Dame Judi Dench stuns everyone with her Shakespeare sonnet reading | The Graham Norton Show - BBC

Legendary actor Dame Judi Dench left everyone stunned on The Graham Norton Show with her incredible reading of Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 29’ from memory.

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Together on Graham’s sofa this week: Dame Judi Dench, discussing her book 'Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent', the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, promoting his road map for life, 'Be Useful: Seven Tools For Life', top comedian and actor Jack Whitehall, and The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades, talking about his memoir 'Life Lessons'.

With music from the legendary Duran Duran, performing their new single, 'Black Moonlight'.

[chong]

It is one thing to read Shakespeare's works. It is quite another to hear an actor, the likes of Judy Dench, deliver them as naturally as if the words were her own. ♥

[reno]

Arnold “That was more dialog than I had in all my movies together!”

[toddtrimble]

I love how she gathers and composes herself before the recitation. She, and the audience, come to a focus, and there is such presence in the delivery.

[PikkaBite]

I love the absolute silence while she recites Shakespeare. Only on Graham Norton Show.

[weatherwitchandfelinefamiliars]

The entire audience was spellbound, you could have heard a pin drop, what a stunning rendition 💖

[qtshel]

Seriously- Dame Judi is just one of those people that defines class. She is so well carried and spoken, but also funny and a beautiful both in and out. I never get tired of her interviews with Graham.

[georgina]

In a matter of seconds, no exaggeration, she has us, carries us, with the sonnet thrilling.

[susanherbert]

I love how they were all silly and having fun then as she began to recite the sonnet the mood instantly changed into reverence for her as well as for Shakespeare’s words… beautiful

[YaleStewartArt]

I'm 35 years old, and am willing to admit I've never really *got* Shakespeare. Certainly I appreciate the stories and whatnot, but have never really been moved by it. My dad passed away earlier this week and I stumbled upon this clip rather randomly, and, well...now I get it.

[av-bghr]

The absolute silence while she was saying the sonnet. Magical!!

[TudorQueen]

"It's like having a Shakespeare jukebox". Absolutely. Dame Judi Dench, ladies and gentlemen - she can do it all and do it so well that it stuns me

[freddiewilliams]

It’s very difficult for most to do but Dame Judy does it with such ease and poise and creates this stillness that you seldom see with actors, like you can hear a pin drop. You just want to hang on to every single word she says. Gaaa and that’s why she’s a national treasure

[isaiahmartinson]

I remember my teachers in school trying to explain to us how to read even the punctuation and line breaks in his works, because the cadence and rhythm were as important as the words themselves. However, it wasn't until just now, and seeing her performance, that I ever have truly appreciated the importance of that. She is a treasure.

[stevennorrie]

That is just CRAZY.. not only that she could recall it all perfectly, but be able to deliver it with such passion and nuance on the spot. Genuinely impressive ❤

[shakespeare]

Stunning. A poem about being in love but you assume her late husband Michael Williams comes to mind for her at lines like ‘haply I think on thee’ and ‘thy sweet love remembered’. Very moving.

[TheFleahost]

She delivered the words as if they were her own.
Sonnet 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

[raymondwolken]

I loved how she wrapped herself into to sonnet as she presented and literally was living what she was saying. Brava Dame Judi Dench❤😊

[kayking]

Beautiful. Her delivery is perfection. If only Shakespeare where here to hear her, he would cry at the Beauty of her words. Captivating.

[Keksakallu]

Judi Dench is absolutely iconic, and her delivery of Shakespeare is like a warm blanket, but this moment would have been wholly incomplete if they hadn’t mentioned Arnie’s Shakespearean offering in “The Last Action Hero”. I’d have been gutted beyond measure if they’d dropped that ball.

[clardiabeatty]

So many reasons why she is a dame, this is one for many