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Thou hast nor youth nor age, but, as it were, an after-diner’s sleep, dreaming on both.
— William Shakespeare · Measure for Measure
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker describes a state that belongs fully to neither youth nor age. An after-dinner sleep becomes the comparison, with both stages appearing only in dreams. The image makes the experience sound drowsy and suspended, caught between two conditions without securely inhabiting either.
Context reviewed