I meant to have but modest needs,
\nSuch as content, and heaven;
\nWithin my income these could lie,
\nAnd life and I keep even.<\/p>\n
But since the last included both,
\nIt would suffice my prayer
\nBut just for one to stipulate,
\nAnd grace would grant the pair.<\/p>\n
And so, upon this wise I prayed, —
\nGreat Spirit, give to me
\nA heaven not so large as yours,
\nBut large enough for me.<\/p>\n
A smile suffused Jehovah’s face;
\nThe cherubim withdrew;
\nGrave saints stole out to look at me,
\nAnd showed their dimples, too.<\/p>\n
I left the place with all my might, —
\nMy prayer away I threw;
\nThe quiet ages picked it up,
\nAnd Judgment twinkled, too,<\/p>\n
That one so honest be extant
\nAs take the tale for true
\nThat “Whatsoever you shall ask,
\nItself be given you.”<\/p>\n
But I, grown shrewder, scan the skies
\nWith a suspicious air, —
\nAs children, swindled for the first,
\nAll swindlers be, infer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"