# Nocturne explained — The Book of Jade

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

## What happens

The speaker invites a beloved to leave the weary, sorrowful world behind and sail to a distant, eternal land where all suffering ends and they can be together forever.

## Themes in this chapter

### Orientalism and Exotic Escapism

The poem describes a far-off, idealized land with tropic shores, larger moons, and golden castles, offering escape from the dreary world.

### Nihilism and Spiritual Emptiness

The speaker dismisses worldly striving as vanity and seeks a transcendent realm beyond mortal sorrow.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who yearns to escape the world with the beloved.

### Lo

The beloved addressed throughout the poem, invited to journey to a dreamlike land.

## Key lines

> Come thou with me, beloved, Out of the world and its seeming, Where all things are only dreaming, And shadows all we know;

Leave the illusory world with me, where everything is fleeting and unreal.

_The speaker urges departure from a world of mere appearances._

> Here where what man hath desired, He shall not find forever, But ever and only ever Unending vanity;

In this world, no one ever attains lasting satisfaction; all is futile.

_Expresses the theme of vanity of human endeavor._

> There, O my one beloved, Through twilight never-closing, We two shall sit reposing, Forever, thou with me;

In that eternal twilight, we will rest together forever.

_Envisions a timeless, peaceful afterlife with the beloved._

## Links

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