Man has a soul of vast desires

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General information

This is an hymn by Isaac Watts, his Hymn 146 of Book 2, published 1709, entitled The vanity of creatures, or, No rest on earth, with four stanzas.

Settings by composers

William Billings — Scituate English SATB
Jacob French — Coventry English SATB
Susanna Heath — Moriston English SATB
Oliver Holden — Seclusion English STB

Text and translations

English text

Man has a soul of vast desires,
He burns within with restless fires;
Tossed to and fro, his passions fly
From vanity to vanity.

In vain on earth we hope to find
Some solid good to fill the mind;
We try new pleasures, but we feel
The inward thirst and torment still.

So when a raging fever burns,
We shift from side to side by turns,
And 'tis a poor relief we gain,
To change the place, but keep the pain.

Great God, subdue this vicious thirst,
This love to vanity and dust;
Cure the vile fever of the mind,
And feed our souls with joys refined.