Login

Login

Enter your login credential below

All the World's a Stage by William Shakespeare

PrintPrint

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.

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Top Poems

  1. by mr mystic
    mr mystic's picture
    Comments: 6
  2. by The Dark Knight
    The Dark Knight's picture
    Comments: 5
  3. by japrile
    japrile's picture
    Comments: 3

Top Quotes

  1. by faithfulpoet
    faithfulpoet's picture
    Comments: 1
  2. by slb_ihaveonlytoday11
    slb_ihaveonlytoday11's picture
    Comments: 1
  3. by Funny Jester Da 1st
    Funny Jester Da 1st's picture
    Comments: 2

UWP News

Stay informed on announcements, the poem of the week, poetry contests, updates and other UWP news!

XML feed