Poem #7
Dramatic Poetry
“The Seven Ages of a Man” pg. 944
 Complete questions # 1,2,4,5
1. I do agree with the different stages thought I don’t agree with what they represent. I feel
the speaker has a very pessimistic view over each stage while there are a lot more
positive things within each stage.
2. The people listed are infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and old man.
The infant and old man stage represent being in need of someone else to take care of
them. The school boy represents being a child and not wanting to go to school. The
lover shows the craziness and sorrow of a man. The soldier represents a man just starting
his career. The justice represents being at the top of your career. The pantaloon
represents losing your youth and being wise and knows it all.
 List at least 3 poetic devices found in the poem (Name the literary device and list the
example from the poem.) EX: Simile – “And the river flows like a stream of glass” - Line 4
(from “Sympathy”)
Alliteration “For his shrunk, shank; and his big manly voice” line 23
Repetition “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” line 28
Simile “and shining morning face, creeping like snail” line 8
 Rate the poem on the following scale accompanied by a 1-3 sentence specific explanation for
the rating.
I didn’t like the poem because I thought that is was a very pessimistic view of life. It was
also negative.
Approval Rating Scale:
Liked it!
It was ok.
UGH! Did not like it!
Homework Activity: Write a poem titled “The Seven Stages of ___________” where you
choose a type of person (woman, teenagers, a person in love, baseball player, musician, famous
person, etc.). Then write the seven stages of their life and the activities associated with each
stage. Model it after Shakespeare’s monologue (a poem spoken by one person).