To a Mouse

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1786

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Related Poems

“The Life and Death of Habbie Simson the Piper of Kilbarchan" by Robert Sempill (c. 1640)

Robert Sempill was an early influence in modern Scottish poetry. Not only was Sempill one of the first Scottish poets to write in a modified Scots dialect and to gain a significant reputation among English audiences, he popularized the standard Haggie stanza. The standard Haggie is one of the most popular Scottish forms and dominates the writing of Burns and his contemporaries. This Scots ballad, “The Life and Death of Habbie Simson,” is responsible for pioneering the form.

“To a Louse" by Robert Burns (1786)

“To a Louse” shares many elements with Burn’s “To a Mouse.” Besides the fact that both poems choose “Destested, shunn’d” creatures as their subjects (“To a Louse,” Line 8), “To a Louse” further demonstrates Burns’s tendency to empathize with non-human animals, regardless of their size. “To a Louse” is nearly identical in form to “To a Mouse,” as well. Both are made up of eight standard Haggies, and use their subtitle to suggest a spontaneous occasion led to their composition. “To a Louse” is a strong example of Burns’s comedic use of standard Haggies.

“Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns (1788)

“Auld Lang Syne” is possibly Burns’s most famous work and is indicative of his later method of creating working based on traditional Scottish folk songs. “Auld Lang Syne,” formally, is much different than “To a Mouse,” and uses the alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter commonly seen in English ballads.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1834)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge is one of the most well-known poets of the English Romantic movement. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” though a very different poem from “To a Mouse,” demonstrates how Burns’s care for non-human animals is carried over into the Romantic sentiment. In Coleridge’s poem, his Mariner is only able to escape his curse after he “blessed them unaware” (Line 285). A similar sentiment appears in Burns’s poem when the speaker states that he will “get a blessin” if he allows the mouse to eat his crop (Line 17).

“Mole" by Wyatt Prunty (2006)

Wyatt Prunty is a contemporary American poet whose themes often overlap with Burns’s. “Mole” is an interesting poem to read alongside “To a Mouse” because they both expressly deal with the human realm affecting burrowing mammal’s ability to overwinter. Prunty’s “Mole” uses a cooler, less melodramatic tone than Burns and gives a sense, perhaps, of what Burns’s poem could look like in the contemporary period.

Further Literary Resources

"Preface to Lyrical Ballads" by William Wordsworth (1800)

William Wordsworth’s preface to Lyrical Ballads, in which Coleridge’s original “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” also appeared, is often read as the Romantic manifesto. Wordsworth lays out many of the principles that he saw central to this developing form of poetry in this preface. The idea that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Para. 6) is as representative of “To a Mouse” as it is of Wordsworth’s own poetry. Lyrical Ballads itself has become a seminal Romantic text.

"How the English Failed to Stamp Out the Scots Language" by Dan Nosowitz (2018)

This article by Dan Nosowitz explores the long history of the Scots language, its place in the British sociopolitical sphere, and how the English failed to eradicate it from Scotland. Not only does this article demonstrate the importance of Burns’s use of Scots and his project of cultural preservation, but it showcases that many prejudices against the Scots language still persist.

"Robert Burns was no peasant poet, he was a master of self-promotion" by Murray Pittock (2018)

In this article, University of Glasgow professor of English literature Murray Pittock takes a critical view of how Burns marketed himself during his lifetime. Pittock argues that much of the perception of Burns as a “peasant poet” comes from Burns’s own self-promotion and argues that Burns was as well-financed and educated as any poet of his day. Pittock does not address Burns’s upbringing as the child of tenant farmers or Burns’s own farm work, and seems to focus most of his attention on Burns’s later life. Nevertheless, his perspective sheds light on Burns’s reputation and continued legacy.

"‘Scotch Songs’ and English Perceptions of Scotland in the Restoration" by Allen Kennedy (2020)

Allen Kennedy’s article on Restoration-era perceptions of Scottish song, literature, and identity provides a sense of the interesting history that Burns was writing against. The Stuart Restoration era (1660-1680) was a time of serious cultural and political upheaval in England and is marked by an unstable English identity. This instability often led to stereotyping other cultures as a way of comparing them to English culture. The prejudiced English perception of Scots as uneducated and unlearned during this time led to many similar notions during Burns’s time.

"An Introduction to British Romanticism" by The Editors of Poetry Foundation (2021)

Burns is just as important to the history of literature and poetic development as he is to Scottish national identity. Though Burns’s verse contained many elements that would later be adopted by the Romantics, there were many other factors that informed the poetic movement. This short but comprehensive introduction to the Romantic movement explores many of the ideas, philosophies, and political events that inspired the artists and thinkers associated with it.

Listen to Poem

David Sibbald reads "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns

David Sibbald’s reading of “To a Mouse” effectively captures the unique dynamics and pronunciation of Burns’s Scots dialect. Sibbald’s careful pronunciation also foregrounds Burns’s use of meter and assonance. This reading also displays the standard Habbie’s way of rounding off the ends of stanzas with two lines of iambic dimeter.