1. Robert Burns (1759-96) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob ert_Burns

2. Enlightenment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment) The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment) is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority. Developing simultaneously in Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, the movement was buoyed by Atlantic Revolutions, especially the success of the American Revolution in breaking free of the British Empire. Most of Europe was caught up, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia and Scandinavia, along with Latin America and instigating the Haitian Revolution. The signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish- Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791, were motivated by Enlightenment principles.Western philosophyreasonlegitimacyauthorityGermanyGreat BritainFrance NetherlandsItalySpainPortugalAtlantic RevolutionsAmerican RevolutionBritish EmpirePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth RussiaScandinaviaLatin AmericaHaitian RevolutionAmerican Declaration of IndependenceUnited States Bill of Rights Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the CitizenConstitution of May 3, 1791

3. Burns the Ploughman Poet Working on the farm at an early age. A natural poet.

4. Burns’s Connection to Romanticism Burns’s advocacy of the French Revolution is an outgrowth of Scottish nationalistic fervor. The Romantics’ resemblance to Burns arises from their conscious revolt against neoclassicism, and their harking back to characteristics that were never lost in the stream of Scots vernacular verse.

5. Burns a Romantic? The Romantics were largely symptomatic of a rising middle class. Burns is the authentic proletarian voice.

6. To a Mouse – Poetic Form Tone: The original is written partially in Scottish dialect which often sounds like a foreign language. He could have used The King’s English but decided not to. The poem is playful by using a mouse as a metaphor but the message is far more significant. Rhyme Scheme: AAABAB Meter: iambic tetrameter and iambic dimeter

7. Iambic tetrameter..........1...............2...........3................4...... Wee SLEEK | it COW | rin TIM| rous BEASTie......1............2.............3...............4 O WHAT | a PAN | ic's IN | thy BREASTie

8. Iambic Dimeter.......1...............2....... On PRO | spects DREAR

10. Of Mice and Man John Steinbeck used this phrase as the title of his 1937 novel. The novel tells the story of George Milton and his mentally challenged friend Lennie Small. The two travel together working various jobs in an attempt to earn enough money for a home and life of their own. Set against the back drop of the Great Depression, the contrast between those who have and those who have not is stark. George and Lennie can be viewed as mice working for a home of their own, only to have the opportunity taken from them.

11. To a Mouse On Turning Up Her Nest with the Plough, November, 1785 Wee, sleeket, cowrin, tim'rous beastie, Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty Wi' bickerin brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee Wi' murd'ring pattle!

12. 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!

13. Translation of “To a Mouse” Small, sleek, cowering, timorous beast, O, what a panic is in your breast! You need not start away so hasty With hurrying scamper! I would be loath to run and chase you, With murdering plough-staff.

14. I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, And justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth born companion And fellow mortal!

15. I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal; What then? Poor beast, you must live! An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves Is a small request; I will get a blessing with what is left, And never miss it.

16. Your small house, too, in ruin! It's feeble walls the winds are scattering! And nothing now, to build a new one, Of coarse grass green! And bleak December's winds coming, Both bitter and keen!

17. You saw the fields laid bare and wasted, And weary winter coming fast, And cozy here, beneath the blast, You thought to dwell, Till crash! the cruel plough past Out through your cell.

18. That small bit heap of leaves and stubble, Has cost you many a weary nibble! Now you are turned out, for all your trouble, Without house or holding, To endure the winter's sleety dribble, And hoar-frost cold.

19. But Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And leaves us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!

20. Still you are blest, compared with me! The present only touches you: But oh! I backward cast my eye, On prospects dreary! And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear!

21. Translation of “To a Louse” Ha! Where are you going, you crawling marvel? Your impudence protects you sorely, I cannot say but you strut rarely Over gauze and lace, Though faith! I fear you dine but sparely On such a place

22. You ugly, creeping, blasted wonder, Detested, shunned by saint and sinner, How dare you set your foot upon her - So fine a lady! Go somewhere else and seek your dinner On some poor body

23. Off! in some beggar's hovel squat: There you may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle, With other kindred, jumping cattle, In shoals and nations; Where horn nor bone never dare unsettle Your thick plantations

24. Now hide you there! You're out of sight, Below the falderals, snug and tight; No, faith you yet! you'll not be right, 'Til you've got on it --- The very topmost, towering height Of miss's bonnet.

25. My sooth! right bold you set your nose out, As plump and gray as any gooseberry: O for some rank, mercurial resin, Or foul red poison, I'd give you such a hearty dose of it, Would fix your behind!

26. I would not be surprised to spy You on an old wife's flannel cap: Or maybe some small raggedy boy, On his under garments; But Miss's fine Lunardi! fie! How dare you do it?

27. O Jenny do not toss your head, And set your beauties all abroad! You little know what cursed speed The bugger's making! Those winks and finger-ends, I dread, Are notice taking!

28. O would some Power the good Lord give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion: What airs in dress and gait would leave us, And even devotion!

29. Questions about “To a Mouse” 1. In which line does the tone change and for what reason does Burns have the tone shift there? 2. Burns acknowledges the mouse has an advantage over mankind. What is it?

30. Thomas Gainsborough, 1785

31. Pre-Romantic William Blake Romanticism (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, Keats)