Abstract, what does this mean?

Now my co- mates and brothers in exile,


Hath not old custom made this life more sweet


Than that painted pomp? Are not these woods


More free form peril that the envious court?


Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,


The seasons’ difference, as the icy fang


And churlish chiding of the winter wind,


Which when it bites and blows upon my body


Even ‘til I shrink with cold, I smile and say


“This is no flattery; these are counselors


That feelingly persuade mw what I am.”


Sweet are the uses of adversity,


Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,


Wears yet a precious jewel in its head;


And this our life, exempt from public haunt,


Finds tongues in trees, book in running brooks,


Sermons in stones, and good in everything.








Do you know who wrote this ? Or where this comes from ?


Moreover, what is being said besides exile?. Does it also talks about things with deeper meanings ?.


Any contribution will be appreciated.

Abstract, what does this mean?
this comes from "As you like it"


meaning:


These lines, spoken by Duke Senior upon his introduction in Act II, scene i, establish the pastoral mode of the play. With great economy, Shakespeare draws a dividing line between the “painted pomp” of court—with perils great enough to drive the duke and his followers into exile—and the safe and restorative Forest of Ardenne .The woods are romanticized, as they typically are in pastoral literature, and the mood is set for the remainder of the play. Although perils may present themselves, they remain distant, and, in the end, there truly is “good in everything” . This passage, more than any other in the play, presents the conceits of the pastoral mode. Here, the corruptions of life at court are left behind in order to learn the simple and valuable lessons of the country. Shakespeare highlights the educational, edifying, and enlightening nature of this foray into the woods by employing language that invokes the classroom, the library, and the church: in the trees, brooks, and stones surrounding him, the duke finds tongues, books, and sermons. As is his wont, Shakespeare goes on to complicate the literary conventions upon which he depends. His shepherds and shepherdesses, for instance, ultimately prove too lovesick or dim-witted to dole out the kind of wisdom the pastoral form demands of them, but for now Shakespeare merely sets up the opposition between city and country that provides the necessary tension to drive his story forward.