Cafe-H

The Seven ages of Man

(а) Which stage of life has been described here by Shakespeare ?
(b) What are the features of this stage ?
(c) Explain the last line.
Answers :
(a) Here Shakespeare describes the fifth stage of life, that is, of a justice.
(b) In this stage man enjoys prosperity, self-satisfaction and wisdom. He is fashionable. He has stem looks.
(c) At this stage man is full of wise sayings and examples from contemporary life. He impresses others with his knowledge and wisdom.

Question.2. 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.
(а) What is the world compared to ?
(b) Exits and entrances mean ………….
(c) What do you mean by ‘acts’ in the last line.
Answers:
(a) The world is compared to the stage of a theatre.
(b) deaths and births.
(c) ‘Acts’ in the last line mean roles which a person enact in his life-time.

(а) Which stage of life is being referred to here ?
(b) What are the characteristics of this stage ?
(c) Give the meaning of ‘mewing’.
Answers:
(a) The stage of life described here is infancy.
(b) At this stage an infant in helpless and dependent.
(c) ‘crying’

(а) What is the school going by described as ?
(b) How does the school boy walk to school ?
(c) Which simile has been used here ?
Answers :
(а) The school-boy is described as unwilling to go to school.
(b) The school boy walks very slowly like a snail while going to school.
(c) ‘creeping like snail’.

(a) Is the lover described happy ?
(b) How does he behave ?
(c) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines here ?
Answers :
(a) No. He is not happy. He is sorrowful.
(b) He sighs and writes sad verses in praise of his beloved’s beauty.
(c) It is a simile. It also acts as an image.

(а) What is the soldier ready to do ?
(b) What is the poetic device used in the second line ?
(c) What does ‘bubble reputation’ mean ?
Answers :
(a) The solider is ready to die for name and fame.
(b) It is a simile.
(c) It means that reputation is as short-lived as the life of a bubble.

(а) What does the phrase ‘shrunk shank’ in this stanza mean ?
(б) How is the voice of a man at this stage ?
(c) What stage of a man’s life is referred to in these lines ?
Answers :
(а) It means that his legs become weak and thin.
(b) The voice of a man at this stage becomes shrill like that of a child, (c) It is the sixth stage of man’s life.

(a) What is man’s condition in the last stage of life ?
(b) What do you mean by ‘sans’ ?
(c) What does ‘second childishness’ mean ?
Answers :
(a) Man is very old and dependent in the last stage of life.
(b) It means ‘without’.
(c) It means that man is helpless like a child.

1. What is the significance of the words ‘entrances’ and ‘exits’ in the poem ‘The Seven Ages’ ? (CBSE 2014)
Answer. Human life has been compared by the poet to a stage of theatre where actors , appear, enact their roles and quit. ‘Entrances’ here signify human births and ‘exits’ deaths. Human beings take birth, play their parts and die.

Question.3. Why does a man in his life play many parts ?
Answer. A man, is fated to play many roles in his life. As he grows, his role changes and his character also changes accordingly. He takes birth only to play different roles-the roles of an infant, a school boy, a lover, a soldier, a judge, an old and senile person.

Simile: 'creeping like a snail”; “soldier… bearded like the pard”-----“Sighing like furnace“; etc

Metaphor: “all the world's a stage” is a metaphor that compares life to a play.

“And all the men and women merely players;” is a metaphor that compares men and women to the players.

Question.6. What characteristics would you associate with the stage of a soldier ?

Answer. Energy, enthusiasm, rashness and patriotism are some of the characteristics of a soldier. A soldier can sacrifice even his life for short-lived reputation.

Compare and contrast...
[Topic 1 and Topic 2] are quiet adequacy and distinctive. Both have some different advantages and disadvantages. The different between [Topic 1 and Topic 2] is strikingly remarkable.
However, both merits and demerits exist in [Topic 1 and Topic 2]. Both contribute on our advancement [Topic 1] is a natural and realistic in characteristics. We can get some opportunity from it. On the other hand [Topic 2] is not realistic but free from all complexity. We can also feel the fascination in it. Most of the advanced opportunities are confined to [Topic 1 ]. But we cannot abdicate the facilities of [Topic 2].
Although there are many differences between [Topic 1 and Topic 2] they have number of resemblance as well. Both are practical, idealistic, pragmatic helpful to us. [Topic 1 and Topic 2] are not detrimental to our environment.
It is crystal clear that the developments of a country rely on equal coherence of [Topic 1 and Topic 2]. These are the key similarities and dissimilarities between [Topic 1 and Topic 2].
In short, we can avoid none because one depends on others. [Topic 1] is much happier and more comfortable than that of [Topic 2]......

POEM
When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.

I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.

But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

1. What is the meaning of defeat in this poem?
2. What does the poem highlight?
3. What does the speaker acknowledge?
4. Do you think measuring loss and gain is wise?
5. When do we find no space of boast?