——:o:——
There are many other parodies of this speech. One was contained in a burlesque operatic tragedy performed at the Lyceum Theatre in July, 1812, entitled “Highgate Tunnel, or the Secret Arch,” of which the argument was that “All the world’s a stable.” Unfortunately this play is not to be found in the Library of the British Museum, consequently the parody cannot be reproduced, but the following, on the subject of Carriages, is of a somewhat kindred nature. It is taken from The Sporting Times of April 18, 1885, but is here given without the illustrations which embellished it, when it first appeared, in that sportive, and very facetious journal:
The Seven Carriages of Man.
“All the world’s a stage, &c., &c.,
And one man in his time tries many traps.”
First, the baby in his carriage. Observe the animal’s expression, he is mewling and puking.
Next comes the schoolboy on his tricycle. Special attention has been bestowed on his “shining morning face.”
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
On tricycle to school.