Thursday, July 16, 2009

Thursday Theme=Stage

Opera d' Avignon-Pays de Vaculuse


Closeup of the upper arch of Opera d' Avignon-Pays de Vaculuse


All the World's a Stage
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.
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.

19 comments:

Alan Burnett said...

Good choice. And I speak as With "spectacles on nose and pouch on side"

New Yorker wannabes said...

Great TT post! Thank you for sharing William lol

xoxo

Brian Miller said...

great choice. love those words. happy tt!

Liza B. Gonzalez said...

fabulous pick! the big "S" knew human nature like no other.

Tess Kincaid said...

Shakespeare is the ultimate expert on stage!

Baino said...

Now I'm cranky you're the second TT I've visited with a Parisienne reference and I've never been there. Love the Baird!

Anonymous said...

D.B., haven't read that in a while. Still one of my faves (and now, so is that theatre! )

Betsy Brock said...

Very nice...love the shakespeare!

dreamhaven said...

Ahhh, never knew the full piece.
Thanks for sharing

Roy said...

Heh, heh! I wondered if somebody would use that quote. Good work!

Wings1295 said...

Great choice! We all had that in the back of our minds, didn't we? :)

Cracked Like An Egg said...

nice post

Gabby said...

I've always heard this quote but didn't know there was much more to it. Perhaps it's because I never cared to read Shakespeare.

Great photos btw! Happy TT!

Debo Hobo said...

Awesome,,, Mumzy are those your original photos?

Dakota Bear said...

Yes, Debo those are my photos. Those were taken while I was on the river cruise of the Rhone River last Spring. All photos I post on my blog are my own unless I designate otherwise.

Kate Hanley said...

Great photo and it's so wonderful to read that speech. it's amazing when you think about it, all the references to the stage that Shakespeare's uses thoughout his plays.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Microcosm / Macrocosm -Jayne

The Silver Fox said...

Kate's right, Shakespeare expressed similar ideas in other plays. This passage is probably the best known, and rightfully so.

Megan said...

There's so much Shakespeare still around in common use, and most people don't even realize it.

Thanks, DB!