“Wee sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie,
\nO’ what a panic’s in thy breastie!
\nThou need na start awa sae hastie
\nWi’ bickering brattle!
\nI wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
\nWi’ murd’ring pattle!<\/p>\n
I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
\nHas broken Nature’s social union,
\nAn’ justifies that ill opinion
\nWhich makes thee startle
\nAt me, thy poor, earth-born companion
\nAn’ fellow mortal!<\/p>\n
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
\nWhat then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
\nA daimen icker in a thrave
\n‘S a sma’ request;
\nI’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, An’ never miss’t!<\/p>\n
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
\nIts silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
\nAn’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
\nO’ f0ggage green!
\nAn’ bleak December’s win’s ensuing,
\nBaith snell an’ keen!<\/p>\n
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
\nAn’ weary winter comin fast,
\nAn’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
\nThou thought to dwell,
\nTill crash! the cruel coulter past
\nOut through thy cell.<\/p>\n
That wee bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble,
\nHas cost the monie a weary nibble!
\nNow thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble,
\nBut house or hald,
\nTo thole the winter’s sleety dribble,
\nan’ cranreuch cauld!<\/p>\n
But mousie, thou art no thy lane,
\nIn proving foresight may be vain:
\nThe best laid schemes o’mice an’ men
\nGang aft agley,
\nAn’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
\nfor promis’d joy!<\/p>\n
Stil thou art blessed, compared wi’ me!
\nThe present only toucheth thee:
\nBut och! I backward cast my e’e,
\nOn prospects drear!
\nAn’ forward though I canna see,
\nI guess an’ fear!”
\n Robert Burns.
\nFeel the Burns. Composed after unearthing a mouse nest while ploughing.
\nIslander<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Wee sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie, O’ what a panic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hastie 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, … Continue reading “To a Mouse”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-561","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/561\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewalrussaid.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}