If all your world's a stage, my dear,

Contrived words in scripted scenes

Voice and thought directed, my dear

Exit stage left, and follow your dreams

 

The lady doth protest, my dear

Maybe an unworthy cause

There before you, your future, my dear

Dominate your life, without pause

 

If music be your food, my dear

Allow lover's tunes to play

Object to pizzicato, my dear

Grasp the bow and sashay away

 

A Rose by any name, my dear

A joy, softly sweet perfumed

Beware those dagger'd thorns, my dear

You’ll be unbled, your life consumed

 

What glisters is not gold, my dear

False-loving smiles are uninvited

Behind closed doors, the truth, my dear,

Harsh words spoke, your essence blighted

 

A man can die but once, my dear

A woman shrinks at every jibe

Hitch up your skirt and flee, my dear

Away on the fast-ebbing tide

 

There are many more things, my dear

in heaven and earth, to witness.

Uniquely you, yourself, my dear

Find love, not its antithesis