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The Seven Ages of Man According to Shakespeare

"The Seven Ages of Man" comes from a famous monologue that begins "All the world's a stage" in "As You Like It," a play by William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare lists seven distinct phases that a man passes through in life:

1. Infant
2. Schoolboy
3. Lover
4. Soldier
5. Justice
6. Pantaloon
7. Second childhood

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' brow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."—Jaques, "As You Like It," Act II, Scene 7.

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One Response to “The Seven Ages of Man According to Shakespeare”

1. harshani says:

   August 23, 2009 at 9:49 pm

   what is the them of the poem