Sir Patrick Stewart has one of those voices where, even if he read the phone book (which is what people used to use before cell phones), it would be captivating. Factor in his nostalgia-friendly pop culture characters, wonderful cadence, and classical training, and it's no surprise to find his acting and his mere presence so reassuring. So in these trying times, Stewart's return to his roots with Shakespeare has come as a welcome balm indeed.

Stewart, who began his long career with award-winning performances through the Royal Shakespeare Company before heading for the final frontier and the adapted pages of Marvel Comics, has recently put his experience to good use by entertaining the masses over social media with some Shakespearean classics. Hopefully there are many more to come!

Over the weekend, Stewart took to social media to share in his reading of one of Shakespeare's many sonnets:

He was so pleased by the response that he has decided to do some more of them. Here's what he had to say:

I was delighted by the response to my posting of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.

 

It has led me to undertake what follows. 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.

If you, like me, need a little background on Shakespeare's Sonnets, here's a solid reference for today's reading. Take a look and listen below: