I want a garden and a park, A thousand acres (bless the mark!) With walls encompassed round- Where flocks may range and herds may low, And kids and lambkins play, And flowers and fruits commingled grow, All Eden to display. I want, when summer's foliage falls, And autumn strips the trees, A house within the city's walls, But here, as space is somewhat scant, And acres somewhat rare, My house in town I only want I want a steward, butler, cooks; I want a cabinet profuse, Of medals, coins, and gems; Of fity-thousand ems; And plants, and minerals, and shells; Worms, insects, fishes, birds; And every beast on earth that dwells In solitude or herds. I want a board of burnish'd plate, Tureens, of twenty pounds in weight, Plateaus, with chandeliers and lamps, Plates, dishes-all the same; And porcelain vases, with the stamps And maples of fair glossy stain, My walls with tapestry bedeck'd, And damask curtains must protect And mirrors of the largest pane, I want (who does not want?) a wife, To solace all the woes of life, And all its joys to share. Of temper sweet, of yielding will, Of firm yet placid mind, With all my faults to love me still, With sentiment refined. And as time's car incessant runs, And fortune fills my store, I want of daughters and of sons I want (alas! can mortal dare That all the girls be chaste and fair-- And when my bosom's darling sings, A pedal harp of many strings Must with her voice combine. Must open stand, apart, That all my daughters may be taught My wife and daughters will desire Cosmetics for the skin require, The civet fragrance shall dispense, And when at night my weary head A chamber south, to hold my bed, With blankets, counterpanes, and sheets, Mattress, and sack of down, And comfortables for my feet, I want a warm and faithful friend, To cheer the adverse hour, Nor bend the knee to power; A friend to chide me when I'm wrong, My inmost soul to see; And that my friendship prove as strong I want a kind and tender heart, A soul secure from fortune's dart, I want a keen, observing eye, The truth, through all disguise to spy, A tongue, to speak at virtue's need, And lips, the cause of man to plead, I want uninterrupted health, And streams of never-failing wealth, The destitute to clothe and feed, Supply the helpless orphan's need, I want the genius to conceive, Designs, the vicious to retrieve, Inventive power, combining skill, Of human hearts to mould the will, I want the seals of power and place, Charged by the people's unbought grace, To rule my native land; Nor crown nor sceptre would I ask, But from my country's will; By day, by night, to ply the task I want the voice of honest praise And to be thought, in future days, In choral union to the skies, Their blessings on my name. These are the wants of mortal man; For life itself is but a span, My last great want, absorbing all, And oh while circles in my veins |