The Wants Of Man

The Wants of Man
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“Man wants but little here
Nor wants that little long”
‘Tis not with me exactly so,
But ‘ds so in the song
My wants are many, and if told
Would muster many a secre;
And were each wish a mint of gold
I still should long for more

What first I want is daily bread
And canvasbacks, and wine,
And all the realms of nature spread
Before me when I fine
Four courres scarcely can provide
My appetite to quell
With four choice cooks from France beside
To dress my dinner well

What next I want, at heavy cost,
In elegant attire- Black sable furs for winter’s frost
And silks for summer’s fire,
And cashmere shawls, and Brussels lace
My bosom’s front to deck,
And diamond rings my hands to grace,
And rubles for my neck

And then I want a mansion fair,
A dwelling house in style,
Four stories high, for wholesome air
A massive marble plle,
With halls for banquets and for balls,
All furnished rich and fine,
With stabied studs in fifty stalls,
And cellars for my wine

I want a garden and a park
My dwelling to surround,
A thousand acres (bless the mark),
With walla encompassed round,
Where flocks may range, and herds may low
And kids and lambking play,
And flowers and fruits commingled grow,
All Eden to display

I want, when summer’s foltage falls,
And autumn strips the trees
A house within the city’s walls
For comfort and for ease
But, here as space is somewhat scant,
And acres rather rare,
My house in town I only want
To occupy-a square

I want & steward, butler, cooks,
A conchman, Slotman, grooms,
A library of well bound books,
And picture garnished rooms,
Corregios, Magdalen, and Night,
The Matron of the Chair
Guido’s meet courters in their fight,
And Claudes at least a pair

Ay and to stamp my form and face
Upon the solid rock,
I want, their ineaments to trace
Carrara milk white block,
And let the chisel’s art sublime
By Greenough’s hand display,
Through all the range of future time
My Tenturen to the day

I want a kind and tender heart
For others’ wants to feel,
A soul secure from Fortune’s dart,
And bosom armed with steel,
To bear Divine chastisement’s rod,
And mingling in my plan
Submission to the will of God
With charity to man

I want a keen, observing eye,
An ever-listening ear,
The truth through all disguise to spy
And wisdom’s voice to hear:
A tongue to sprak at virtue’s need
In heaven’s sublimest strain,
And lips the cause of man to plead,
And never plead in vain

I want uninterrupted health
Throughout my long career,
And streams of never falling wealth
To scatter far and near-
The destitute to clothe and feed,
Free bounty to bestow
Supply the helpless orphan’s need
And soothe the widow’s woe

I want the genius to conceive,
The talents to unfold
Designs, the victour to retrieve,
The virtuous to uphold;
Inventive power, combining skill,
A persevering soul,
Of human hearts to mold the will
And reach from pole to pole

I want the seals of power and place,
The ensigns of command
Charged by the people’s unbought grace
To rule my native land; Nor crown nor scepter would I ask
But from my country’s will
By day, by night, to ply the task
Her cup of bliss to nit

I want the voice of honest praise
To follow the behind,
And to be thought in future days
The friend of human kind
Thns after ages no they rise,
Exulting may proclalin
In choral union to the skies
Their blessings on my name

These are the wants of mortal man;
I cannot want them long
For life Itself is but a span,
And earthly biles a song
My last great want absorbing all,
Is, when beneath the sout
And summoned to my fingi call
The mercy of my God

And, oh! while circles in my velns
Of life the purple stream
And yet a fragment small remains
Of nature’s transcient dream
My soul, in humble hope unscared,
Forget not thou to pray
That the thy want may be prepared
To meet the Judgment Day