# Parfait Amour explained — The Book of Jade

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

## What happens

The speaker addresses a beloved whose physical beauty is overshadowed by a profound sadness and sinfulness, which paradoxically deepens the speaker's devotion. The beloved is described with imagery of death and decay, and their love is framed as a sacred yet morbid union, culminating in a kiss that merges with Death itself.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Decay

The beloved's beauty is tied to corruption, and the speaker kisses 'the holy lips of Death,' equating love with mortality.

### Sin and Moral Transgression

The beloved's soul is described as 'sinful unto the core,' and this sinfulness is the very reason for the speaker's binding love.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who declares his love bound to the beloved's sinfulness and sorrow.

### Death

Personified as the ultimate object of the speaker's kiss, conflated with the beloved.

## Key lines

> Thy bosom is an altar-place, Thy kisses holy wine; Sweet incense offer’d for my bliss Is thy corrupted breath, And on thy stained lips I kiss The holy lips of Death!

The beloved's body becomes a sacred site for worship, where the speaker's pleasure is derived from decay, and the kiss ultimately unites him with Death.

_This passage explicitly merges erotic devotion with death and corruption, central to the poem's theme._

## Links

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