Once Upon a time x constant image of your face

Guilt is a common feeling that humans feel when they have done something wrong. The poets Gabriel Okara and Dennis brutus both express this feeling of guilt in their personas backgrounds. Therefore, okara’s “Once Upon a Time” and brutus’s “It is the Constant Image of Your Face” are poems portrayed with guilt, but they show it in different situations.
The body of both poems have a specific situation happening. in the poem “Once Upon a Time” the persona wishes to be young again an forget all the lessons he has taught himself. He admits of having to put on a “mask “depending on who he is in company with, however he wishes to return to his childhood days when he would laugh a honest laughter. The persona speaks to his son about the times when people would seem to be sincere and caring when dealing with one another. In the poem “It is the Constant Image of Your Face” the persona chooses his woman over his country. The persona looks at his love for his country along with his mistress and the heartbreak that is inflicted with his choices. The persona admits that they cannot make excuses for his mistress does not take precedence over the personas country, however he still commits treason against his country by being seduced by his mistress’s beauty and protection. The persona hopes that his country will forgive him for choosing his mistress. In both the poems the personas give a feeling of guilt in their events.

In the poem “Once Upon a Time” the poet creates contrast between “heart” and “faces”.”Hearts” suggest a deep honest feeling and emotion. Thus, when people shook hands “with their hearts”, their emotion was true and real. However, when they laugh “with their teeth”, not with their eyes. This suggests that the eyes are like the windows of the soul thus letting us see how a person truly feels. In the second poem, “It is the Constant Image of Your Face” the persona reflects on the image of someone he cares for. The persona admits that both him and his mistress can “plead excuses” for his behavior because the woman does not take precedence over his country. He is also feeling guilt and sadness because of what he has done. He has committed treason against his country and he hopes his country will pardon him because of his love for his country and woman.
The two poems show contrast through literary devices. Personifications and oxymoron are used by the poets in their poems. In the poem ‘it is the Constant Image of Your Face’ the phrase ‘heart’s Treachery’ is an oxymoron used. This could mean that the conflict between his two loves causes heartbreak to his love one. He begs mitigation because the persona knows he has done wrong. In the Poem ‘Once Upon a Time’, the poet uses metaphors, similes and a sense of irony is shown.”I have learnt to wear many faces like a dress” is a simile in the poem and it emphasizes the constant changes in the persona’s face. This suggests how often the persona adjusts his personality to suit his situation. With attention to the irony that is show, the persona behaves in the exact way that she despises.
All in all, the differences in the poems are obviously shown despite the similarities in all over mood. In one poem the speaker wants to be as innocently sincere as his young son. He wants to get rid of his false laugh that he puts on to deal in different encounters with people. The speaker regrets losing his innocents, but has hope that his son can teach him. On the contrary, in the other poem the persona strongly feels sadness and guilt about the conflict in his heart between his two loves. He is torn by the two things he cares deeply for. He commits treason to both his country and his mistress and he pleads mitigation. The poems show that the personas both look back at times when things were either different or guilt-less and both try to get rid of the guilt and sadness that they feel.