The poem describes the seven stages of a man's life:
1) Infancy, crying and vomiting as a baby.
2) Childhood, reluctantly going to school as a whining schoolboy.
3) Early adulthood, being a lover sighing for his mistress.
4) Maturity, as a soldier seeking honor in battle.
5) Middle age, as a wise judge with a round belly.
6) Old age, as a weak old man with shrunken legs.
7) Final years, losing senses and returning to a second childishness.