The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men, Aft Gang Agley
Without Prejudice
Most people know the phrase, " The best laid plans of mice and man, aft gang agley", but not many know its origins.
The saying, Aft Gang Agley simply means " often go awry. "
The wonderful Rabbie Burns, ( Robbie Burns ) was writing of a mouse, the famous " Wee Sleekit, Timorous, Cowering Beastie. "
Burns is in a fit of despair after turning up the nest of a mouse with a plough. Burns was a man that loved animals with a passion.
The mouse has laid out careful plans for an approaching harsh winter by building a warm dry nest and those plans, are upset by the plough. Hence the line,
" The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men "
Often go awry.
Thanks to Wiki
Most people know the phrase, " The best laid plans of mice and man, aft gang agley", but not many know its origins.
The saying, Aft Gang Agley simply means " often go awry. "
The wonderful Rabbie Burns, ( Robbie Burns ) was writing of a mouse, the famous " Wee Sleekit, Timorous, Cowering Beastie. "
Burns is in a fit of despair after turning up the nest of a mouse with a plough. Burns was a man that loved animals with a passion.
The mouse has laid out careful plans for an approaching harsh winter by building a warm dry nest and those plans, are upset by the plough. Hence the line,
" The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men "
Often go awry.
Thanks to Wiki
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire and various other names and epithets,[nb 1] was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his
political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song)
Is often sung at Hogmanay and "Scots Wha Hae" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well known across the world today include "A Red, Red Rose", "A Man's a Man for A' That", "To a Louse", "To a Mouse", "The Battle of Sherramuir", "Tam o' Shanter" and "Ae Fond Kiss".
Burns had little regular schooling and got much of his education from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history and also wrote for them A Manual Of Christian Belief. He was also taught by John Murdoch (1747–1824), who opened an "adventure school" in Alloway in 1763 and taught Latin, French, and mathematics to both Robert and his brother Gilbert (1760–1827) from 1765 to 1768 until Murdoch left the parish. After a few years of home education, Burns was sent to Dalrymple Parish School during the summer of 1772 before returning at harvest time to full-time farm labouring until 1773, when he was sent to lodge with Murdoch for three weeks to study grammar, French, and Latin.
By the age of 15, Burns was the principal labourer at Mount Oliphant. During the harvest of 1774, he was assisted by Nelly Kilpatrick (1759–1820), who inspired his first attempt at poetry, "O, Once I Lov'd A Bonnie Lass". In the summer of 1775, he was sent to finish his education with a tutor at Kirkoswald, where he met Peggy Thompson (b.1762), to whom he wrote two songs, "Now Westlin' Winds" and "I Dream'd I ic Lodge St David, Tarbolton, on 4 July 1781, when he was 22.
In December 1781, Burns moved temporarily to Irvine to learn to become a flax-dresser, but during the workers' celebrations for New Year 1781/1782 (which included Burns as a participant) the flax shop caught fire and was burnt to the ground. This venture accordingly came to an end, and Burns went home to Lochlea farm. During this time he met and befriended Captain Richard Brown who encouraged him to become a Poet.
Burns died aged only 37.
John Steinbeck used Burns phrase " Of Mice And Men " for his 1937 novella . Both Of Mice And Men and The Grapes Of Wrath remain two of his most popular books.
Although he was a Stanford University graduate and had published five books by the time he wrote Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck had more in common with his itinerant main characters than readers might have expected. “I was a bindle-stiff myself for quite a spell,” the author told The New York Times in 1937, employing the now archaic nickname for migrant workers. “I worked in the same country that the story is laid in.” With Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck wanted to tell the story of a community largely unheralded in literature and high culture.
In the same New York Times article, Steinbeck recalled a fellow laborer on whom Lennie Small’s character was based: “Lennie was a real person. He's in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He didn't kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. I hate to tell you how many times. I saw him do it. We couldn't stop him until it was too late.”
The stage intrigued Steinbeck as much as prose did, and the book shares similarities with both media. Like a theatrical piece, Of Mice and Men manifests in three acts. Its narration bears the character of stage direction, and its dialogue has the feel of something one might hear in a play.
