To A Mouse Comments

Och but he was sich a grand humanitarian. I hope tae meet him one day! ! !

An insightful creation written in persuasive expressions with conviction.......................................

'm truly sorry man's dominion, Has broken nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion, What makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal! its' a great expression great 10+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rember reading this poem in school, many years ago and the teacher had to explain most of the words as we had no idea what it meant. I understood the message in the poem but reading it again after 60 years I still dont kow what half of the words mean. I am not trying to put Rabi down as I am sure he was a genius and probably the best scottish poet ever.

Here the poet brings us to a different perspective. We see the ironies of life that face all.... great and small. So precious!

' The present only toucheth thee'.........wise mouse!

I love this poem, it has given me such inspiration over the years.

The audio rendition of To a Mouse is absolutely horrendous. The reader spells word contractions instead of pronouncing the shortened word. For example, wi is spelled out as N A, instead of pronounced wi as in with. I expected a true Scottish rendition instead of some amateurish attempt. Additionally, the reader knows nothing about reading poetry. You should really remove the audio. It's embarrassing.

As a schoolboy in Scotland the works of Burns featured heavily in our English lessons. This was always one of my favourites and I can still recite it from memory nearly 50 years later.

I remember my mother telling me this and many more of robby burns poems, but this was my favorate, brings back fond memorys

Im a wee bit biaised (being Scottish) but I think this poem is one of the best poems ever written. It shows incredible humility and tenderness - especially the second stanza which often brings me close to tears when i read it. Its no surprise that one of the literary greats, John Steinbeck, used a line from this poem as the title for his most famous novel. The last stanza captures the inherent suffering of the human condition in the most poignant and succinct manner. This really is a GREAT work. Dont be put off by the language if you are not Scottish - go to your library and get a book on Robert Burns and you will find translations of the old Scottish words.....and enjoy!

What do any of you think about this poem? Do you like it and why? Do you dislike it and why? I think it is neat how Burns uses scottish dialect and english together. Thanks for your opinions!