YOU HAD TO BE VERY VERY FAMOUS ~ TO BE PAINTED BY ANDY WARHOL !
Wee sleekit cowran tim\'rous beastie
O what a panics in the breastie
Thou need na start awa sae hasty
Wi bickering brattle*
I wad be laith to rin an chase thee
Wi murdering pattle*
Im truly sorry mans dominion
Has broken Natures social union
An justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me ~ thy poor earth-bound companion
An fellow mortal.
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 blessing wi the lave*
An never miss\'t
Thy wee-bit housie too in ruin
Its sill wa\'s the wins are strewin
An naething now to big* a new ane
O foggage* green
An bleak Decembers wins ensuin
Baith snell an keen*
Thou saw the fields laid bare an wast
An weary Winter comin fast
An cozie here beneath the blast
Thou thought to dwell
Till crash ! the cruel coulter past
Out throu thy cell.
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
But mousie thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain
The best-laid schemes of mice an men
Gang aft agley*
An lea\'e us nought but grief an pain
For promised joy.
Still thou are blest compared wi me
The present only toucheth thee
But Och ! I backwards cast my e\'e
On propects drear
An forwards tho I canna see
I guess an fear !
Thanks for reading ~ comments please ~ Love BRIAN 🧡🧡🧡
GLOSSARY: Pattle = SPADE Whyles = SOMETIME
Diamen icker = EAR OF CORN Thrave = SHEAF Big = BUILD
Foggage = GRASS Snell = BITTER Thole = PUT UP WITH
Cranreuch = HOAR FROST Gang aft agley = OFTEN GO AWRY !
SYNOPSIS: This very famous Poem is about MICE and MEN !
It was written in 1785 based on a real incident. This was the
time of the European Enlightenment so it is both Moral &
Satirical ! Burns was a PERFORMANCE POET so he writes in
OLD HABBIE with a strict meter & rhyming pattern
a a a b a b which he takes pains to preserve ! V 1. Is about
the MOUSE. In V 2. He moves from the LOCAL to the
GENERAL. In V 3. He is the farmer again ! In V 4.
Empathy for the Mouse he sees the nest as a HOUSE !
In V 5. He acknowledges the MOUSE lacks foresight the
same was true of the CROFTERS who were often turned off
their land for redevelopment. The same was true of the
Native Americans. In Verses 6 & 7 he reflects on the
possibility of his own Farm being dispossessed ! BRIAN !