Old Poetry Old Poetry Poetry Poets Essays Forums

All The World's A Stage

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' eyebrow. 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 lined,
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 slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, 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.

Notes

From: As you Like It
Act II
Scene VII
Visit the Shakespeare Glossary for vocabulary questions! oldpoetry.com/home/guide/sp_glossary

Leave a guest comment (subject to review)

    : Comment:

    Name: (required)
    Email: (required, hidden from spam)

Comments

1 - 70 of 70

  • 2 days ago
    Edit | Reply

    All the Worlds a Stage

    From guest Carter Newton (contact)
    All of us baby boomers who are now dealing with aging parents in the era of modern medicine remember that long ago we studied Shakespeare too. This peace is now much more more poignant and meaningful to us as a painful reality.


  • August 11
    Edit | Reply

    All the world's a stage

    From guest Amy (contact)
    thanks for the inspiring comments guys. I'm studying this at school and at first didn't like it but now I have a much better appreciation for Shakespeare's poetry!


  • August 4
    Edit | Reply

    Evergreen

    From guest ISHA JOLLY (contact)
    A timeless masterpiece by the gr8 poet........shows the practicality of life aftr all this is what life is.....it is like a vicious circle...........we come play r part nd go........i also search for the meaning behind this life.......what is it???

  • xoPJ
    May 6

    Edit | Reply

    Bravo!

    Thanks for sharing. This stage we all play upon, morphing thru time, usually oblivious to the pantomime in which we are embedded, speaks thru the ages to each one of us.
    (What the heck school do you attend -- you're way ahead of me!)

  • Darmok
    April 15
    Edit | Reply

    never say never

    Always time for a little Shakespeare!


  • Kevin Moderators member
    March 13

    Edit | Reply
    This is one of the poems that pops back into my mind fairly often Few things are as enduring a message!

  • in-sanity

    its insane how this poem can just strike the correctness, the perfection, and the very flame of amazement. It's so accurate and incredible, that i can barely think of anything else after reading such a powerful poem.

  • slangqueen
    November 30, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    How true

    That was deffinetly a perfect representation of life's circle.


  • November 8, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    AMAZING

    From guest Jane (contact)
    i had to do this 4 school and it was hard to memorize but it was worth it the words were deep and hey i got an A thanks 4 writing it


  • November 5, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Shakes was having fun

    From guest Mark (contact)
    We are actors on a stage. We are in a play and can choose whatever role we please, be it drunken idiot or doting parent. The play started at negative infinity and will run until positive infinity. It is the grandest of all plays, and we are blessed to have a part in it. The fact that our performance is of finite length is of no consequence. Every actor's performance is of finite length. The important thing is the brilliance of the performance. The brilliance of the performance transcends pain and suffering. Methinks these wise saws are from the fifth stage.


  • November 3, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    All the Worlds a Stage

    From guest Karen (contact)
    I am only in my seventh year of schooling, we haven't done Shakespeare in class, but I love his writing. I don't find the language difficult to understand at all.


  • October 29, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    From guest VANY (contact)
    I LIKE SHAKESPEARE BUT Y DO CHILDREN IN YEAR 7 HAVE TO LEARN HIS HARD LANGUAGE??

    • happens

      im in seventh grade but i learned the work of edgar allen poe, william shakespeare and all of those other fine poets in 6th grade. And I understood perfectly what they are trying to express, but as i get older, i will TRULY understand why he said this, or why he wrote that. course it is easier for poets.


  • October 17, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    hi!

    From guest ruKia(a.k.a eFriL) (contact)
    good poetry and i really love shakespeare's poems...

  • checkmate
    October 13, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    'with a woeful ballad
    Made to his mistress' eyebrow'

    That made me laugh Brutally honest and biting. && yet so true. One of Shakespeare's best writes (from what I believe)


  • August 25, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    the story

    From guest homoma (contact)
    i like how you do compare the world to a stage players are us, our scripts being what we say thatz nice cool and awesomeley true nice


  • August 8, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Depressing?

    From guest Richard John (contact)
    Our lives aren't real, and don't have any lasting meaning. We are acting out a part, 'strutting' and worrying until it is all over, and then death silences us.


  • July 4, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    From guest Samir Neupane (contact)
    the world is guide and we are path finder


  • June 6, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Anger

    From guest GJ (contact)
    i think shakespeare is cool but on thursday i have to say the whole thing in front of my class and i only how half of it and on thursday i'm going to get an BIG FAT "E"


  • May 9, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    all the world is a stage and we are the actor in it

    From guest Nastiusa (contact)

  • Babel
    April 30, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    Beautiful, Shakespeare was very insightful and well-versed.


  • April 11, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Life

    From guest Jack English (contact)
    No one had an insight on life as did Wm. Shakespeare. Succinct, caustic, brutally honest. Is there a lesson to be learned by reading him? Methinks so! So, after 50 years, I shall reread him!


  • March 3, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Yawn

    From guest mystery person (contact)
    The world is not a stage. It is a little biosphere that has beauty, grace, power, and great possibility. It is a place where where semi intelligent life proceeds in an unorganized way to fight over limited resources and misguided notions (religion). The fact humans are not capable of improving or even maintaining the world for even the shortest period of time is evidence we have some seriously inferior traits. I'm still happy to be here and i do hope to grow old. :)


  • February 16, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    From guest Sara (contact)
    Its not possible to misinterpret poetry, which also goes with the fact that just because you found nothing in a poem doesnt mean something isnt there for someone else. Shakespeare does a great job about making that point extremely clear. In case no one has noticed there are over sixty comments arguing and just speaking about how there is or is not meaning, Shakespeare is or is not brilliant, you are or are not stupid. I mean poetry can only mean what you allow it to mean. And its different to everyone. The point behind poetry isnt to have black and white areas of this means this. Its all up to the reader and what it means to them specifically.


  • February 14, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    From guest jakeofspades (contact)
    Useless garbage? Tut tut - this poem puts the life of man into such beautiful language. I accept that this mass of verse and Shakespeare's immortal reputation creates such standards that this poem doesn't seem to live up to. But once you penetrate the sentences, it's all so eloquently done.


  • February 14, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    From guest joe (contact)
    it isn't because no one understand what shakespeare says in his works that it is neccessarily good and profound, maybe there is simply nothing to unederstand from this useless garbage!


  • February 9, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    I have an objection

    From guest Abdu (contact)
    if we are all actors on a stage......whos the audience.

  • pankaja
    December 7, 2006

    Edit | Reply

    ALL the world's a stage

    The first two lines-
    'All the world's a stage,
    And all the men andwomen merely players'
    is a very much loved quotation even today. It has a depth of our Indian philosophy. But the rest, that is , the continuing lines lack the power to arouse thought-process,hence not much of impact

  • Madhumita
    November 8, 2006
    Edit | Reply

    WOW!

    Wonderful poem here, Shakespeare's one of the most beautiful works!
    The stages of life that have been depicted are equally marvellous!
    A poem that should be read by all...
    Madhumita


  • November 7, 2006
    Edit | Reply

    Wow

    From guest ympoetry (contact)
    Without a doubt it amazes me that such mastery of Literature and life was endowed to men such as Shakespeare in the day.. truly magnificent..

  • Rodoplu
    June 12, 2006
    Edit | Reply

    within context or out of context

    think

  • stoneage
    March 23, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    What’s said has been said,
    mouthfuls of garbled stony words
    pave the centuries
    on and on
    But yes the stages of life have not changed!


  • The Pole Star
    March 10, 2006
    Edit | Reply

    That's amazing

    It is true that this poetry is amazing, and I can say that even tough I didn't read this from here. Man! It is in our school text book. I really liked and appricate this true poetry.
    Actually, it is the one which inspired me to write "The Ages"
    Which I beileve is an extended form of this rare of the rarest peice. It's true and being a fact, it can't be this best, but, yeah! i think it is nice. tough, one can imagine the differenciation b/w me and him.


  • February 12, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    Question. Does anyone think that there are any similarites between All the World's A Stage and the mythic five races of humans? If anyone has any ideas, let me know.


  • February 12, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    How is it getting misinturpered? I've never read the whole thing, just that section.


  • February 8, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    William Shakespeare got it.
    The world is nothng but a theartrical stage where we humans are actors.From our birth we enter the stage and keep on acting true to our age until old age when we act the last scene and the curtain draws.We are heard no more.( Death).


  • January 15, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare is truly inspirational. I mean, come on! This poem inspired me for a writing assignment with the worst prompt word imaginable! Popcorn. Seriously, I'm not even joking and Shakespeare kind of helped me along. He was such a genius. You get really good writers who are unknown and really emminent writers whose work simply dies with time. He was famous at the time and his work lasted ages.
    There is no doubt that he was brilliant. This is a brilliant poem. Mine often follow the same sort of pattern, starting out with a thought building on it and coming back to the thought at the end, like a keyhole effect. All hail Bard!


  • January 8, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    the poem reveal's the universal truth of human exixtence

  • SeanJ
    December 3, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Man, this thing is getting misinterpreted left and right.

    Listen, take a look at the context, really look at the language. Go and track down the act and scene from As You Like It, take a look at who says it and what the significane of that. Seriously, do some thinking for yourselves, people!
    Edited on Dec 03, 2:25 p.m. because ''.

  • fragrance
    November 30, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    The greatest entertainer and most PROFOUND thinker is no one other than SHAKESPEARE.

  • fragrance
    November 30, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare’s profound knowledge of human life can be seen here.

    The different stages of life hint at the fact that nothing is permanent
    in human life and change is the law of nature.

    He compares the whole world to a theatrical stage,where all the men
    and women are players and play their role accordingly.
    Their role starts right from their birth and ends with their death.
    He discussed the seven stages of human life very beautifully.

    The first period of man’s life begins as a helpless child when he
    Completely depends on others for his care.He is nursed by the mother
    Or someone else whosoever is going to look after him.

    After some years of development he enters to the second period or
    stage of his life .From NOW HE BECOMES A SCHOOL GOING BOY.

    The third stage begins with adolescent age.

    The fourth one begins and he now becomes a soldier.He has stepped in
    The practical life.

    Then the fifth one now he is like a judge,full of experience,knowledge
    Dignity and quite serious in his behaviour and attitude.

    After this sixth period of human life begins now he has become old
    ,his body has become weak,shrink,his energies has been gone with the time.
    He sometimes act just like a child actually he is not energetic now so he
    Depends on others.

    The last period is miserable because there would be no eyesight,ears
    ,teeth,energy properly working this is the end of human life.

    Well all the stages passed on very slowly and gradually man can do
    Anything in his life as MAN IS THE CROWN OF ALL CREATION.
    And as he has a definite and proper aim of his life.
    He is the architect of his own fate.

  • nwomack816
    November 10, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare genius for earning a living writing plays reaches a pinnacle in thi poetry excerpt. Instead of writing that all the world a plumbing circuit in which humanity must travel from the initial glistening drop in the clouds to a huuricane's eyewall and heavy deposition in torrential rain before reaching a hevay lake resevoir, pipes, consumtion and exit, or describing life as a political philsophy that must be imagined by a man or woman in society reaching a special age of empirical realization before convecting back from the heigth of office holding to the level of ordinary citizen sickening and perhaps becoming a ward of the state as an invalid or prisoner, Shakespeare choose to model life upon his own trade of playwriting.

    Shakespeares keen wit and readings of Marlowe drew all the cognoscenti of the day into his Globe theatre where they could learn of the nature and perhaps folly of social reality as well as observe what the very best dressed women would wear as fashion leaders. If only Andy Warhol had led humanity to toss soup cans instead of actual tomatoes before the era of King James, perhaps social evolution would have brough a better understanding of the realtion between scripted scnearios and society-for-itself. Yet the Elizebethan era had no canner of vegetables to inspire, and tomatoes and other projectiles served to assault badly written stage productions for some time, I think.


  • October 26, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare gives an effective and detailed description of the seven ages of man's life, but the last stage has been described most accurately. He describes the last stage when man’s plight becomes very pathetic and he is deprived of everything: without his eyes, without teeth and without taste. The dark, gloomy but realistic description creates fear and pity for the retired hero of the stage. The poet uses the metaphor of “second childishness” and “oblivion” when he becomes only a shadow, old tattered coat a scarecrow. Like an infant he is at the mercy of others. His sons and daughters want to get rid of him and consider him a burden.
    Muhammad Shanazar
    shanazar@hotmail.com


  • October 26, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare's depiction of the lover is very effective, appropriate and convincing. Every young boy or girl has some kind of romance which keeps him/her absorbed. The lover idealises and praises the hair, the eyes, the eyebrows, the lips and other parts of her body. He becomes jealous lest anyone else should involve with her and in her absence he sighs like a furnace. Most of the lovers compose verses in praise of their beloveds. Sometimes the lover assumes appearances in a miserable plight to attract attention of his beloved or to prove himself a faithful lover. The description of a lover is based upon Shakespeare’s keen observation and psychological insight. It has universal appeal and its validity is undisputed.
    Muhammad Shanazar
    shanazar@hotmail.com


  • October 26, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    The poem ‘All the world is a stage’ by Shakespeare expresses his keen power of observation, his sound knowledge of human life and profound insight into nature. Though the poem is unrhymed yet it may be regarded a thing of beauty owing to it perennial appeal. It is an extract taken from “As You Like It”, a comedy written by Shakespeare. Although biologically, medically and socially life is divisible only into three parts: childhood, youth and old age yet the poem throws light on the seven stages of human life.
    Man at the first stage enters into the s stage of the world as an infant mewling and puking in the arms of his mother or governess. Man then enters into the second phase of life age as a whining school-going boy. He goes to his school unwillingly creeping like a snail. Man’s third performance on this stage is in the manner of a romantic lover sighing deeply like a furnace and singing loudly the romantic songs. His force of romantic passion keeps him all the time restless. Man’s fourth role makes him a soldier. He takes unbelievable oaths, wearing leopard-like beard showing sensitiveness in matters of honour. He is ready to pick quarrels without any cause of provocation, caring least he plunges into dangers and takes the risks of life. The fifth role of man’s life makes him a person with the round belly as mature as a judge and settles the disputes in the society. Man’s sixth stage of life makes him unable to earn his livelihood on account of his old age. He wears loose dresses which make him a comic figure n the society. His seventh part of life turns him into a second-time. Shakespeare’s distribution of man’s life into seven different periods portrays a genuine sketch of every human being living in any part of the earth.
    Muhammad Shanazar
    shanazar@hotmail.com


  • October 26, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    William Shakespeare in “All the World is a Stage’, depicts a realistic picture of human life from the lap of the mother to the grave. The poet in this poem metaphorically regards a stage, and all men and women actors who perform their respective roles and depart. The poet describes seven stages, rather seven episodes of human life in this world. Firstly he enters this world as an infant who, in his nurse’s arms, is totally helpless. Secondly, he is a child who unwillingly goes to school. Thirdly, a young man who turns into a lover, sighing for his love. Fourthly he becomes a soldier who is ever ready to stake his life for country’s honour. Fifthly, he is a judge with a big belly but wise sayings. At this stage he becomes sober and serious. He settles people’s disputes with wisdom and is respected by other fellow beings. Sixthly he becomes a lean old man in loose dress. Finally, he reaches such a stage when he, like an infant again, and is totally dependent upon others. Then he loses his teeth, eyes and taste, etc. he becomes an old tattered coat or a scarecrow, it is the bitter end that he neglects in the days of vigour. Imperceptible feet of the passing decades bring along a horrible change. The face which once had been a stage of beauty becomes creasy, wrinkled and furrowed like the field of autumn. The eyes become cloudy with the spots of cataracts and pour out fluid full of disgust. Teethless mouth begins to dribble from both the corners and flesh begins to hang like loose sleeves. The poem signifies man’s helplessness and momentary stay in this world. Man passes through different ups and downs in life with a new hope and vigour. But this poem leaves a note of despair and melancholy different similes and metaphors make the impressions forceful. A young man, no doubt, sighs “like a furnace” for his sweetheart, but in vain. Man’s last stage when he loses everything is very pathetic. He deserves sympathy and love and childlike care.
    Shakespeare was a dramatist, poet, and player; therefore he metaphorically regarded “All the World a Stage” whereupon each man and woman gets an opportunity to perform his/her role in seven episodes. Failure or success of the world hereafter depends upon the role, the players enact upon this vast stage where numerous heroes and villains with numerous plots and interwoven subplots are in function and drama of the world becomes too intricate like the mind of Shakespeare to understand. But there is a shortcoming that creates ambiguity in metaphorical representation of the world, a stage. If all men and women are the players where are the spectators? They are the part and parcel and without them the stage is incomplete; however, the division of the seven stages of human life is matchless, universal and Shakespeare represents his perennial experience that each man and woman has to undergo. In fact Man in these seven stages journeys through illusions to reality, sweetness to bitterness, darkness to light and everything to nothing. Had Shakespeare been alive in the present modern world of trade, he must have regarded the world ‘A Market’ and all men and women either buyers or sellers who often forget the route of return in the crowded mazy streets engaging, involving themselves in the activities of commerce.

    Muhammad Shanazar
    shanazar@hotmail.com


  • October 24, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare was a dramatist, poet, and player; therefore he metaphorically regarded “All the World a Stage” whereupon each man and woman gets an opportunity to perform his/her role in seven episodes. Failure or success of the world hereafter depends upon the role, the players enact upon this vast stage where numerous heroes and villains with numerous plots and interwoven subplots are in function and drama of the world becomes too intricate like the mind of Shakespeare to understand. But there is a shortcoming that creates ambiguity in metaphorical representation of the world, a stage. If all men and women are the players where are the spectators? They are the part and parcel and without them the stage is incomplete; however, the division of the seven stages of human life is matchless, universal and Shakespeare represents his perennial experience that each man and woman has to undergo. In fact Man in these seven stages journeys through illusions to reality, sweetness to bitterness, darkness to light and everything to nothing. Had Shakespeare been alive in the present modern world of trade, he must have regarded the world ‘A Market’ and all men and women either buyers or sellers who often forget the route of return in the crowded streets engaging, involving themselves in the activities of commerce. (Reply)
    Prof. Muhammad Shanazar
    From Pakistan

  • total blackness
    August 18, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    This poem explains all the stages of life, there a so many stages of so that makes life itself a stage.


  • AndrewHide
    August 9, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Hi Nicola,
    'sans means without. You can visit our glossary of Shakespeare's wording at oldpoetry.com/special/sp_glossary


    Andrew

  • ea
    August 9, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    without, without.
    By all means -- pout.


  • August 9, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    What does it mean by sans teeth, sans eyes etc.? What is 'sans'?


  • August 8, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    I'm doing this play for a compotion piece at my school. Does anyone else find it enjoyable ,but very boring at some times?

  • ea
    July 25, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    He is making it to her eyebrow because he is too lovestruck or insecure to look her in the eye.


  • July 7, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    The lover "sighing like a furnace" means in today's parlance that he has the "hots" for a girl. He professes his love to her in a ballad that commends the beauty of the girl's eyebrow. It is a "woeful ballad" because she apparently does not return his love or is playing hard to get. The parallel situation today would be a kid composing a rap song to whatever anatomical part he most fancies in a girl (and we can be sure that it won't be an eyebrow). Two things always strike us about the Bard: his universality and his timelessness.


  • July 7, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Thank you! That was very helpful! Although there's another part that I'm also not too sure about: 'and then the lover, sighing like furnace, made to his mistress' eyebrow.' Could you explain this to me too?

    It's just that I am doing this speech for my Gold medal Verse and Prose Exam, so I need to understand what this speech means.


  • July 7, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    The "bubble reputation" is fame: it is a "bubble" because it is a trivial and flimpsy thing, which can pop at any moment. The "cannon's mouth" signifies the profession of arms. The cannon, too, can pop at any moment, but it is hardly a trivial and flimpsy thing. Hence, man is willing to risk real danger ("the cannon's mouth") in order to obtain the illusion of fame (the "bubble reputation").


  • July 7, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    There's one line in this speech that I don't understand. Could anyone explain to me what it means? 'Seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth'.

    Thanks!

  • PoeticFlame
    July 4, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Shakespeare is plain out awesome is all I gotta say. Even the plays are awesome. Without them, we wouldn't have all the storie lines in so many movies that we have. I hate it when people say his plays suck, but yet they go home and watch a movie based on one of his plays. I think he rocks, period. He will never die!


  • June 15, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    do u hav any explanation about this piece of poem?!?

  • Mistress Madness
    April 19, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    I love this poem of WS. I saw the title, and had to read it again. Yes, Steve, after you pointed it out, I noticed the same thing. Such a strange coincidence(sp?). He was not only a great poet, but very smart as well.He's my poetic hero!!

  • fragrance
    April 1, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Stages of human life are masterfully described here in this poem.Well transient nature of life and fame is discussed beautifully.Excellent piece of work.

  • -apparition-
    March 30, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    I love this piece. I love the last line especially, to represent the last breath of life.

    Shakespeare is a GOD, he knows what he's talking about in every aspect possible.

    The great thing about this poem is the truth that lies in it. There truely are 7 stages of life... and he has outlined them all perfectly. I love this!


  • March 25, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    I am doing this as my monolougue for school, and I love it. But does anyone else find it sarcastically and cynically hilarious?


  • February 24, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    I'm surprised that one has not been inclined to point out the possible subtle allusion to eastern philosophy made here by Shakespeare regarding the first four lines. One could easily interpret it as such: In one play or one lifetime, one man plays one part, playing many parts in many lifetimes, entering and exiting through birth and death, between which he typically undergoes seven acts(within ONE play). These seven "acts" or phases also correspond to the seven Churches in the revelation of St. John(seven states of a church) and the seven stages of consciousness(chakras) along the cerebrospinal axis. Food for thought?

  • MxOrpheus
    November 17, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Isn't this piece usually called "The Seven Ages of Man"? That's how I usually see it credited. But whatever. It's still a great piece.

  • Shellie
    October 20, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    This poems very title was used as one of the first catch phrases ever.It has been use in 300 hollywood movies alone .
    True to his nature he will always remain a classic.


  • September 6, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    hehehe poetry slips from the pen and aches onto the page. i think i like it, i will confer, (gathers self into a bunch-whispers) ok, the gang have voted and we like it.

  • facesofnatalia
    June 12, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Second childishness and mere oblivion,
    Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

    the first of those two lines is on par with the greatest of all shakespeare......second childishness, alzheimer's disease (RIP Ron Reagan) etc.......you know....and the last line there is brilliant as well, but somehow doesn't carry the weight that it should, being death itself. but yes....myself being an actor i enjoy this thing, it's a great monologue, even if there's very little character in it. but yeah. peace.


  • April 25, 2004
    Edit | Reply

    great

    this was really really beutiful and i think ill tell all my friends about this it is geortgus


  • April 25, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    This is such a gr8 peace of writing and i am using it for a speaking competition at the moment. it has saved my life from the usual bore of some other writing, which i have to say is nothing near as good as the standard of shakespeare.

  • Lisa Lou
    April 20, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    I think this is one of the most beautiful and powerful pieces ever written. It refelcts such an incredible and unique view to life that I think I have never forgotten this poem since I forst read it at 12 yers old! I have always though it gives a great insight to how Shakespeare may have been.

  • dewbee
    April 2, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    this human being was a genius of characterisation.

  • Lo Justin
    March 29, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    I had a similar beef with Shakespeare being classified in Olde English, but completely respect the site's decision to do so. You probably get a lot less people like us asking about it than you do people blissfully ignorant who are glad it is listed as it is.

    I love this monologue. It even inspired me to write a similar piece, in my own style (i.e., not Shakespeare's). allpoetry.com/Poem/555565 I have 9 divisions, instead of 7, but maybe we can chalk that up to increased life span. If Willy lived today, he might have made his have 9 as well.
    Thanks for including this classic piece of his literature.
    Peace,
    Lo


  • Old Poetry Moderators member
    February 20, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Hi MJS,
    The classification of olde English is not related to the classification of Old English dialect. On this site, as with many others, it is a simple classification of English poetry older than 1604. English poetry is the only group to be segregated at this stage, as it is far greater than any other single group. As most of our visitors have little real knowledge as to which Language of litracy classification, the poet they are looking for falls into. To list each English poet in the terms of old English, middle English, early modern English, Augustans, modern English, romantics ETC. ETC. Would only lead to further confustion.


  • February 20, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    I take issue with the classification of Shakespeare in the "Author Category: Olde English". I wonder why Shakespeare is categorized this way. His work is an example of Early MODERN English. Our current language is a direct descendent from Shakespeare. OLDE ENGLISH is Geoffrey Chaucer's period of writing. Chaucer lived ca.1343-1400 and wrote The Canterbury Tales, along with many other stories that reveled in "lowbrow" humor. Shakespeare was born in 1564--record his works being published in the 1590's. In the evolution of the English language, I posit that Shakespeare is closer to our way of speaking than to Chaucer...

  • Seangabriel
    February 3, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    That the world is like a stage at the theatre, and that everyone in the world is therefore an actor


  • February 2, 2004
    Edit | Reply

    Good really

    What does it mean (all the world is a stage) just that part


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    January 26, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    oneroleofmany: This is from 'As you Like it" Act II Scene VII
    I will edit the details - good idea. thanks
    Von


  • Ahkam Moderators member
    January 25, 2004
    Edit | Reply

    All times classic

    This is such a great universal piece of thought , such a master piece that people with ordinary approach can never reach to the dust of it.it is an everlasting classic.

  • SarahJoyAskins
    January 25, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Maybe we should have a note here that says that this is excerpted from, oh whichever play it is that it's excerpted from.

  • SarahJoyAskins
    January 25, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Somebody made me memorize this for a class at some point... bleh... I like it anyway, though... I used to have a T-shirt that said, "If all the world's a stage, I want better lighting."


  • AndrewHide
    January 12, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Lo Justin,
    The category of Olde English, does not refer to the time period of old English (449-1066), but is a simple catigory of poetry written before the end of the Renaissance period (1603). All poetry after this date is deemed English.
    As Shakespeare wrote predominately in the Renaissance period it has been categorized on this site, as other simular sites, as Olde English. Most people who come to this site looking for a specific poem, do not know its correct litracy time period, so it has been simplifide by a single split within the catergory of English.

    Andrew
    Oldpoetry Director

  • Lo Justin
    January 12, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    i love this poem, but i have to disagree with the category placement. Shakespeare did not write in Olde English, he really didn't even write in Middle English. He wrote in Modern English, and I wonder if it would be possible to make that more clear so people do not misunderstand. Thank you.


  • December 15, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    I have to read this poem for shool. It's an interesting poem easy to explicate.


  • December 1, 2003
    Edit | Reply

    good

  • Cristos
    October 7, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    It's all the great circle of life. Seven parts. Seven roles. Very impressive how the words used to describe each stage are precise and almost internationally understood. Very well written I thought. Very philosophical and phsychologically entising.
    Peace
    Chris


  • September 27, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    I came here about six weeks ago to romp around the old world. I read and commented then on this great poem that is part of who I am. This will be my write. What a wonderful contest you are holding here.

  • Ava Noire
    September 15, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    To me the first two lines are very significant. They make such a great quote. This poem is rich in meaning. Pure brilliance in my opinion.


  • poetryality Moderators member
    August 4, 2003
    Edit | Reply

    Excellent Visual Writing

    I am a thespian and have had the opportunity to play many roles in one production. I have however, never played the progression of age. This poem makes me yearn for such a role. Shakespeare make me vividly see the age process in this gentleman. I can see him as a babe toddling and experimenting with the unknown surprises of life, and then as the school boy in knickers and a back pack, the mischevious teen who lures his girl with sweet words and flirtations, and the soldier who is now the man willing to give himself in service for his country, and the middle-ager sitting at his bar stool drinking his keg of beer and sharing long past war stories, finally I see the aged man who is now more like the babe than ever, wrinkled, toothless,bald and hardly able to take that first step. These are the things that Shakespeare made me see today. I am learning to love his works.


  • July 25, 2003
    Edit | Reply

    beautiful poem

1 - 70 of 70