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
Le Cœur réclame le Plaisir ‑ d'abord
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Le Cœur réclame le Plaisir - d'abord -
Et puis - des Excuses du Chagrin -
Et puis - ces petits Calmants -
Qui émoussent la douleur -
Et puis - de s'endormir -
Et puis - si cela devait être
La volonté de son Inquisiteur
Le privilège de mourir -
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 51