Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN ALPINE PICTURE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

Poet Analysis

First Line: STAND HERE AND LOOK, AND SOFTLY HOLD YOUR BREATH
Last Line: OR IS IT BUT THE FROST-WORK ON THE PANE?
Subject(s): ALPS; MOUNTAINS; SWITZERLAND; HILLS; DOWNS (GREAT BRITAIN); SWISS;

STAND here and look, and softly hold your breath
Lest the vast avalanche come crashing down!
How many miles away is yonder town
Set flower-wise in the valley? Far beneath --
A scimitar half drawn from out its sheath --
The river curves through meadows newly mown;
The ancient water-courses are all strown
With drifts of snow, fantastic wreath on wreath;
And peak on peak against the turquoise-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?



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