4. The Ionic Temple

Share:

Chiswick House & Gardens

Arts


NARRATOR:  Former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion reads his poem, ‘The Ionic Temple, Chiswick.’ SIR ANDREW MOTION:  Once upon a time it was the thimble a seamstress might wear to work for the big Classical gods. For us it more nearly resembles the domed nose of a cruise missile easing upwards from its silo. But enough of that. When we step inside it fits so snugly I might as well have discovered a way of living in your head as you now live in mine. The skylight in the centre overhead is a fontanel yet to close. We can stare straight back at the sun.