Star Trek: Picard’s Sir Patrick Stewart recites Shakespeare’s sonnets on social media
Sir Patrick Stewart recites Shakespeare’s sonnets on Twitter
MARCH 23, 2020 - Star Trek: Picard’s Sir Patrick Stewart is doing his part to entertain fans who are stuck at home due to concerns over coronavirus...by reading a bit of Shakespeare.
On Saturday, Stewart posted a video of himself on Twitter, reciting Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, which begins, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments. Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove.”
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) March 21, 2020
Then on Sunday, he followed up: “I was delighted by the response to yesterday's posting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, and it has led me to undertake what follows…” He then started a thread, with another video.
That video was of Stewart reciting Sonnet 1. He captioned it, “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.”
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
Please note that Sir Patrick Stewart, while titled, and a widely-respected and successful actor, is not a doctor. The World Health Organization sadly does not include listening to sonnets on their list of best practices for slowing the spread of coronavirus. However, it is perfectly safe to listen while doing any or all of the following: using good respiratory hygiene, like sneezing or coughing into your elbow; practicing social distancing; frequent handwashing; and avoiding touching your nose or mouth. And stay home if at all possible.
You can listen to Stewart’s recitations for yourself by following him on Twitter. Any bets on whether he’ll make it the full 154 days?
