This weeks header challenge has been set by Gailsman this week and is ‘All the World's a Stage’.
Now being an English Literature student my first thought with that title is verse from William Shakespeare of that name. The verse is in As You Like It, a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600.
It would have been produced at the Globe theatre in London.
All the World's a Stage
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.
William Shakespeare
The stage is open to the elements and could only be used during daylight hours due to there being no electricity lighting.
The audience would be either down below the stage or stood or sat in the tiers of balconies.
So there you have it All the Worlds a stage the William Shakespeare way.
Check out the other members of the headbangers team entries by following the links in the right hand column.
For those of you waiting for part two of Day 6 of our France holiday I will aim to post it tomorrow.
7 comments:
Hi Dave, ah, this was my 1st thought too, but then I thought I would promote my youngest son Rob and the group he plays with in Nottingham, The Red Shoe Diaries, who have just come back from Paris playing gigs there.
I love the way you portray this theme too. Good luck with the voting.
I wonder who would go up the Shakespeare route. My bet was either Imac or yourself. Seems I was right. Never been to the Globe, but looks a good place for taking photos.
Hi Dave, thanks, we go tomorrow morning so I might have missed the vote, anyway gives you chaps a fighting chance lol.
WOW! Your header is amazing..
Dave: Truly enjoyed the history lesson and the neat header. I know where my vote is going golden.
Great header for the theme! And who better to set the stage than the Bard himself.
Hi Dave, Love the header. I thought at first it was the Elizabethan Theatre in Ashland, Oregon. I go there for the Shakespeare Festival as often as possible. Which has only been 4 times so far.
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