To a Mouse Summary & Analysis
by Robert Burns

Question about this poem?
Have a question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
Ask us
Ask us
Ask a question
Ask a question
Ask a question

"To a Mouse" was written in 1785 by Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. After accidentally destroyed a mouse’s nest with his plough, the poem's speaker expresses sorrow for the animal’s plight. The mouses's homelessness and hunger prompt the speaker to feel compassion for all vulnerable creatures and also to reflect on the unpredictability and pain of human life. "To a Mouse" features Burns’s characteristic use of Scottish dialect and a six-line stanza form known as the habbie or Burns stanza.

Get
Get
LitCharts
Get the entire guide to “To a Mouse” as a printable PDF.
Download