# Consolation explained — The Book of Jade

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

## What happens

The speaker reflects on the singular consolation amidst all sorrows: the certainty that death will ultimately claim all of earth, bringing a final quietness and peace to all who once struggled and wearied.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Decay

The poem centers on death as the ultimate fate of all, with imagery of burials, sepulchres, and a world made quiet by death.

### Nihilism and Spiritual Emptiness

The consolation is found in the annihilation of all striving and weariness, suggesting a nihilistic peace in universal death.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who has known many sorrows and finds solace in the inevitability of death.

### Death

Personified as the throne upon which earth will rest, ruling over the buried nations.

## Key lines

> Among all sorrows that my heart hath known, Among all sorrows that my spirit keep Forever buried ’neath their mountains steep, Standeth one consolation, one alone.

Out of all the griefs I have experienced and hidden deep within me, there is only one comfort that stands out.

_The speaker introduces the singular consolation that will be elaborated in the poem._

> I know that earth shall be for death a throne, And evermore within their burials deep The banded nations of the earth shall sleep, Sunken in sepulchres of sculptur’d stone.

I am certain that death will rule over the earth, and all the peoples of the world will lie forever in carved stone tombs.

_The speaker's consolation is the certainty of death's dominion over all humanity._

> Then all the world shall be a quietness: Dead women beautiful with their delights; All they that had such striving and distress, And endless weariness in all the lands, White faces, eager heart-strings, soiled hands; And peace shall hold the valleys and the heights.

The entire world will become silent: dead women still lovely with their pleasures; everyone who struggled, suffered, and grew tired, with pale faces, passionate hearts, and dirty hands; and peace will cover everything, low and high.

_The final vision of universal death brings a peaceful quiet, ending all human effort and weariness._

## Links

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