William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. In his famous play "As You Like It", Shakespeare compares the world to a stage and human lives to a drama acted out on that stage. The sonnet describes the seven stages of human life from infancy to old age as seven ages that mirror the acts in a play, with people entering and exiting the world's stage at birth and death.