Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Alexander Pope is granted eternal sunshine of a Twickenham memorial

Thameside urn sculpture celebrates 18th-century poet’s work and underlines his close connection with town where he lived for a quarter of century

An urn sculpture erected in Twickenham as a tribute to the 18th-century poet Alexander Pope, who lived locally.

Charms strike the sight … the urn erected in tribute to Alexander Pope is based on a lost original that the poet designed for a friend. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex Shutterstock

The home of English rugby will be stirred “by tender strokes of art” as well as sport, following the installation of a new sculpture on the bank of the Thames celebrating the work of Twickenham’s most famous former resident, Alexander Pope.

Based on an urn designed by the poet for the garden of a friend in the Midlands but since destroyed, the 8ft sculpture features Pope’s famous lines from Epistle IV in which he exhorts readers to “Consult the genius of the place in all”, a maxim that is still a guiding principle in garden design today.
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