Poem Summary For Laura (and all other United Brit Lit-ers)

1. Woman by Goldsmith: This poem mocks the stereotypes of both men and women.  It mocks the concept of man as a cheater... who will inevitably betray woman and not care about her at all.  And it mocks the over-dramatic women, who will respond with tears, but who will not really get his sympathy unless she is dead.  Of course Goldsmith is not serious about the woman dying, but he plays up the social stereotypes of his time.  He uses irony in the ending to emphasize his sarcastic tone.  He also uses the open form poem (it is only 8 lines rather than the rigid 14 line sonnet structure) to create an abrupt poem that creates black and white assessment of all gender relations.
2. Infant Sorrow by Blake: This poem uses the symbol of the infant as the "innocent" born into the human world of cruelty and suffering.  The tone of the poem is one of despair and doom.  The words suggest inevitable failing and pain.  The infant's birth is not joyous, rather than infant struggles against the bands of the world.  This shows Blake's belief that the corruption and cruelty of 18th century society will destroy all beauty and innocence in humanity.
3. Human Abstract by Blake: This poem uses allusion to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge (the shade of Mystery... deceitful fruit).  These allusions help Blake deliver a message that the quest for ultimate knowledge has led to cruelty and pain.  That true knowledge of good and evil already exists within the human soul and that knowledge is enough.  The concepts of the Enlightenment are really questioned in this poem that points out a truly enlightened society wouldn't treat its people so harshly.  Cruelty is personified in the poem to show its power and place among the people of the 18th century society.
4. To A Mouse by Burns:  This poem is written in dialect.  The dialect represents the speaking patterns of poor and uneducated people.  The poem talks about how the mouse has to worry about losing its home to the actions of the people (ie the plow).  The poor mouse is little and insignificant, and as a result, it is totally helpless in the face of the actions of humans.  The poem even takes the point of view of the mouse to help the reader sympathize with the poor creature.  This technique along with dialect allows the reader to sympathize with a lower class that is virtually "run over" by the factory and land owners of the time and a political system that deems them inconsequential.
5. To A Louse by Burns:  This funny poem is a satirical criticism of the class divisions in British society.  The speaker is telling a louse (singular for lice) not to eat off of a rich lady, but to feed on a poor lady instead.  This shows the stereotypes of the time and additionally casts social commentary on a system that feeds off of the poor to benefit the rich.  This poem also uses dialect.

ALL of these poems are representative of the Pre-Romantic movement at the end of the 18th century.  Remember that during this time people began to question the conventions of the Enlightenment.

Hope this helps!