To a Mountain Daisy
Encyclopedia
"To a Mountain Daisy" is a Scots
poem written by Robert Burns
in 1786. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume
of Burns's poems, published in that year.
The poem tells of how the poet, while out with the plough, discovers that he has crushed a daisy's stem. It is similar in some respects to his poem To a Mouse
, published in the previous year. In ploughing a field in the early morning, there must have been hundreds of small flowers that were turned down by the plough and why Burns was taken with this particular specimen is a mystery.
In a similar way from To a Mouse
, Burns compares the daisy's fate to that of humankind, first, in verse six, to a young girl taken in by her lover and then, in verse seven, to himself. The final stanza
is in some ways reminiscent of Andrew Marvell
's poem To His Coy Mistress
:
We can perhaps sense that Robert Burns is beginning to appreciate of his own mortality.
This poem is used in some schools, poem, writing and art competitions.
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
poem written by Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
in 1786. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume
Kilmarnock volume
The Kilmarnock volume, also known as Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, — printed and issued by John Wilson, Kilmarnock, on 31 July 1786, was the first edition of poet Robert Burns' work. It cost 3 s and 612 copies were printed. The volume was dedicated to Gavin Hamilton...
of Burns's poems, published in that year.
The poem tells of how the poet, while out with the plough, discovers that he has crushed a daisy's stem. It is similar in some respects to his poem To a Mouse
To a Mouse
"To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1785, and was included in the Kilmarnock volume...
, published in the previous year. In ploughing a field in the early morning, there must have been hundreds of small flowers that were turned down by the plough and why Burns was taken with this particular specimen is a mystery.
In a similar way from To a Mouse
To a Mouse
"To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1785, and was included in the Kilmarnock volume...
, Burns compares the daisy's fate to that of humankind, first, in verse six, to a young girl taken in by her lover and then, in verse seven, to himself. The final stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
is in some ways reminiscent of Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...
's poem To His Coy Mistress
To His Coy Mistress
To His Coy Mistress is a metaphysical poem written by the British author and statesman Andrew Marvell either during or just before the Interregnum....
:
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot drawing near;
We can perhaps sense that Robert Burns is beginning to appreciate of his own mortality.
This poem is used in some schools, poem, writing and art competitions.
To a Mountain Daisy
on turning one down with the plough in April 1786
Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flow'r,
Thou's met me in an evil hour;
For I maun crush amang the stoure
Thy slender stem:
To spare thee now is past my pow'r,
Thou bonie gem.
Alas! it's no thy neebor sweet,
The bonie lark, companion meet!
Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet!
Wi' spreckl'd breast,
When upward-springing, blythe, to greet
The purpling east.
Cauld blew the bitter-biting north
Upon thy early, humble birth;
Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth
Amid the storm,
Scarce rear'd above the Parent-earth
Thy tender form.
The flaunting flow'rs our gardens yield,
High shelt'ring woods and wa's maun shield;
But thou, beneath the random bield
O' clod or stane,
Adorns the histie stibble-field,
Unseen, alane.
There, in thy scanty mantle clad,
Thy snawie bosom sun-ward spread,
Thou lifts thy unassuming head
In humble guise;
But now the share uptears thy bed,
And low thou lies!
Such is the fate of artless Maid,
Sweet flow'ret of the rural shade!
By love's simplicity betray'd,
And guileless trust;
Till she, like thee, all soil'd, is laid
Low i' the dust.
Such is the fate of simple Bard,
On life's rough ocean luckless starr'd!
Unskilful he to note the card
Of prudent lore,
Till billows rage, and gales blow hard,
And whelm him o'er'.
Such fate to suffering worth is giv'n,
Who long with wants and woes has striv'n,
By human pride or cunning driv'n,
To mis'rys brink,
Till, wrench'd of ev'ry stay but Heav'n,
He, ruin'd, sink!
Ev'n thou, who mourn'st the Daisy's fate,
That fate is thine — no distant date;
Stern Ruin's plough-share drives, elate,
Full on thy bloom,
Till crush'd beneath the furrow's weight,
Shall be thy doom!