This poem is an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s celebrated comedy, As You Like It. It narrates the life cycle of a man by comparing it to a play. The different stages of a man’s life from infancy to death become the different acts that make up this play.

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The seven ages of man
by William Shakespeare

2. About the Poem
 This poem is an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s celebrated
comedy, As You Like It. It narrates the life cycle of a man by
comparing it to a play. The different stages of a man’s life from
infancy to death become the different acts that make up this play. The
poem is 28 lines long. It does not have a rhyme scheme, but it is
written in iambic pentameter. This means that every line has a rhythm
of five beats.
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3. Introduction
 In this poem the poet discusses a man’s life and the various parts of
it which according to him are ‘Seven Ages’. He compares life to a
play. Just like in a play all the actors appear on the stage and perform
their specified roles, similarly, he says that man also comes into this
world upon his birth, performs his roles which are seven different
roles and after that leaves the world upon his death.
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4. Summary
 The scenes in a play are compared to seven ages in a man’s life. A man performs
seven different roles on the worldly stage. His birth marks his entry on the stage.
 The first stage is that of a newborn infant who is crying and vomiting in his mother’s
arms.
 The second stage is that of a school-going boy who is bright but sad as he is forced to
go to school.
 The third stage is that of a young boy, a teenager who is infatuated towards a girl. He
sings sad romantic songs in her praise.
 The fourth age is that of a soldier who is angry and brave. He is ready to die but wants
to immortalise himself.
 The fifth stage is of a wise man who is a judge. He is full of wisdom and advice.
 The, sixth stage is that of an old man who is mocked at by youngsters. His pants have
loosened for him and his voice is gradually becoming childish.
 The last, seventh stage is an infirm, extremely old man. He is like a baby, this is his
second forgetfulness, and loses his teeth and vision.
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5. Poetic Devices
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1. Free verse – the poem does not follow any rhyme.
2. Alliteration – “shrunk shank”
3. Repetition- “They have their exits and their entrances” and “Sans teeth,
sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
4. Metaphor – “All the world’s a stage”, “And all the men and women
merely players: ” and “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
5. Simile – “creeping like snail”
6. Hyperbole – “Even in the cannon’s mouth”
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6. Explanation
 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; And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning
face, creeping like snail
 The whole world is a stage, and all men and women are merely players. The
poet says that the world is a stage on which the play of life is to be acted out.
All men and women are simply actors in this play. All people have their exits
and their entrances. Here, exits and entrances refer to deaths and births. One
man in his life plays many parts or roles.
 The different acts of the play are the seven ages or periods of man’s life. First,
the man is the infant who cries and vomits in the nurse’s arms. The next part is
that of the petulant schoolboy, with his shoulder bag and shining morning face,
walking slowly like a snail, unwilling to go to school.
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7. Explanation
 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
 Then comes the lover, sighing constantly like the sounds of a furnace, and
dedicating sad ballads to his mistress’s eyebrow. The lover is a youth full of fanciful
desires. The next role is that of a soldier full of strange oaths who has a beard like a
leopard. The soldier is eager to maintain his honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
and seeks short lived glory even in the face of death. So, man seeks glory and
honour in this stage of life.
 Although an adult, he is still full of the energy and temper of youth. Then the man
becomes the justice. The respected judge has a fair round belly from eating good
chicken, severe eyes and a beard of formal cut. He is full of wise sayings and modern
instances and he too plays his part. The justice marks the man becoming mature with
knowledge of the world around him.
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8. Explanation
 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.
 In the sixth age, man shifts into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon, or a thin old man.
He has spectacles on his nose and a pouch on his side. The pants from his youth are
way too wide for his legs that have grown thin with age. His big manly voice is turning
back into the high-pitched voice of a child, he sounds like pipes and whistles.
 The last scene of all that ends this strange eventful history of the life of man
is second childishness and simple oblivion. The poet implies that just before man dies
and returns to oblivion or nothingness, he becomes a child again because he has no
teeth, no eyes and no taste. He loses everything to become a child again and then face
his death.
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9. Conclusion
 This poem gives us a brief summary of the cycle that every man’s life must
follow. According to the poet, the seven parts that a man plays in his life
are- infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old man, and finally a child
again at the time of death.
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