Q. 3. (B) Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format.
All the World’s a Stage
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 schoolboy, 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,
Sicking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. 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. 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 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.
– William Shakespeare
- The title and the poet of the poem
- Rhyme scheme
- Figures of speech
- Central idea/theme
Answer :
Appreciation of Poem
All the World’s a Stage
The poem ‘All the World’s a Stage’ is by William Shakespeare. It is taken from Shakespeare’s play ‘As you like it’. It is a monologue by one of the characters in the play.
The poem is written in blank verse i.e. there is no rhyme scheme, but there is a steady rhythm of five beats in each line. There are many figures of speech, like Simile, Alliteration and Repetition, but the one that stands out is Metaphor. In the lines ‘All the world’s a stage, And all men and women are merely players’, there is an implied comparison between two different things.
In this poem, Shakespeare compares life to a stage. He has divided life into seven stages, each having its own varied qualities and features. The theme of the poem is the cycle of life. It tells us how one starts out as an infant, helpless, without understanding, and ends the same way, without being aware of what is happening around him/her.
