desist vs pursue

desist

verb
  • To cease to proceed or act; to stop (often with from). 

pursue

verb
  • To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. 

  • To follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.). 

  • To aim for, go after (a specified objective, situation etc.). 

  • To participate in (an activity, business etc.); to practise, follow (a profession). 

  • To act as a legal prosecutor. 

How often have the words desist and pursue occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )