Preview

To a Mouse by Robert Burns

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
338 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To a Mouse by Robert Burns
To a Mouse" By Robert Burns Essay

Would you waste your time apologizing to a mouse? Robert Burns shows us what its like to live in a rural area. He also shows us that people can be very sympathetic to animals. One of the last characteristics is the ideal of democracy." To a Mouse" by Robert Burns has three obvious characteristics of romantic poetry. To begin, Burns is sympathetic to the mouse's dilemma. The speaker is sympathizes with the mouse after plowing over his house. The speaker also says that its okay for the mouse to steal because he knew that the mouse had live too. Burns made a point to tell the mouse that it's not alone. These are three ways that Burns shows us how to be sympathetic.
Secondly, the ideals of democracy are apparent in the poem. The poet made sure to show that the bond between nature like the bond between the upper and lower classes. The best laid plans of mice and men shows that not everything turns out perfect. The poet made sure to show that even in a world where man apologizes to animals nothing is ever perfect. Hence saying the fact that democracy cannot ever be perfect. Finally, the poem has a rural setting. The poet chooses to use a rural setting to show a deeper side of the actual poem itself. It shows that the life of a farmer isn't always easy. The power of the words and the surroundings was amazing it really made the reader think about their life. In conclusion Robert Burns makes the reader think about life in very different aspects for the time period that this poem was written. He shows that life is never easy. You can be an animal as simple as a mouse or as complex as a human and have complications in your life. Burns has show us the effects of rural communities, sympathy and the ideals of democracy all in a number of powerful

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Strong images of country life versus city life are highlighted in the poem "Wild Grapes".…

    • 1305 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    By having the story take place on a farm, it is very simple for nearly any reader to automatically associate things that they view as common on a farm into the story. For instance, a lot of the setting's detail can be left out, and therefore be left up to the reader's imagination to view the farms' look as if they would normally see one. By having this aspect of some undefined setting characteristics, the reader becomes more involved in the story. They want to find…

    • 535 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem reminds me of the time I spent at my aunt’s farm when I was younger. Early mornings checking for eggs in the chicken coop. Remembering the smell of the outdoors intensified by the morning dew. I remember watching my uncle work in the fields of corn while I tended to the animals. Those days on…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To a Mouse

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the poems Robert Burns’ “To a Mouse” and “The Mouse’s Petition” by Anna Letitia Barbauld, many feelings and emotions about mice are brought forth. While both poems were written by different authors, many of the feelings they share towards mice are common. The analysis of the two poems will help to find the comparisons and differences in theme, political and social issues, diction, and tone. Examples from the poems will help to show the similarities and differences in the two.…

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    story of the book is a little boy that is being very horrible and destructive to the house and its…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sulema Pimentel once said, “Don’t focus on the pain, focus on your strength.” This could relate to the The Call of the Wild because the dog, Buck, was beaten and tortured by a really mean man. I would totally understand why a parent would not want their son or daughter to read this. But, they will eventually see this somewhere in life or they might read about it in another book. The parent might not think that their child would be able to handle all the violence throughout the book. But, some parents might not know what they are reading outside of their house. The Call of the Wild will introduce a student into the real world and what is going on.…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, Burns’ Mouse shows the significance of living in the moment or present rather than dwelling in the past or looking into the future. Even though Burns’ poems are about simple events and characters, he has found a way to build great messages…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Flea By John Donne

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the poem ”The Flea” by John Donne, the speaker swings between the fantasy and reality. The speaker who left himself down find strength in fantasy, and satisfies and imagination. However, when he comes bake to reality, he is mad at himself for this daydream. There are 4 shifts in poem. First, the shift is after line 4. At the beginning, the speaker is in reality, so speaker’s mood is normal. Then, based on “A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead” (6), the mood of the speaker changes into guilty. The speaker immerses himself in the fantasy: having sex with that lady. It is the shame at the time, so the speaker turns to be a little bit guilty. Secondly, the shift is between line 8 and line 9, speaker comes back to reality. The attitudes…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the second stanza, the photographer thinks about the safety of his home Rural England, where “fields… don’t explode beneath the feet of running children.” He is trying to grasp whatever remnants of the normality of life remains, once he knows that children in war-torn places are running around mine-ridden fields. He being alone in the room could symbolize again, how no one could be able to empathize with him and again, I pity him for that as he has to carry the burden all by himself.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poetry and Farmhand

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Explore the ways the poet portrays the farmhand in the poem. (Remember to support your ideas with reference to text and comment on poet’s use of language/ structure/ rhythm etc……

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poem Response

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The writer, Phillis Wheatley, uses many descriptive details about the natural world in her poem. She compares the sun setting and the new evening with many rural details. For example, in line two, she says: "The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;" She is referring to the empty plains of a rural area. I also wondered how the poem would sound if she chose to praise the evening using details of an urban setting.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Updike

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Firstly, what makes the setting of this poem so memorable is the picture that he paints of an ordinary family that finds out that something is wrong with their dog. The plot was intriguing because you can vividly see the dog’s…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Clancy Of The Overflow

    • 291 Words
    • 1 Page

    In Slessors poem “Country Towns”. Slessor uses a wide range of techniques to create an image of a country town. In the third stanza “Alliteration” is used to create a sense of timelessness with the line “Bouncing on barrel mares” showing that even today the farmers still ride on horses (nothing has changed). The 3rd stanza uses “imagery” to creates an image of the town with “verandas baked” and “dogs that lick the sunlight up like paste of gold”, and gives us the impression that it is sunset. In the final stanza (4th) Slessor uses the first two lines to convey “juxtaposition” using the line “schooner bees and locusts” giving us the impression of the heat and different sides to the country.…

    • 291 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “To A Mouse” On turning her up in her nest with the plough, Nov 1785 Robert Burns Address to a mouse in Scots Mouse defined as female Uses diminuitives Plight of mouse mirrors his plight – not master of own life Stanza 1 Has just overturned the nest with the plough The mouse is running away He doesn’t want to kill “her” Stanza 2 “Nature’s social union” – the harmony within which nature exists “Man’s dominion” – ruins nature “me, thy poor, earth-born companion / An' fellow mortal!” – equating all living things as part of nature – all are governed by the laws of mortality Stanzas 3-6 Describes the plight of the mouse Steals – but what “she” steals would hardly be noticed Building nest for “bleak December” – now her house is in ruin, and there is nothing for her to build a new one with – everything is barren Stanza 7 Returns to the connection between the poet and the mouse The best-laid schemes o' mice an’ men Gang aft agley An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promis'd joy! Life has a way of surprising you – plans can fail, so even foresight is in vain. 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…

    • 1844 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Encompassing the commonalities between individuals while revealing both the ‘beautiful’ and the ‘terrible’ aspects of humanity, the Human Condition illuminates the ontological journey of the search for purpose and identity. However, comprehending the nature and scope of life in itself presents a challenge; outlining that understanding is crucial to the development of the self. Robert Frost explores all aspects of humanity, good and bad, by determining the effects of urbanisation through his ballad Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Morning, rejecting technological development as a necessary advance for humanity. This extends to his examination of the realisation of the fragility of human life, in his dramatic poem Out, Out the recount of a young boy’s gruesome death. Frost’s ideas are reiterated in Sean Penn’s drama film Into the Wild, which exhibits both the fragility of life through Christopher’s unwitting journey to death and the rejection of industrialisation resulting in his impetuous plunge into nature. Ultimately, these texts serve as searing examinations of the totality of humanity, revealing the complexities of the human race.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays