CBSE Class 9 English Poetry The Seven Ages

1. What according to you are the stages of a person's life? What characteristics would you associate with each stage? (e.g., childhood: innocence, joy)

2. Listen to this extract from Shakespeare's play As You Like It. As you listen, read the poem aloud; you can do this more than once. 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,

5 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,

10 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, Seeking the bubble reputation.

15 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

20 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

25 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.

3. On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice

(a) All the world's a stage is an extended metaphor for________.
(i) the life shown in well known plays.
(ii) seeing the well known plays.
(iii) life of well known actors.
(iv) life of man that comes to an end.

(b) All 'have their exits and their entrances'. Exits and entrances refer to __________.
(i) birth and death
(ii) beginning and end of play
(iii) coming and going of actors
(iv) the end of the Shakespearean era

(c) The seven roles that a man plays correspond to his __
(i) chronological age in life
(ii) desires
(iii) mental age in life
(iv) idea of a perfect life

Please refer to the link below - CBSE Class 9 English Poetry The Seven Ages