Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Here you will find the Poem An Alpine Picture of poet Thomas Bailey Aldrich

An Alpine Picture

Stand here and look, and softly draw your breath 
Lest the dread avalanche come crashing down! 
How many leagues away is yonder town 
Set flower-wise in the valley? Far beneath 
Out feet lies summer; here a realm of death, 
Where never flower has blossomed nor bird flown. 
The ancient water-courses are all strown 
With drifts of snow, fantastic wreath on wreath; 
And peak on peak against the stainless blue 
The Alps like towering campanili stand, 
Wondrous, with pinnacles of frozen rain, 
Silvery, crystal, like the prism in hue. 
O tell me, love, if this be Switzerland -- 
Or is it but the frost-work on the pane?