# Song of Golden Youth explained — The Book of Jade

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

## What happens

The speaker rejects sadness and embraces hedonistic pleasures—wine, laughter, kisses, and love—while mocking virtues and laws. He celebrates a cosmopolitan, carefree existence across global cities, yet hints at underlying ennui and the approach of evening, marked by the ritual of absinthe.

## Themes in this chapter

### Ennui and Existential Dread

Despite the celebration of youth and pleasure, the speaker admits to ennuis that Lili's lullabies soothe, and the poem ends with the approach of the 'sacred hour of absinthe,' suggesting underlying emptiness.

### Orientalism and Exotic Escapism

The speaker invokes Persian ghazals, girls from Persia/India/China, and cities like Shanghai and Benares, using exotic imagery as a form of escapist fantasy.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who declares a turn from sadness to hedonistic joy, addressing the Muse and celebrating love, laughter, and Lili.

### Lili

The beloved who brings lullabies to the speaker's ennui, though her heart may prove cruel, prompting thoughts of dancing with other girls.

## Key lines

> Bring the jars of old Falernum, bring the roses ere they die!

Fetch the wine and flowers before they wither.

_A call to seize immediate pleasure before time erases it._

> All the laws and regulations under scornful feet we tread, We laugh loud at all the virtues underneath the shining sky;

We trample on rules and mock morality openly.

_The speaker embraces a rebellious, amoral stance against societal norms._

> And the sacred hour of absinthe now is very very nigh.

The ritual time for drinking absinthe is almost here.

_Ends the poem with a shift from exuberance to a darker, ritualistic consumption._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters/part-i-song-of-golden-youth
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_jade_se/chapters