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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;
And then the whining school-boy, 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 honour, 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 lin’d,
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 slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav’d, 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, from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques
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I’m still infatuated with this script, even though both the Girl and Mama find it illegible. This one was graphed over 4 sheets and stitched together in GIMP. Unlike the Lord’s Prayer from the week before, I had switched inks before start this piece, so there is a slight natural gradation in the actual piece, which is pushed further in the computer.
A piece this long still prints out small on a letter sized sheet, so I need to look for shorter poems…or go back to my book projects. But things are so busy at work, I’m having a hard time slowing down in the mornings to take a breathe of calligraphy. This office pace, which started in December, is not sustainable, but hopefully the new guy who joined our team this week will take some of the load.
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