By William Shakespeare
The whole world is a stage, and all the
men and women merely actors. They have
their exits and their entrances, and in his
lifetime one man plays many parts, with
the ages of his life in seven acts. In the first
act he is the infant, crying and vomiting in
the nurse's arms. Then he plays the
whining schoolboy with his book bag and
bright youthful face, creeping like a snail
unwillingly to school. And then he is the
lover, sighing like a heater and writing sad
songs about his beloved's eyebrows. Then
he is a soldier, full of foreign curses and
bearded like a leopard, quick to fight and
jealously responding to any slight to his
honour, seeking fleeting fame and
reputation even if it means putting himself
in front of the cannon's mouth. Then he
plays the judge, with a nice round belly
lined with the bribes he's taken, with stern
eyes and a beard cut to a respectable
shape, full of wise sayings and everyday
examples of his points; and in this way he
plays his part. In the sixth act he shifts into
the skinny, ridiculous old man, wearing
slippers on his feet, glasses on his nose,
and a money bag at his side. The
stockings he has saved since his youth are
now way too wide for his shriveled legs,
and his big manly voice becomes like a
child's voice, squeaking and whistling. In
the last scene of all, which ends this
strange, eventful story, the man enters his
second childhood and goes mentally
blank—without teeth, without eyes,
without taste, without everything.
Word Bank
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Mewling - high-pitched crying sound like a cat or baby
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Woeful - sad
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Ballad - a story told through a song
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Pard - poetic term for leopard
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Capon - rooster, fattened for eating /given as bribes to officials
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Wise saws and modern instances – wise sayings or proverbs and the application of that
wisdom in current situations
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Pantaloon - a foolish old man
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Hose - stockings or breeches
▪
Shank - refers to the part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
▪
Treble - A high-pitched voice
▪
Oblivion – nothingness
▪
Sans - without
This poem is an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s well-loved play, As You Like It.
Summary
 Shakespeare compares life to a play, where every person is an actor who enters at birth and
exits at death, playing different roles throughout their life.
 The first stage is infancy, where the baby is helpless—crying and vomiting in the nurse’s arms,
fully dependent on others for care.
 The second stage is childhood, when the child reluctantly goes to school with his bag and
fresh face, moving slowly and unwillingly like a snail.
 In the third stage, the person becomes a lover, full of intense emotions and exaggerated
feelings, writing romantic verses and sighing deeply.
 The fourth stage is the soldier, when the person is brave, ambitious, and quick to argue or
fight, even risking death to earn reputation and honour.
 The fifth stage is the justice or judge, representing maturity. The person is well-fed, serious,
experienced, and often shares wise sayings or advice.
 In the sixth stage, the person grows old, becoming thinner, wearing glasses, and moving
more slowly. He begins to lose strength and energy.
 The final stage is called “second childishness,” where the person becomes totally dependent
once more—without teeth, eyesight, or memory.
 Shakespeare ends with the idea that life comes full circle, beginning and ending in a state of
weakness and dependency, reminding us of life’s temporary nature.
Literary Devices
➢ Extended Metaphor – Shakespeare compares the world to a stage and life to a play, with
people acting in different roles as they grow older. This metaphor continues throughout the
entire poem.
➢ Simile – Life stages are compared using “like” or “as”, such as “creeping like snail” (schoolboy) or
“sighing like furnace” (lover), to show specific behaviors or emotions.
➢ Alliteration – Repeated consonant sounds, like “shrunk shank” in the old man’s stage, add
rhythm and draw attention to key ideas.
➢ Repetition – The word “sans” (meaning “without”) is repeated in the final stage (“sans teeth,
sans eyes…”) to emphasize loss and decline at the end of life.
➢ Anaphora- It is used in the eighth and ninth lines, beginning with the word “And”.
➢ Onomatopoeia – The word “mewling” (in the infant stage) imitates a soft, whimpering cry,
helping readers hear the baby’s helplessness and making the scene more lifelike.
➢ Enjambment – Some lines continue into the next without a pause, showing the natural and
smooth flow from one life stage to another.
Questions
1. What metaphor does the poet use to describe life in the opening lines?
The poet uses an extended metaphor comparing the world to a stage and people to
actors. Life is described as a play in which each person plays different roles (or “parts”)
through seven stages of life.
2. What is the schoolboy compared to, and why?
The schoolboy is compared to a snail in the simile “creeping like snail unwillingly to school.”
This shows his slowness and reluctance, emphasizing that he does not want to go to school.
3. What does the phrase "bubble reputation" mean in the context of the
soldier?
“Bubble reputation” refers to fame that is short-lived and fragile, like a bubble that can easily
burst.
4. What happens in the final stage, "second childishness"?
In the final stage of life, a person returns to a state similar to infancy. This is a time of
dependency and decline, just like a baby, hence the term “second childishness.”
5. Identify an example of alliteration and a simile from the poem.
Alliteration:
“shrunk shank” – The repeated ‘sh’ sound draws attention to his physical decline.
“play his part”– Repetition of the ‘p’ sound
Simile:
“creeping like snail” – compares the schoolboy’s movement to a snail’s, using “like.”
“sighing like furnace” – The lover’s emotional sighs are compared to the heat and intensity
of a furnace.
“bearded like the pard” – The soldier’s rough beard is compared to a pard (a leopard),
emphasizing a wild and fierce appearance.