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Robert Burns, who died prematurely at the age of only 37, left many poems to
his posterity (about 550), which made him considered a forerunner of
romanticism.
Two of these poems, To a Mouse and Tam o’Shanter, are directly related to the
other two Scottish miniatures below.
In the first poem entitled To a Mouse, written in 1786, the main character is a
shy field mouse, whose nest is accidentally disturbed by the author while
working in the field. Considered one of Burns' most beautiful poems, his lyrics
reflect the poet's sadness and despair for unwittingly ruining the home of such
a small, timid, and helpless being:
“Little, cunning, cowering, timorous beast,
Oh, what a panic is in your breast!”
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“Your small house, too, in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one”
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