SEVEN AGESBy,

Ishwari

Dipika9th ‘A’

FIRST STAGEAll the world’s a stageAnd all the men and women merely

players:They have their exits and their

entrances;And one man in his time plays many

parts,

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The first and foremost act of every human being is the stage of infancy, where he makes his presence felt by crying at the top of his voice and many a times vomiting any food or drink that is repulsive, at the nursing arms of his mother. This period normally last till four years of age.

SECOND STAGEHis acts being seven ages.At first the

infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's

arms.Then the whining schoolboy,with his

satchelAnd shining morning face,creeping

like snail

The second stage is the ‘whining’ schoolboy where he learns to utter a plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sound, as in pain, fear, supplication, or complaint. His shiny morning face and his satchel; a small bag, sometimes with a shoulder strap; he creeps like a snail and not willing to go to school.

THIRD AGEUnwillingly to school. And then the

lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful

balladMade to his mistress‘ eyebrow.Then a

soldier.Full of strange oaths,and bearded like

the pard,

The third stage is his early youth, the peak of love and high romance. He sighs like a burning furnace and sings the sad ballads of romance; full of woe; affected with, characterized by, or indicating woe: woeful melodies; to impress his lover’s heart. The impression of her reply can be seen in her eyebrows.

FOURTH STAGE

Jealous in honour, 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,

The fourth stage is that of a soldier where life if full of obligations, commitments, compliances, oaths and vows.  His beard is like a leopard or panther. He endlessly fights for his honor, a full presence of mind which is sudden and quick in quarrel and a heart to maintain a dignified reputation.

FIFTH STAGE

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,

The fifth stage is the adult-hood where a man tries to live a fair and justified life. His belly becomes bigger than normal. He is conscious about his diet and consumes a good intake of ‘capon’; a cockerel castrated to improve the flesh for use as food.

SIXTH STAGE

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

The sixth stage is the middle-age. Here is where he prepares himself for the next level in life i.e. old age. He learns to relax from the hustles of life. His strength begins to weaken and spends more time within the roof of his house. He looks like a buffoon and an old fool in his rugged old slippers. He hangs his spectacles on his nose for reading and all his youthful hose; a flexible tube for conveying a liquid, as water, to a desired point; saved for the world too wide. His shank begins to shrink with time; the part of the lower limb in humans between the knee and the ankle; leg. Even his voice begins to descend to a lower tone. In his free time, he smokes his pipe and whistles his matured melodies.

SEVENTH STAGEAnd 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

The last stage is the old-age where he enters his second childhood. It is also the beginning of the end of his eventful history. It is also the stage of oblivion; the state of being completely forgotten or unknown; the state of forgetting or of being oblivious; official disregard or overlooking of offenses; He is without everything; without teeth, eyes and taste.

Extreme old age: He loses his status and he becomes a non-entity. He becomes dependent on others.