At a gloomy time in...
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At a gloomy time in his life, when he was near bankruptcy after a vain attempt at
farming, the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, was out plowing a field, and happened to turn
up a mouse's nest with his plow. Appalled at the devastation he'd wreaked on the
unsuspecting rodents, he penned a little poem, "To a Mouse." It contains the famous
lines,
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
A year or so after he wrote that poem, Robbie Burns gave up on farming. He sold out to his brother and made plans to immigrate to Jamaica. Just as he was making the rounds to say good-bye to his friends, a letter arrived from a certain Dr. Blacklock in Edinburgh. It seemed that the little book of poetry Burns had written, in his off-hours from farming, was the talk of the capital. People were saying Burns had captured the essence of the Scottish soul. The booksellers were clamoring for a second edition.
It is the height of irony that one of the most famous poems in this book that made Burns' reputation was the pessimistic rhyme, "To A Mouse." Just as he was commiserating about plans gone awry, a greater plan yet was unfolding!
Our plans may go awry, but God's never will.
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
A year or so after he wrote that poem, Robbie Burns gave up on farming. He sold out to his brother and made plans to immigrate to Jamaica. Just as he was making the rounds to say good-bye to his friends, a letter arrived from a certain Dr. Blacklock in Edinburgh. It seemed that the little book of poetry Burns had written, in his off-hours from farming, was the talk of the capital. People were saying Burns had captured the essence of the Scottish soul. The booksellers were clamoring for a second edition.
It is the height of irony that one of the most famous poems in this book that made Burns' reputation was the pessimistic rhyme, "To A Mouse." Just as he was commiserating about plans gone awry, a greater plan yet was unfolding!
Our plans may go awry, but God's never will.
