Question

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 breaded 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 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. The last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and more oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. - William Shakespeare

Points:

1. The title and the poet of the poem   (01)
2. Rhyme scheme   (01)
3. Figures of speech   (01)
4. Central Idea/Theme   (02)

Answer 1

Appreciation of the poem ‘All the World’s a Stage’

‘All the World’s a Stage’ has been written by the famous English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. It is taken from his play ‘As you like it. The poem is written in Blank verse with no rhyme scheme, but there is a steady rhythm in each line. The poem is beautified using various figures of speech. The most prominent one is Metaphor followed by Alliteration, Consonance, Hyperbole, Inversion, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia, Repetition, Simile, and Transferred Epithet. The title of the poem ‘All the World’s o stage’ is a Metaphor as there is an indirect comparison between the ‘world’ and a ‘stage’ The line “Then the whining school boy. With his satchel” stands out as Onomatopoeia as the word ‘whining’ denotes a sound. The central idea of the poem tells us that life is arranged in a particular order, where each individual lives his life in different phases. It highlights the theme of the perpetual changes in life. In this poem, the poet has compared the world to a stage and the seven stages of life to seven acts of the play. Men and women are like actors that play various roles throughout their lives.