# Ballad explained — The Book of Jade

> Chapter companion for The Book of Jade by David Park Barnitz.

## What happens

A lady rides through a funereal forest under a strange sky, pursued by throngs of the dead, yet she laughs at their attempts to stop her. She emerges onto a moonlit plain, dismounts by the sea, climbs to her high chamber, undresses, and lies down to sleep as if dead.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Decay

The lady rides through a forest of the dead, with legions of wan corpses attempting to stop her, and she ultimately seeks to slumber like the dead.

### Eroticism and the Femme Fatale

The lady is described with bright holy eyes, red lips like wine, and after undoing her golden stays, she lies naked on her bed, blending sensuality with mortality.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator describes the lady's journey and actions.

### Death

The lady is surrounded by the dead and her journey has a funereal quality, suggesting Death's presence.

## Key lines

> The lady rode ’neath the strange sky’s pall Through the leafy woods funereal

The lady rode under a strange, dark sky through a forest that felt like a funeral.

_Establishes the eerie, deathly atmosphere of the journey._

> She laught to see the dead desire That even now her life should tire

She laughed at the dead who wanted her life to end.

_Shows her defiance and indifference toward death._

> She hath her golden stays undone, And being a little wearied, Hath laid her naked on her bed, Thinking to slumber like the dead.

She unfastened her corset, tired, and lay naked on her bed, intending to sleep as if she were dead.

_Blends erotic vulnerability with a deathlike surrender._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters/part-i-ballad
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters