All the World is a Stage

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world's a stage]
William Shakespeare 1564 –1616
Jaques to Duke Senior

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All the World’s a Stage”

All the world’s a stage,
And we are only players on this page.
With our exits and our entrances,
We dance through time’s strange sentences.

First comes the infant’s cry,
Mewling softly in a cradle by,
Then the schoolboy slow and shy,
Dragging books with morning light in eye.

We rise, we fall,
We fight, we love through it all.

Seven ages spinning round,
In the turning wheel we’re bound.
Parts we play, from birth to grave,
Stories written in the waves.

Then the lover sighs so deep,
Songs of heartbreak in his sleep.
Then the soldier fierce and bold,
Chasing glory, chasing gold.

Justice follows, round and fair,
Severe eyes and thoughtful stare,
Full of wisdom, heavy heart,
He still must play his part.

See the pantaloon so thin,
Spectacles and trembling chin,
Hollow voice that once was strong,
Now a child’s forgotten song.

Seven ages spinning round,
In the turning wheel we’re bound.
Parts we play, from birth to grave,
Stories written in the waves.

Last of all, the curtain falls,
Into second childhood’s halls.
No eyes, no taste, no voice to sing,
Sans everything, sans everything.

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My musical interpretation of this monologue can be heard at the link:
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/gi8HEaHrhimJUA