our facial expressions reveal our feelings----joy, anger, sorrow, disapproval etc. This is true to some extent. But in the poem “Once upon a time”, Okara disproves this proverb. Nowadays people greet one another with a smile, but there is no real happiness. On meeting somebody they say “glad to see you”, but they are not really glad, but they are bored. When somebody says, “good bye” with a smiling face, he (she) is thinking “good riddance” with these examples, Okara proves that the proverb “Face is the index of the mind” cannot be always true.

ADDITIONAL PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:

iv. Justify the title of the poem “once upon a time” (or) What does the title of the poem “Once upon a time” indicate? 

Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet is the composer of the poem “Once upon a time”. This is very catchy title. It clearly indicates the past. The poet remembers that in the past, people used to show happiness from their hearts on meeting someone. But nowadays people think that the arrival of a guest creates big problem. So they want riddance at the earliest possible. Artificiality has taken the place of reality. He remarks that there was a time when people felt real joy on meeting their friends and relatives. Their behaviour was so genuine and full of warmth affection. But nowadays people shake hands with their rights, while their left hands search their friend’s pocket to get something. In the poem the poet has contrasted the past with the present, so the title is justified and appropriate. 

v. Childishness is a great virtue - Elucidate this point with special reference to the poem ‘Once Upon a Time’. (OR) What are the values and African cultures presented by the poet? (HOTS-Higher Order Thinking Skill Questions) 

Okara’s poem “Once upon a Time” presents an interesting reading. The poem is a monologue----the poet addresses his son, but his son does not say anything. 

The poet compares the behavior of the people in the past and their behavior at present. Once upon a time people laughed with their hearts, that is sincerely. Their eyes shone with real happiness. But now people laugh without real feelings. They only show their teeth while laughing and their eyes are “ice-block-cold”. Now people shake hands without real gladness. A person shakes his right hand with another, but his left hand is trying to pick the other man’s pocket. “Feel at home” and “Come again” are simply said without sincere feeling. When the poet visits someone for a third time the doors are shut on him! 

Now the poet says that he has also learnt to behave like other people. He puts an artificial gladness. He changes his facial expression according to different situations. He has become a fake. Now the poet feels sorry for his behavior. He wishes to go back to his boyhood days and show real feelings. He wants his son to make him (the poet) unlearn the artificial behavior. The poets’ son is a small boy and he has the childlike innocence. “Childishness is a great virtue”, because children are simple and they do not know the pretended behavior. Okara feels that colonization of Africa by European countries (England, France and others) has spoilt the native African simplicity and sincerity.

5. Listening Activity

First read the questions given below. Next, listen to an excerpt from a poem read out by your teacher or played in a recorder. Note how a child admires and praises the abilities of his/her father. Then tick the right answers from the options given.

i) When the _________needs to be repaired, they have to hire a man.

a) heater                 b) furnace

c) stove                   d) oven

ii) Father knows no word like_________.

a) fail                            b) frail

c) jail                             d) snail

iii) It is certain that the father would restore the _______of the family members.

a) glory         b) prosperity

c) confidence           d) happiness

iv) The father will not be able to mend a broken________.

a) table                         b) bench

c) chair                         d) stool

v) The children expect their _________ to guide them in action.

a) mother                    b) father

c) teacher     d) guardian

6. Parallel Reading:

In the poem Once Upon a Time, a parent wishes to shed falsehood and regain true ways as a child. Here is a poem where a woman longs to become a child once again to enjoy the comfort, warmth and love she received as a child from her mother, once upon a time.

Poetic Devices:

1. Repetition: "Once upon a time" in the 1st and last lines

2. Simile: Like dresses – home face (Line 21)

3. Simile: "..conforming smile like a fixed portrait smile." (Line 24)

4.  Simile: When I was like you. I want (Line 35)

5.  Simile: once upon a time when I was like you. (Line 43)

6. Metaphor: "Ice-block cold eyes" (Line 5)

7. Sarcasm:"feel at home!" "come again" (Line 13)

Rock Me to Sleep

Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,

Make me a child again just for tonight!

Mother, come back from the echoless shore,

Take me again to your heart as of yore;

Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,

Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;

Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!

I am so weary of toil and of tears,

Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,

Take them, and give me my childhood again!

I have grown weary of dust and decay,

Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away;

Weary of sowing for others to reap;

Rock me to sleep, mother – rock me to sleep!

Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,

Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!

Many a summer the grass has grown green,

Blossomed and faded, our faces between:

Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,

Long I tonight for your presence again.

Come from the silence so long and so deep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Over my heart, in the days that are flown,

No love like mother-love ever has shone;

No other worship abides and endures,

Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours:

None like a mother can charm away pain

From the sick soul and the world-weary brain.

Slumber’s soft calms o’er my heavy lids creep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,

Fall on your shoulders again as of old;

Let it drop over my forehead tonight,

Shading my faint eyes away from the light;

For with its sunny-edged shadows once more

Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore;

Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Mother, dear mother, the years have been long

Since I last listened your lullaby song:

Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem

Womanhood’s years have been only a dream.

Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,

With your light lashes just sweeping my face,

Never hereafter to wake or to weep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

                                                                             - Elizabeth Akers Allen