Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Robert Burns was a famous Scottish poet who mostly wrote in broad Scottish language. He is generally considered as the national poet of Scotland. One of his most famous poems is ‘To a Mouse,’ which is based on the themes of nature vs. humanity, loss, and the unpredictable nature of life. The poem's full title is "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" and was published in November 1785.
The poem depicts a young man who accidentally overturns the soil of a mouse’s nest while plowing his field. The poem is addressed to a field mouse whose home is suddenly and unintentionally destroyed by the plow driven by the speaker, a young farmer. In the beginning, the speaker literally addresses the mouse but soon the mouse is used as a Symbol to represent the natural world, especially the elements of nature that are weak, innocent, or vulnerable to exploitation by humans. In addition, the mouse is also used as a Metaphor to express the plight of the society's weak, downtrodden, poor people. The speaker uses metaphor to compare the mouse's nest to a human house, referring to its "silly wa's" (walls) and even noting regretfully that the mouse is without a "house or hald." The mouse is a symbol for all those suffering in the world and can be linked to Burns’s experience of witnessing poor farmhands being turned out of their homes. In 1937, American author John Steinbeck published his popular novel Of Mice and Men whose title was taken from a line of this poem.
Structure of To a Mouse:
The poem is composed of eight stanzas with six lines in each stanza (sestests). Burns wrote this poem using a Double rhyming pattern (Feminine rhyme) with two unstressed two-syllable rhymes, one following the other. The poem follows a consistent rhyming scheme of AAABAB. The first four lines of each stanza are written in Iambic tetrameter while the concluding two lines contain iambic dimeter. The poet used Anthropomorphism in the poem giving human traits to the mouse. Imagery and Symbolism have been extensively used. The plow is a symbol of humanity's domination of nature, of the rule of the powerful over the powerless. The mouse's nest, easily and completely destroyed by the plow, represents "the best-laid schemes o' Mice and Men." The mouse is a symbol of the poor or powerless, downtrodden people of society. In addition, Burns also used Alliteration, Allusion, Aphormism, Antithesis Assonance, and Consonance.
Summary of To a Mouse:
Stanza 1
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickerin brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
The speaker begins with a reassuring apology, addressing the mouse directly, using the child-like diminutives beastie and breastie while attempting to defuse its fears - O, what a panic’s- and telling it directly it is in no danger. Burns used Onomatopoeia (bickerin brattle) to suggest to the mouse that the trouble he caused is insignificant and temporary. The poet used Feminine rhyme to offer more gentleness to the situation. The poet says that he knows that the mouse is small and afraid of the presence of humans but the mouse is in no danger. The speaker says that the mouse should not fear him. It should not “start awa sae hasty,” or run away so quickly. He further says that he doesn’t wish to chase the mouse away or to kill him using a pattle, he is not like those of whom the mouse is afraid, he neither wishes to harm the mouse’s nest, nor wishes to chase it away or kill it.
Stanza 2
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!
In the next stanza, the speaker continues his polite apology but infuses political philosophy and acumen into it. The speaker is still addressing the mouse but he reflects on nature and the impact of human society on nature. Addressing the mouse, he says ‘I’m truly sorry’ for the human’s greedful dominion over nature. Humankind enjoys an unbalanced “dominion” over the world and has been unwilling to accept creatures that are not like them. The speaker clearly disapproves of the disruption of harmony in nature, caused here by himself, representing humanity. His careless destruction of the nest – showing man’s dominion over nature justifies the mouse’s fear of him. Humans are a disruption in the chains of nature, forcing creatures to act as they normally would not. The poet destroyed the nest of the little creature that, he knew was critical for the mouse’s survival during the winter. Thus, the speaker says that the mouse’s fear of humans is genuine. In the next two lines, the poet continues his gentle reassuring approach to addressing the mouse, calling it an “earth-born companion” and a “fellow-mortal.” They are one and the same, living at the same time on the same planet.
Stanza 3
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave
’S a sma’ request:
I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
An’ never miss ’t!
The speaker continues to apologize and reassure the mouse, requesting it not fear anymore. He assures that he does not begrudge the mouse a share of the harvest. Although the mouse does thieve from him, the speaker accepts that survival is more important than social rules about property. The strong monosyllables in ‘Thou maun live’ emphasize the absolute need for survival. Robert Burns made a point about ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ at this point. The fact that the mouse must steal food from humans does not bother the speaker. It is not the mouse’s fault that it has been degraded to this level. The mouse is only a “poor beastie” which “maun” or “must” live. The speaker says that the mouse often steals ‘daimen-icker’ or an ear of corn. When one steals one “daimen-icker” from a “thrave” or bundle of twenty-four, it is only a “sma’” or “small” thing. He will give the mouse his “blessin” through the food it steals.
Stanza 4:
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’ foggage green!
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin,
Baith snell an’ keen!
In this stanza, the speaker reflects on the consequences his carelessness while using the plow will cause. He addresses the nest of the mouse as ‘housie’ that he has ruined. Now when the walls of the mouse’s nest, or “housie,” are fallen down, it does not have the materials to make a new one. It is not the right time of year to find the “green” it needs. Unfortunately, it is going to be December soon, the “winds [are] ensuin” or “ensuing.” Thus, the mouse has no option but to brave the winter without the security of its housie.
Stanza 5:
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
An’ weary Winter comin fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro’ thy cell.
In this stanza, the speaker expresses his deep empathy towards the mouse. He says that he fully understands the mouse’s current situation who tried to shelter in a “field” where it could “cozie…beneath the blast.” The mouse chose the field to make its nest to avoid the harm of the sharp upcoming winter. It was here it “thought to dwell but then, “crash!” The wind came through and destroyed the home it had built. The poet used alliteration, assonance, and consonance while choosing the words ‘crash...cruel...coulter’ to express the harshness of the consequences of his action.
Stanza 6:
That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!
In this stanza, the poet describes the ruined nest of the mouse that was so humble, and then, the speaker describes the ensuing difficulties the mouse will have to face. It was only a “wee-bit heap o’leaves an’ stibble,” or pieces of grass and hay. It was made from minimal materials but cost the mouse a lot. All of the work has gone to waste as the wind has “turn’d” the mouse out of its home. It now has to face the “Winter’s sweetly dribble” and “cranreuch” or frost. The poet used Masculine rhyme in the last two lines of this stanza while using the alliteration ‘cranreuch cauld’ to emphasize the misery of the mouse.
Stanza 7
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
The speaker continues addressing the mouse while he draws a comparison between the mouse and men while indicating the uncertain future they both face. The speaker says that the best-laid schemes of ‘Mice an’ Men’ fail to give any security at all. Despite, the mouse’s hard work in building its housie, it is in ruins now and the mouse has to face the harsh frosty winter. Similarly, the best laid plans of cotters (Tenant farmers) often fail despite their hard work. Terrible weather, poor harvests, and ever-increasing rents, always imposed a danger of eviction of the tenant farmer from the field. Often one’s plans go awry, and “foresight” may often be in “vain” or pointless when one never knows what’s going to happen. John Steinbeck used this line to choose the title of his novel ‘Of Mice and Men.’
Stanza 8
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
The speaker continues to compare the situation of the mouse and human beings though his stress is more over the dilemma of humans now, rather, the speaker says that the mouse is in a better position. The speaker anxiously considers his own, and therefore humanity’s view of past, present, and future and comments that the mouse is free of such worries. On the other hand, the speaker can “backward cast” his “e’e.” His prospects appear “dear” when basing them on what has happened to him previously. Then when he looks forward in time he “canna see” or cannot see the “fears” that may come for him. The poet ends the poem on this pessimistic note.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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