1978
The Heart asks—Pleasure first
Composed by 
George Perle
George Perle Text by 
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson Thirteen Dickinson Songs Song Collection
"The Heart asks—Pleasure first" is the eighth song of George Perle's Thirteen Dickinson Songs.
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
George Perle
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
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
Soprano