<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script type='text/javascript'
src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.9.1.js'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(window).load(function(){
var itemName = $('ul li:first').find('a span').text();
console.log(itemName)
});
</script>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li><a href="#"><span>item1</span></a></li>
<li><a href="#"><span>item2</span></a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>