Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This question quotes a line from Alexander Pope's poem, 'Ode on Solitude'. The poem celebrates a life of contentment, peace, and self-sufficiency, away from the ambitions and chaos of public life.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The opening stanza of the poem describes the ideal happy man. The exact lines are:
"Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground."
This means that the happy man's ambitions and desires ('wish') and his responsibilities ('care') are limited to the land he inherited from his father. He does not long for more wealth or power, finding complete satisfaction in his simple, self-contained world.
Step 3: Final Answer:
A happy man's wish and care are bound by a few paternal acres.