Shakespeare’s Jacques traced the seven ages of man
From “muling and puking” infancy to “second childishness
And mere oblivion, sans teeth… sans everything”.
Reconsidered now,450 years later, three ages will do:
The babe who finds the thrill of grasping things
With both its hands, and saying ‘this is mine’;
Next the growing child, discovering Life and the World,
Glad to survive another day, prolonging Youth;
And last the quittance, when age adores lost Youth.
– – – – – –
The seven ages of man alludes to William Shakespeare,
‘As You Like It’, II. vii, the speech that begins
with the famous quote, ‘All the world’s a stage’.
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