The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

Question

Read the following stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow each :

The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper’d 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 towards 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. 

(i) What happens with a man of age in the sixth stage?

(ii) How does a man look like in the sixth stage? 

(iii) How does the voice of the old man change? 

(iv) Why is the last stage called the second childhood?

Answer 1

(i) In the sixth stage, man loses all his charms of his youth. He becomes lean and thin. His eyesight grows weak and he cannot see properly. He loses all his strength of youth. His manly voice also changes. His hands and fingers tremble while doing some work. His legs cannot endure the burden of the body. In this way he becomes invalid in every way. 

(ii) In the sixth stage, the man of age becomes a lean comic figure because he wears slippers, spectacles and a pouch (bag). 

(iii) His once such loud manly voice now shrink into the shrill voice of a child, having mumbling and squeaking sounds.

(iv) The last stage is also called second childhood because all the memory of the past is lost and all the senses decay and the man then becomes almost nothing-without teeth, without eyes and without taste.