Shakespeare’s: As You Like It. Seven Ages of Man Speech

Introduction 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.
First Stage: Infant At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Second Stage: School Boy The the schoolboy with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school.
Third Stage: Lover And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow.
Four Stage: Solider 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.
Fifth Stage: Justice 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.
Sixth Stage: Pantaloon 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 to childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound.
Seventh Stage: Second Childishness Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
July 22, 2019