analysis on page 626 on the poem “To a Mouse on the turning her up in her nest with the plow, november, 1785 by Robert Burns”
Burns was born into a farming family who was poor
this time period for literature was spontaneous and filled with emotion
a time of thinking and reflection, a pastoral time
when he wrote his literature he wrote what he knew and the language of the time
this poem kind of presents the romantic period, because he is concerned about a mouse, spontaneous poem, random, the poem gives you the feeling that he had these thoughts and then went wrote them down
romantic period was about living in the moment and writing spontaneously [ as well as a strong connection to nature- the sublime- nature can inspire]
this poem is about him plowing and accidentally turns over the mouses nest, feels bad and talks to the mouse about how bad he life is
the theme that we can pull out of this poem is comparing mice to men
line 39 “the best laid schemes o’mice an’ men/” probably the most famous line from this poem
[this can be seen as one of the themes of the poem, as Burns is talking about how both man and animal can make the best plans, but even the best of plans and planning can come to ruin]
line 7 and 8, “I’m truly sorry man’s dominion/ Has broken Nature’s social union.” This shows how human development has ruined nature and the way that it works. [ a second theme of the poem - progress or civilization interferes with nature]
