Pugilistic Song

“Man wants but little here below,

     Nor wants that little long,”

A little will a long way go,

     Such is the fighter’s song.

Man longs not for a heavy blow

     Upon his pelt;

And wants but little here below

     The belt.

Sept. 18, ‘98

Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.

Oliver Goldsmith,

The Hermit (Edwin and Angelina),

Ch. 8,  st. 8.