Question

Swith! in some beggar’s haffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle
Wi’ ither kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations:
Whare horn nor bane ne’er dare unsettle
Your thick plantations.
In these lines of verse from “To a Louse” by Robert Burns, what does the speaker command the louse to do?

Answer 1

In these lines of verse from “To a Louse” by Robert Burns, the speaker commands the louse to:

A. swim in a dinner companion’s dish

The word "shoal" as used in the verse, denotes a group of cattles eating in the "thick plantations" referring to the dish.

Answer 2

Answer:

Crawl on some poor beggar.

Explanation:

Robert Burns is regarded as the 'National poet of Scotland'. He is among the most read poets of his time. In this excerpt from the poem "To a Louse", the poet exemplifies the poet's command to a louse to 'crawl on some poor beggar" and i.e. his true place for its inhabitation (a beggar's head full of his unruly and unmanageable hair). The poet compares the head of a beggar to a field, louse to "cattle" and his hair to "thick plantations" that suggests the triviality of Louse that it would love the cattle's company. The lines reveal the anguish of the poet against the Louse as it dared to touch the gentle lady(could be his beloved).