To A MOUSE - Burns

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“To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough, November 1785”

Original Scots (final stanzas)

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!

Modern English translation

But little Mouse, you are not alone,

In proving that foresight may be vain:

The best-laid plans of mice and men

Often go awry,

And leave us nothing but grief and pain

For promised joy!

Still you are blessed compared with me!

The present only touches you;

But, oh, I cast my eye backward

On prospects drear!

And forward, though I cannot see,

I guess and fear.

Citation (MLA-style)

Burns, Robert. “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough, November 1785.” In Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Kilmarnock: John Wilson, 1786, pp. 138–139.