THE YOUNG MAN'S WISH
1
Free from the bustle, care and strife,
Of this short variegated life,
O let me spend my days
In rural sweetness with a friend,
To whom my mind I may unbend,
Nor censure heed or praise,
Nor censure heed or praise.
2
Riches bring cares; I ask not wealth;
Let me enjoy but peace of health,
I'll envy not the great:
Tis these alone can make me blest;
The riches take of east and west,
I claim not these or state.
3
I, too, would wish, to sweeten life
A gentle, kind, good-natur'd wife,
Young, sensible and fair,
One who could love but me alone,
Prefer my cot to any throne,
And soothe my ev'ry care.
4
Thus happy with my wife & friend,
My life I cheerfully would spend,
With no vain thoughts opprest.
If heav'n has bliss for me in store
O grant me this! I ask no more!
And I am truly blest!
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The young man's wish sung by Mr. Lowe, at Marybon Gardens.... [London] [1766] 1 sheet; 1/4E Oxford University Bodleian Harding (MS. date: 1766) A slipsong "Free from the bustle, care and
strife". REFERENCE: ESTCT195566.
Appeared in the Calliope, or the Musical Miscellany, 1788.
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Mozart transcription by Mary Van Deusen
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