On This Day in History
On June 29, 1613, Shakespeare's Globe Theater burned down during a performance of Henry the Eighth.It was rebuilt a year later, and it stood and thrived until thePuritans closed it (and all other theaters in England—crazy!) in 1642.A replica was built on the site of the original and if you go toEngland during the summer months, you really should go see a playthere.
What is there to post as we consider the history of that remarkabletheater? Well there is only one thing that fits the bill. Although notabout the theater, this celebrated extract from As You Like It playswith the metaphor of man as actor and makes shrewd observances aboutaging. Enjoy! And pray to whatever God you call yours thatShakespeare's Globe Theater stands on as a tribute to the Bard forever.
All the World's a Stage
By William Shakespeare
Extracted from As You Like It, first published in First Folio, 1623.
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.
What is there to post as we consider the history of that remarkabletheater? Well there is only one thing that fits the bill. Although notabout the theater, this celebrated extract from As You Like It playswith the metaphor of man as actor and makes shrewd observances aboutaging. Enjoy! And pray to whatever God you call yours thatShakespeare's Globe Theater stands on as a tribute to the Bard forever.
All the World's a Stage
By William Shakespeare
Extracted from As You Like It, first published in First Folio, 1623.
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.
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