The Heart asks—Pleasure first

"The Heart asks—Pleasure first" is the eighth song of George Perle's Thirteen Dickinson Songs.

Date: 1978Composer: George PerleText: Emily DickinsonSong Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs

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Text

The Heart asks—Pleasure first
by Emily Dickinson

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.

Sheet Music

Thirteen Dickinson Songs

Composer(s): George Perle

Song(s): 1. Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower
2. I Like to see it lap the miles
3. I know some lonely Houses off the road
4. There came a Wind like a Bugle
5. Beauty—be not caused—It is
6. The Wind—tapped like a tired Man
7. These are the days when Birds come back
8. The Heart asks—Pleasure first
9. What if I say I shall not wait!
10. If I’m lost—now
11. The Loneliness One dare not sound
12. Under the Light, yet under
13. She bore it till the simple veins

Voice Type: Soprano

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