by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The heart asks pleasure ‑ first
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER GER
The heart asks pleasure - first,
And then excuse from pain.
And then those little anodynes
That deaden suffering.
And then, to go to sleep;
And then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The heart", 1920-31, published 1952 [ voice and piano ], from Quiet Airs, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jules Langert (b. 1932), "The heart asks pleasure first", from Three Emily Dickinson Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by George Perle (1915 - 2009), "The heart asks pleasure first" [ voice and piano ], from Thirteen Dickinson Songs, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Keith Rogers (b. 1921), "The heart asks pleasure first", published 1948 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Songs from Emily Dickinson, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le Cœur réclame le Plaisir - d'abord", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40
Erst sucht das Herz die Lust
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Erst sucht das Herz die Lust,
hernach Freiheit von Schmerz;
und dann die kleinen Mittelchen,
die töten jeden Schmerz.
Dann sucht es seinen Schlaf;
und dann, falls dies sollt’ sein
der Wille dessen, der's vernimmt,
die Freiheit heimzugehn.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-16
Line count: 8
Word count: 38