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Overview
“To a Mouse” is a lyric poem from 1785, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in his local dialect of Scots English
. Tradition has it that Burns composed the poem in a field, with a plow in one hand and a pen in the other. Though likely apocryphal, this story nicely captures what so many readers have found enchanting about Burns, a poet-farmer with an irresistibly earthy voice. In “To a Mouse,” Burns applies his rustic charm to a very serious subject: the Scottish Agricultural Revolution, which forced thousands of tenant farmers off their land over the course of the 18th century.Read the free full text, a summary & analysis, an in-depth analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “To a Mouse.”
