You’ve watched Harry himself read to you the first chapter of Harry Potter and sat up with Gollum for 12 hours straight while he regaled you with tales of his precious. Now, it’s Sonnet Time with Jean-Luc Picard! For the past month and a half, Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading one sonnet by Shakespeare per day and uploading the videos to his social media under #ASonnetADay.
The idea began in late March, when the actor read Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 just for fun. After being “delighted by the response,” he decided to turn the readings into a full series.
“When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn’t much) and as she put it in front of me she would say, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away,'” he wrote. “How about, ‘A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away’?”
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) March 21, 2020
2. When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn't much) and as she put it in front of me she would say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." How about, “A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away”? So…here we go: Sonnet 1. pic.twitter.com/kDoMNhdqcI
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) March 22, 2020
Stewart is reading them all in order, and currently he’s up to Sonnet 51 of the 154 first published in 1609—so we’ve got plenty more to look forward to.
Sonnet 51. Hope you’ve had a nice Sunday. #ASonnetADay pic.twitter.com/5z5YRaj7L3
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) May 10, 2020
For more Star Trek: Picard lockdown content, check out director/writer/executive producer Akiva Goldsman’s treatment for an imaginary coronavirus episode. There’s no word yet on when the show might return for its second season, but Whoopi Goldberg has confirmed she’ll be reprising her role as Guinan, while LeVar Burton has very strongly hinted at his return as Geordi LaForge.
Buy the Book
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
