Question 1.

a lot about the changes that the body and the mind go
In what sense are men and women merely players on the through as a man grows old. He talks about changing
stage of life? priorities, from the child being concerned about lessons and
Answer: then love and finally money and security.
Men and women on earth are merely players in the drama of
life. At birth, they enter the stage and on their death, they
leave it. They play seven roles on the stage depending upon At another level, the poem talks about the inevitability of
their age. Man passes through seven stages according to his change. Man constantly changes and death is inevitable—
age. Each age has certain special characteristics that man Shakespeare mentions “mere oblivion” in the ending lines,
follows. Thus, he plays the part assigned to him. giving some sort of finality to his ideas, showing that you can
live your life, but everyone has to die. Similarly in The Brook,
the poet compares the brook’s journey with man’s journey of
Question 2. life. Like the brook, man is energetic, lively and moves swiftly
What role does the soldier play? when he is young but slows down later on in life just like the
Answer: brook does before it empties into the river.
The soldier comes on to the stage of life at the fourth stage.
He swears all the time. The soldier is touchy * about his
honour and is always ready to defend it. He is short-tempered The Seven Ages Extra Questions and Answers Reference to
and ambitious. He is willing to even risk his life for his Context
reputation.
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that
follow.
Question 3.
What does the poet mean when he says ‘Full of wise saws
and modern instances’. Question 1.
Answer: “And all the men and women merely players:
The poet is describing the judge and he says that the judge is They have their exits and their entrances;
full old enough to start passing his knowledge in the form of And one man in his time plays many parts,
advice, proverbs and stories. He is also still young enough to His acts being seven ages.”
make references to things that are contemporary.
(a) In what way is the world like a stage?
The Seven Ages Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Answer:
Type Life in this world is temporary like the actors” roles on the
stage. Though the world carries on, human beings are born,
Question 1. their lives and die, just as the actors appear on the stage, play
What is the theme of “The Seven Ages of Man” by William their parts and leave the stage.
Shakespeare?
Answer: (b) What does the poet mean by “exits” and “entrances”?
The poem deals with the theme of growing up and growing Answer:
old. The poet talks a lot about the changes that the body and The poet means birth and death.
the mind go through as a man grows old. He talks about
changing priorities, from the child being concerned about
lessons and then love and finally money and security. At Question2.
another level, the poem talks about the inevitability of change. “They have their exits and their entrances;
Man constantly changes and death is inevitable— And one man in his time plays many parts,
Shakespeare mentions I “mere oblivion” in the ending lines, His acts being seven ages.”
giving some sort of finality to his ideas, showing that you can
live your life, but everyone has to die.
(a) To what do the seven roles that a man plays correspond?
Answer:
Question 2. The seven roles that a man plays correspond to the
Bring out the parallels between the life of man and actors on a chronological age in life.
stage?
Answer:
The world is a stage, and that all human beings are actors on (b) Name the poetic device used in the above lines.
that stage. Like actors, we too have our entrances and exits; Answer:
that is, we are born and we die, and like them we play The poetic device used in the above lines is metaphor.
different roles from the day that we are born. The stage thus
stands for life (we say it is a metaphor for life) and the actors
Question 3.
can represent all of us at different stages or ages in our lives.
“At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.”
Compare the parallelism to the journey of life in the poem
“The Brook” with “The Seven Ages of Man”? The poem deals
(a)Which is the first stage in a man’s life?
with the theme of growing up and growing old. The poet talks
Answer:
The first stage is that of the infant. (a) Who is the person being described in the above line?
Answer:
The person being described in the above lines is the soldier.
(b) What is an important characteristic of an infant?
Answer:
The infant is dependent on others for fulfilling even his basic (b) What does the poet mean by bubble reputation?
needs. Answer:
The poet tries to describe the search for reputation to that of a
bubble which exists only for a short time. As such, bubble
(c) What do you mean by mewling? reputation could mean fame for participating in a cause that
Answer: seems to be meaningful but is, in fact, not worthwhile.
It means that the infant is crying.

(c) What traits characterize this stage?

Question 4. Answer:
“Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel “ At this stage, the soldier is always ready to defend his honour.
And shining morning face, creeping like snail He is short-tempered, ambitious and is willing to risk his life
Unwillingly to school.” for his reputation.

(a) In what way does the schoolboy differ from the infant in his Question 7.
behaviour? “And then the justice,
Answer: In fair round belly with good capon lined,
The schoolboy is not dependent on a nurse for fulfilling even With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
his basic needs. Full of wise saws and modem instances;
And so he plays his part.”
(b) Pick words from the extract that show the child’s
unwillingness to go to school? (a) Who does justice refer to and how does the justice look?
Answer: Answer:
Words like “whining”, “creeping”, “unwillingly” expresses the The justice refers to the judge and he looks overweight.
child’s unwillingness to go to school.

(b) What is his attitude towards the people around him?

(c) Which poetic device is employed by the poet in the lines Answer:
“creeping like snail unwillingly to school”. The justice is authoritative and stem.
Answer:
The poetic device employed by the poet in this line is a simile.
(c) What kind of a beard does he have?
Answer:
Question 5. The justice has a well-trimmed beard.
“And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow.” Question 8.
“Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
(a) Name the poetic device used in “Sighing like furnace”? Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Answer: Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
The poetic device being used here is a simile.

(a) What does the actor do after this scene?

(b) How does the lover spend his time? Answer:
Answer: After this scene the actor makes his exit, that is, he dies.
The lover spends his time thinking about his beloved’s looks,
writing poetry for his beloved and expressing his frustration in
love by sighing. (b) Why does the poet call this stage “second childishness”?
Answer:
The poet calls this stage “second childishness” as the man
(c) Which stage is that of the lover? needs to be cared for like a child.
Answer:
The third stage is that of the lover.
(c) Why does the poet call life “strange eventful history”?
Answer:
Question 6. The poet calls life a “strange eventful history” as life is full of
“Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, unseen incidents and occurrences which cannot be
Seeking the bubble reputation predetermined.
Even in the cannon’s mouth.”