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''An Alpine Walk'' is a poem written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] first published in the [[The Independent]] on 14 december 1893.


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== Editions ==

* in ''[[The Independent]]'' (14 december 1893 [US])
* in ''[[The Young Man]]'' (january 1894 [UK]) as ''An Alpine Walk''
* in ''[[The Independent]]'' (10 december 1908 [US])


== An Alpine Walk ==
[[File:the-young-man-1894-01-p15-an-alpine-walk.jpg|thumb|400px|right|''An Alpine Walk'' ([[The Young Man]], january 1894, p. 15)]]

Underneath the peaks of snow,<br />
On the edge of nature's glacis,<br />
Where the torrent far below<br />
Ever rants, and roars and races,<br />
And a man with just one slip<br />
May come down a thousand paces;<br />
So we walked from Engelberg<br />
With the breeze upon our faces.


And we talked of many things<br />
As we tramped through that oasis;<br />
Of republics and of kings,<br />
Of religion and its basis,<br />
Of the patience of the poor,<br />
Of the evil in high places,<br />
So we walked from Engelberg<br />
With the breeze upon our faces.


Then we spoke of England, too,<br />
And the Anglo-Celtic races,<br />
Also of the landlord crew<br />
And our law and its disgraces,<br />
With the selfishness of man<br />
Which has left such evil traces;<br />
So we walked from Engelberg<br />
With the wind upon our faces.


And of grim Carlyle we spoke,<br />
And of Froude's much argued cases,<br />
How about the merest joke<br />
He would pull the longest faces;<br />
And of Madame, too, we talked,<br />
Of her temper and her graces;<br />
So we walked from Engelberg<br />
With the wind upon our faces.


Spoke of Kipling - his command<br />
Over life in all its phases,<br />
How he held within his hand<br />
All the cards from kings to aces.<br />
Passing swift from passion's frown<br />
Back to comedy's grimaces:<br />
So we walked from Engelberg<br />
With the wind upon our faces.


Well, it was a pleasant talk.<br />
And perhaps in duller places<br />
We may recollect that walk,<br />
When with tightly fastened laces,<br />
With our Alpenstocks in hand,<br />
In that air which stirs and braces,<br />
We three came from Engelberg<br />
With the wind upon our faces.






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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]