The poet of the poem "Once upon a time" is Gabriel Okara who is a Nigerian. He was born on 24th or 21st of Apr in the entire year 1921. For the reason that year Nigeria received independence from Britain so in those days they were still inspired by the United kingdom culture. The background of the poem is the fact that he is remembering the way people used to respond and connect to the other person and he is assessing it with how people interact with others now. How the people i did so things with the hearts and with pleasure and enjoyment. It describes what happens whenever a traditional African culture and civilisation fits with the traditional western culture. My own opinion of the purpose of this poem is to format the behaviour and personality people have at the moment and try to bring them back again to the personality that folks used to have, when they i did so things with sentiment and with their heart
The poem is a talk between a dad and his child where the boy does things with feeling and the daddy wants to neglect his fraudulent personality and re-learn and create real personalities from his kid. And he's asking the kid to show him how to express real love and show real personality to others.
It the first stanza the writer mentions that folks used to chuckle with their heart and soul they used to have fun with their feelings, when they would laugh they might undertake it wholeheartedly and with friendliness and they used to have a good laugh with their sight and show pleasure with them. And know they do it with only their pearly whites not with their heart and soul, meaning they don't really want to laugh but undertake it merely to get nearer to you and using their darky gloomy wintry eyes they watch you and wait for you from the place of their eye waiting for you to leave "search behind my shadow". In my own opinion the words "they" make reference to the white people who experienced invaded their country and inspired them with their culture. In this stanza the words "ice-block-cold eye" is utilized these words focus on the coldness and the interior hatred they may have for you prefer they can freeze drinking water with the gaze. These also make the poem feel a bit dark and frosty and hook bit sinister
In the next stanza he further talks about the personalities of the people of days gone by he says "they used to shake with the hearts" here he's trying to say that when you'll meet each other you will shake their hands with pleasure and with heat and do it willingly. "While their remaining hands search my vacant pockets" out of this we can see they are seeking to use him to get to his money or receive something from him. This also demonstrates the people's personalities aren't real and true
In the 3rd stanza he is discussing when people ask you to come again and say "feel at home" you go there once, double and the third time they will not enable you to in thinking that you are a pest and that they do not wished to see you any further. The words "feel at home" is employed for when you wish a guest to feel welcomed and that they belong in that home. Here he mentions that "I find the doors shut on me" this implies that they don't even open the door to simply tell him that he's not required and as soon as but instead leaves the entranceway shut keeping him located outside. This also implies that when people speak they lay not telling the truth but just expressing something nice to understand their heart and soul.
In the fourth stanza he speaks about how he has learned to put on faces like how clothes and masks are placed on at different times, and with differing people you act diversely, for example at work you act in a single way to a person but when you meet them on the street you act another way to them, and how all the faces that folks have on different situations. He says "I have discovered too" which is suggesting that he in addition has changed with the change of folks around him. he also mentions "with almost all their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait" recommending that each of them have the same teeth constantly not demonstrating any true emotion.
In the fifth stanza he says that he in addition has been inspired by folks around him and he has learned to keep his true personality a magic formula and show the entire world a imitation personality, "to giggle with only me teeth" this part is linked with the part in the first stanza "they only laugh with their tooth" from this you can see a comparison of what folks do and what he does indeed now. This also shows that he has evolved to blend in with the environment. Here in the part where he says "I've also learned to say `Goodbye' when After all `Good-riddance' that is pointing out to the actual fact that they will, without pondering and without indicating it they'll say "Goodbye". He mentions frontward "that Happy to meet you" meaning that he is happy to see you and is also pleased with your existence "without having to be glad" and therefore the did not wanted to talk to you plus they disliked your occurrence and if indeed they could they would of prevented you and "it's been nice speaking with you, after being bored to death" stating that they say things that they don't mean
In the fifth stanza he concludes it all expressing that he does not like what he is becoming and he would like to end up like he used to be when he was such as a child so small and innocent. He highlights that he really wants to understand how to chuckle with emotions like you really indicate it and he compares his chuckle like that of a snake's fangs that presents only one's teeth snakes are those menacing creatures that are full of venom and can never be trusted and to compare his giggle with a snake provides image that the man really does nothing like his imitation personality. This stanza amounts it well giving the image to the reader that he is not happy and satisfied with himself
The last stanza is the farther asking and pleading to his son showing him how to have fun and laugh like he does when he was a kid. The last collection sums up the entire poem really well ensuring all strings are tied
The structure of the poem is actually good and consistent most of the stanzas have 6 lines in them. It really is a very nice poem with a nice smooth flow
