Description: The poem, ‘Once Upon A Time’ written by Gabriel Okara, compares the behaviour of people in the olden days with that of the modern people. In the olden days, people were genuine. There was no hypocrisy in their words or deeds. They said what they meant, without any diplomacy. The conduct of modern man, on the other hand, is hard to understand because he puts on many faces and says things which he does not mean. Like honest speech, hospitality has also become a thing of the past. The arrival of a guest or a visitor seems to be an intrusion on one’s purse and privacy. In the latter part of the poem, the poet also gives a contrasting picture of the simplicity and innocence of children and the pretentious and cunning adults. The poet is deeply pained by the conduct of the modern man. He longs for the innocence of a child and also reverts to man’s earlier behaviour before the influence of materialism of the West..