TO A MOUSE, ON TURNING HER UP IN HER NEST,
WITH
THE PLOUGH, NOVEMBER, 1785 / Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Wee,
sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O,
what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou
need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’
bickering brattle!
I
wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’
murd’ring pattle!
I’m
truly sorry man’s dominion
Has
broken Nature’s social union,
An’
justifies that ill opinion,
Which
makes thee startle,
At
me, thy poor, earth-born 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 blessin wi’ the lave,
An’
never miss’t!
Thy
wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It’s
silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’
naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’
foggage green!
An’
bleak December’s winds 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
thro’ thy cell.
That
wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble,
Hast
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 o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang
aft agley,
An’
lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For
promis’d joy!
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!
NOTE:
sleeket: sleek;
cowran: cringing;
na: not;
brattle: clatter, hurry;
wad: would;
rin: run;
pattle: spade used to clean a
plough;
whyles: sometimes;
maun: must;
daimen: occasional;
icker: ear of corn (in the
British sense, meaning a grain such as wheat);
thrave: two shocks of grain;
lave: remainder;
wa’s: walls;
win’s: wind, breath;
foggage: rank grass;
baith: both;
snell: bitter;
coulter: iron blade which is
fixed in front of a ploughshare to make a vertical cut in the soil;
stibble: stubble;
monie: many;
hald: refuge;
thole: endure;
dribble: a trickling stream;
cranreuch: hoar-frost; cauld:
cold; thy-lane: thyself; gang aft agley: go oft awry.