All the World’s a Stage

Poem

All the World’s a Stage

First, listen to a reading of the complete poem. Then, read silently and get to know what Shakespeare says about the different stages in the life of man. You may refer to the glossary given at the end of the monologue to help you.

“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 school-boy, 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 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 lin'd,

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 slipper'd pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well sav'd, 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.”

About The Author

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a prolific writer during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages of British theatre (sometimes called the English Renaissance) . Shakespeare’s plays are perhaps his most enduring legacy, but they are not the only things he wrote. Shakespeare’s poems remain popular to this day. Shakespeare’s rich and diverse works have spawned countless adaptations across multiple genres and cultures. His writings have been compiled in various iterations of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, which include all his plays, sonnets, and other poems. William Shakespeare continues to be one of the most important literary figures of the English language.

The phrase “All the world’s a stage” is the beginning of a monologue from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, spoken by Jaques in Act II Scene VII (Line 138). He compares the world to a stage and life to a play and catalogues the seven stages of a man’s life. This is one of Shakespeare’s most frequently quoted passages.