Best laid schemes of mice and men... Often go awry.

I was watching the movie "Good Shepherd" where the protagonist quotes to his son from Robert Burns. The best laid schemes of mice and men, often go awry. It reminded me of my mental state. And so i fished out from my trunk, an old copy of Collected poems by Robert Burns. I had not read Burns for quite some time. I turned the pages to "To a mouse" from where the line was quoted. It read,

But Mousie, thou are 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! 

Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me! 
The present only toucheth thee: 
But Och! I backward cast my e'e, 
On prospects drear! 
An' forward, tho' I canna see, 
I guess an' fear!

The words are not perceivable for some "attu guy from an attu college". (This has been specifically addressed to somebody i know, so other readers, do not mind). It means the words are tough as they are in a dialect of old english and cannot be easily understood by a mediocre person like me. So I had to search for meanings in a compulsive way as the verse had caught my attention and i had to do it.

The peom is about the poet ploughing his land and comes upon a mouse holed up for the winter. All the grain amassed have been turned over by the plough and the mice has nothing left to see him through.

When one starts to understand the meaning, he/she would definitely notice the despair and sadness of the poet in writing the poem. He says, O mouse, you are not alone. Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go awry and leave nothing but sadness and grief in place of the promised joy. Surely, these are the most truthful lines which is applicable to all mankind. The bitterness in the words are not easily understood if somobody has not known how awful it is when ones dreams, dreamed after much contemplation, and supported by logic, goes awry. A suitable consolation can be found in the proverb "Do not count your chickens before they hatch". Thats a lesson for the future, though.

The next stanza is even deeper in despair. I can feel the despondency of the man who wrote this since it is exactly what I have been thinking all through the last few months. Atleast, the mouse is blessed because  he can see only the present touching him. But I have the curse of the gods which makes me turn and glance into the life lived and so I am sad when I see the prospect that have gone in vain. And I look into the future and i am afraid of the things to come. I cannot glorify my past and expect the future to be as good as my fantacy.

Robert Burn, you are not alone. There are several voices crying out in the wilderness like you.