WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, All the World's a Stage Options

[Psyche]

All the World’s a Stage

by William Shakespeare


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.

by William Shakespeare

[Psyche]

Hi Ron!

Thanks for all the pointers. I did a little researching before returning here! If anybody else is interested, they can go to www.DonMarquis.com or else Google him.

I confess my ignorance. And now I'm going to attempt including an automatic 'brainy quote' of the day in my space/blog. I've been subscribing to 'Poem of the Day', quite free, for a while, and thanks to them I was reminded of Will's 'All the World's....'

I went for a yellow highlighter, copied the page and began to try to scan the piece. I tried not to impose my typical sing-song on it, but read it as I believe it's spoken from the stage.

I've long written verse to include in it as much music as I might. Here is a composition where I believe its writer did not struggle long and hard to achieve its musicality, but rather, was endowed to write with such flow naturally. Shakespeare to me, never had to contort a sentance to instill his music in it. If he inverted the verb or came up with a laughable allit like "shrunk shank", it seems to me to be wholly masterful rather than corny, which would probably be the call now with the profs and their red pens.

I entirely agree with you, Ron. I also read the piece several times and found much music in it, but couldn't decipher the metre (not surprisingly with me, but still...). And the humor mixed with a deep sense of human beings' frailties & faults...

"Seeking the bubble reputation"... could anyone say it better?

No, I don't think so!

BTW, I've also remembered that W.S. mentions the world as a stage towards the end of Macbeth:

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage.
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Well known bit, of course, but how impressive... wow... An ambitious man's self-recognition of his own idiocy, but spoken in a universal voice.

Ron, I'm sure I have lots more to say, but my own particular nano-particle of life's stage urges me to get on with my fool's tasks....LOL....

Cheers and many thanks for all your highly interesting comments & information.
Syl ***