JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<div class="myclass">
    <ul>
        <li><a> first node <i>textContent</i></a></li>
        <li><a>textContent1</a></li>
        <li><a>textContent2</a></li>
        <li><a>textContent3</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>

JavaScript

$(document).on("click", ".myclass ul li", function() {
    var txt = $('i', this).length ? $('i', this).text() : $(this).text();
    alert( txt );
});