critical appreciation of the poem sonnet 116 _Shakespeare

Shakespeare has written 154 sonnets and they all deal with the theme of love, time, beauty, friendship and mortality. Sonnet 116 is one of the most widely-read poems among them. The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man with whom the speaker of the poem is emotionally bound. The rest of the sonnets are addressed to ‘the dark lady’. Love is the most prominent theme of sonnet 116. The poet glorifies the meaning of true love which can surpass all the obstacles and thus remains unchanged even with the passage of time. The poet begins this sonnet with a reference to the Christian marriage service and its accompanying ceremonies. He talks of the union of true minds. 

The poet makes a distinction between true love and unfaithful love. According to him, love is not love which alters under changed circumstances. True love never changes even when one of the lovers becomes unfaithful to the other. In the next quatrain Shakespeare makes use of two metaphors to bring out the permanence of true love. First, the poet says that love is an ever-fixed mark, a light house that looks on tempests but is never shaken. Next he says that love is the pole star which guides every wandering ship in the ocean. Its value is unknown though its height be calculated. In the third quatrain, the poet brings out the ravages of time. Time is personified as a reaper carrying a sickle with which he cuts man’s life, looks and possessions. 

Time can destroy the rosy lips and cheeks but true love does not depend on physical beauty. True love will remain unchanged even with the passage of time. It will remain the same till the end of the world. It is constant and permanent and nothing can change it. The last two lines reaffirm the poet’s statement that true love is constant and permanent. If this statement is proved wrong by any one, then the poet says that he had never written any poems and no man ever experienced true love.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE -

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is generally regarded as the greatest writer ever in the English Language. He was born in Stratford– upon- Avon in England. His father, John Shakespeare was a prosperous farmer and wool and timber merchant. His mother Mary Arden, was the daughter of a prosperous farmer, descended from an old Warwickshire family of mixed Anglo-Saxon and Norman blood. It is said that Shakespeare probably attended the endowed grammar school at Stratford, where he picked up the “Small Latin and less Greek” to which his learned friend Ben Jonson refers. When he was about fourteen years old, his father’s fortunes declined. In 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a peasant family of Shottery, who was eight years his senior. Around the year 1587 Shakespeare left his family and went to London. There he began a successful career as an actor, writer and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later on 23 rd April, 1616 and was buried in the Stratford Church. Shakespeare’s dramatic career extends over a period of nearly twenty two years, from 1590 to 1612. 

During this period, the dramatist worked hard producing, about two plays a year, besides two poems- “Rape of Lucrece” and “Venus and Adonis”- and a sequence of 154 sonnets. A study of his plays in chronological order reveals a gradual development of his mind and art. To emphasize this gradual growth of his art, Prof. Dowden has divided his dramatic career into four parts, each showing a definite advance over the previous one. The first stage is apprenticeship which was a period of early experimentation for the poet. It is marked by excessive use of rhymes, pun, conceits and other forms of word jugglery. Typical works of this period are his early poems, Loves’ Labour’s Lost , Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Richard III. 

The second stage is a period of rapid growth and development. Some of the works of this period are Midsummer Nights Dream, Merchant of Venice, Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As you Like It and Henry V. The third stage is a period of gloom and depression which marks the full maturity of his powers. The Sonnets with their note of personal disappointment and the four great tragedies Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello belong to this period. The fourth stage marks the last years of the poet’s literary work. The plays written during this period are Coriolanus, Pericles, Cymbeline, Winter’s Tale, The Tempest and Henry VIII

James Milner - English professional footballer -

James Philip Milner (born 4 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester City and the England national team. He previously played for Leeds United, Swindon Town, Newcastle United and Aston Villa. He is mainly a winger but in the 2009–10 season he was utilised in a more central position by Aston Villa.

Milner's talent in football, cricket, and long-distance running was recognised at a very young age. He represented his school in these sports and played football for amateur teams from Rawdon and Horsforth. He supported Leeds United from a young age and was a season ticket holder at the club. In 1996, he joined the Leeds United youth academy. He made his debut for the first team in 2002, aged only 16, and gained prominence as the youngest player to score in the Premier League.

While at Leeds United, he spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain experience as a first-team player. Following his move to Newcastle United, he was loaned to Aston Villa for a season. He went on to establish himself as a regular starter in the Newcastle, and later Aston Villa and Manchester City first teams. He made more than 100 appearances for Newcastle, as well as making a record number of appearances for the England under-21 team. He made his debut for the full team against the Netherlands in August 2009 and also played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

Born in Leeds, Milner played most of his childhood football for Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth. He was later educated at Horsforth School. Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon, recognised Milner's talent and persuaded him to play for Rawdon in several tournaments, including a tournament at Rawdon Meadows, where Milner scored four goals in their victory in the final.

Milner was described as a "first class" student at his school; he left with 11 GCSE sand an award for his performance in physical education. Milner also showed talent in cricket, sprinting and long-distance running. He played for the Yorkshire Schools cricket team, was the cross-country champion at his school for three consecutive years and was the district champion over 100 metres for two years in a row.He then completed his studies at Boston Spa School; at which the sports college was a partner to the football club.

Milner took as much interest in watching football as he did playing it. He supported his hometown club Leeds United from a young age. His earliest memory of the team was watching them win the FA Youth Cup in 1993. He and his parents, Peter and Lesley, were season ticket holders and Milner later became a ball boy for the club.

When Milner was 10 years old, he joined the Leeds United Academy after being spotted by a scout while playing for Westbrook Juniors in Horsforth. At the academy, Milner played against contemporaries from other clubs in the north, including future Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. His role model was Leeds-born Alan Smith, who was then a Leeds United striker. Milner believed playing with Smith put him through a learning curve, as Smith had done what Milner aspired to do; that is, to come through the academy and play for the first team. Having made good progress at the Academy, Milner was taken on as a trainee after leaving school. However, his father insisted that he attend college once a week to continue his education. Milner remarked later that he did not want to get excited and think that he "had already made it". He also said he could hardly believe he was playing alongside first-team Leeds players such as David Batty and Olivier Dacourt. He continued to excel in the youth team, and played for England at under-15 and −17 levels. He helped the England under-17 team win the 2002 Nationwide summer tournament against Italy, Czech Republic and Brazil, scoring a goal against the latter. Milner claims to have never consumed alcohol throughout his life, despite pressures from those around him when he was growing up.

Brad Haddin -Domestic and Club Career- life history

Bradley James Haddin (born 23 October 1977 in Cowra, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in all three forms of international cricket (Test, One-Day International and Twenty 20 International). He also plays for the New South Wales Blues in both domestic first class and list A cricket. Haddin is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. He retired from One Day International Cricket on 17 May 2015, following Australia's win at the 2015 Cricket World Cup.He also became the ambassador for his home ground, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) along with Steven Smith.

Haddin's family moved to Queanbeyan in 1989 when he was 12 and he played for the Queanbeyan District Cricket Club Juniors to the age of 15 before joining the Australian National University (ANU) Grade Cricket Club, representing 1st grade at age 16. Haddin was selected in the first ever Mercantile Mutual Cup season of 1997–98 for the ACT Comets, with whom he began his professional cricketing career. In the 1999–2000 season, he began playing for the New South Wales Blues to pursue further cricketing opportunities. Since then, he has produced several memorable batting innings, including a top score of 133 against Victoria. Haddin was signed by Chennai Super Kings in the 2010 IPL. In the 2011 Indian Premier League season, Haddin was contracted by Kolkata Knight Riders for US$325,000.

On 26 September 2012, Haddin scored a century in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania at the Bankstown Oval, his first since his century in the first Ashes test against England in November 2010During England's Ashes tour of Australia, Haddin became only the second wicket-keeper to hit five half-centuries in a Test series. His total of 493 runs broke the record for most runs in a series by an Australian wicket-keeper. Haddin also scored 118 during the first innings of the Adelaide test, combining in a 200 run partnership with Michael Clarke.

On 15 December 2014, with Cricket Australia pursuing "a longer-term view" in regards to the leadership of the Test Team, a 37-year-old Haddin was replaced permanently as vice-captain by Steve Smith