Answer:
In the stanzas containing the famous phrase 'of mice and men' Robert Burns, the poet, compares a rat's ability to live in the present to the human's inability.
Explanation:
Robert Burns is one of the defining figures of Romantic thought. this poem compares the state of bliss that animals live in to the unnatural life a human leads due to their excessive thinking and the woes of modern life.
this is evident in the last 2 stanzas of the poem 'to a mouse' when Burns first calls the mouse 'no thy-lane' and then calls it more fortunate because it can blissfully live in the present while a human is doomed to worry about the future and keep thinking about the past.
The overall meaning of "To A Mouse" is that the world can be a cruel place in spite of any plans we might make. The comparison of mice and humans in the final two stanzas contributes to this idea by emphasizing that the world is indiscriminately cruel to all animals. This poem compares the state of bliss that animals live into the unnatural life a human leads due to their excessive thinking and the problems of modern life. Based on the quote, "But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!", the speaker calls the mouse 'no thy-lane' and then calls it more fortunate because it can blissfully live in the present while a human is doomed to worry about the future and keep thinking about the past.
