from As You Like It, The Seven Ages of Man
by William Shakespeare
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 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 honor, 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. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Sonnet 30
William Shakespeare

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes' new wail my dear times waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

1.	ANALYZE STRUCTURE How do you expect this speech to be structured?
2.	ANALYZE TONE How does the speaker feel about these stages in the life of man? How can you tell?
3.	ANALYZE TONE What tone does the speaker use in describing the lover? Does he take the lover's concerns seriously? Explain your answer.
4.	IMAGERY What does the image of a "bubble reputation" imply about the soldier's goal?
5.	STRUCTURE Notice that the speaker begins the description of each age in the middle of a line. What effect does this have?
6.	PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Which "age of man" are you in right now? Does Shakespeare's description of the age seem correct to you?
7.	THEME What does the speaker seem to be saying about life?
8.	PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Do you ever spend time dwelling on past injuries and sad times? How do you cheer yourself up?
9.	IMAGERY What does the speaker mean by "drown an eye"?
10.	ANALYZE SENSORY DETAILS What sense does this stanza appeal to? To what does the speaker compare death?
11.	THEME What does this poem imply about love or friendship?