Song + 

II + 

Man’s Covetousness + 

What though Plenty pour her gifts + 

With a lavish hand, + 

Numberless as are the stars, + 

Countless as the sand, + 

Will the race of man, content, + 

Cease to murmur and lament? + 

Nay, though God, all-bounteous, give + 

Gold at man’s desire⁠— + 

Honours, rank, and fame⁠—content + 

Not a whit is nigher; + 

But an all-devouring greed + 

Yawns with ever-widening need. + 

Then what bounds can e’er restrain + 

This wild lust of having, + 

When with each new bounty fed + 

Grows the frantic craving? + 

He is never rich whose fear + 

Sees grim Want forever near. + 