What is the overall meaning of the poem To a Mouse?

To A Mouse depicts Burns’ remorse at having destroyed the nest of a tiny field mouse with his plough. He apologises to the mouse for his mishap, for the general tyranny of man in nature and reflects mournfully on the role of fate in the life of every creature, including himself.

What does Wi bickering Brattle mean?

indecisive scurrying
Bickering Brattle describes its quick, indecisive scurrying while evoking the action through onomatopoeia.

What does the last stanza in To a Mouse mean?

In the final stanza of ‘To a Mouse’ the speaker states that the mouse is “blest, compar’d wi’” him. It is only the “present” that hurts the mouse. The little “beastie” does not have to worry about the past or, really worry, about the future.

What does daimen Icker mean?

Daimen means rare or occasional, icker is 1 ear of corn, a thrave is a measure of cut grain consisting of 2 stooks of 12 sheaves each. The lave is the remainder.

What kind of poem is To a Mouse?

“To a Mouse” features Burns’s characteristic use of Scottish dialect and a six-line stanza form known as the habbie or Burns stanza.

What is the mouse in danger of?

While the common house mouse is not as dangerous to your health as a deer mouse, they can still spread disease, such as hantavirus, salmonellosis and listeria through their urine, droppings, saliva and nesting materials.

What does Sleekit mean in Scottish?

1 chiefly Scotland : sleek, smooth. 2 chiefly Scotland : crafty, deceitful.

What is the rhyme scheme for the mouse poem?

Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows AAABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues till the end. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. The poet has used end rhyme in it such as, “dribble/trouble”, “vain/pain”, “me/thee” and “union/opinion.”

What does Cranreuch mean?

A low creeping mist, or hoar-frost (called provincially rhyme or cranreugh), in a dead calm, particularly after a tract of rainy weather, is seen to settle, after sunsetting, upon lands of this description.

Why did Robert Burns write about a mouse?

Robert Burns wrote “To a Mouse” because he had a guilt feeling. He was rinsing in the fields and accidentally destroyed a mouse’s nest that…

Why did Burns write To a Mouse?

When did Robert Burns write to a mouse?

In “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect Robert Burns included the poem, “To a Mouse” in 1786. The poem’s title alludes to the speaker’s experience with a mouse, and his expression of remorse to, and admiration of it.

Why is the poem to a mouse not understood?

Burns expert George Wilkie claims that the poem is “not really understood by the mass of English-speaking poetry lovers, for no other reason than that the dialect causes it to be read as though in a foreign language.” Readers miss “the sadness and despair contained within the lines of this poem,” he says.

What was the meaning of Burns apology to a mouse?

Burns’ work of 1785 describes his feelings after disturbing a fieldmouse in its nest. His apology becomes a reflection on a life of struggle with little reward at the end. Lochhead believes it’s the language as much as the meaning that makes Burns so revered.

What was the theme of the book to a mouse?

To A Mouse depicts Burns’ remorse at having destroyed the nest of a tiny field mouse with his plough. He apologises to the mouse for his mishap, for the general tyranny of man in nature and reflects mournfully on the role of fate in the life of every creature, including himself.