Of Mice and Men

I know I already posted this week but I missed my post a different week, so I thought I would make up for it. And while reading Robert Burns's "To a Mouse", I was delighted to come across the line "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men / Gang aft agley" (39 - 40). "o' Mice an' Men" was too unique of a phrase to not be somehow linked to John Steinback's "Of Mice and Men".

I found that Steinback did in fact name his book after this line in the poem. Looking at the poem again, there is a similar theme that is found in "Of Mice and Men".

For those of you that haven't read the book (which is one of my favorites),  it's about two characters, George and Lenny, who work together in order to save enough money so that they can buy their very own home.
Burns was actually inspired to write the poem when he destroyed a mouse's "home" while ploughing. The poem then explores how the mouse picked this field and dreamt of using it to stay warm all winter and then his plan was ruined.
In "Of Mice and Men", George and Lenny's plan to buy a home ended when things went suddenly very wrong for them. I don't want to spoil the ending, but things go so wrong that it becomes impossible for the plan to ever be continued or acted upon because it wouldn't be the same.
This same themes arise in "To a Mouse". I can't help but wonder if Steinback read the poem and wanted to write about these same theme or if it was more of a coincidence.