A tired man lay down his headin a dusty room so dim,and for so long his wife did shakeand yell to waken him.Meanwhile his thoughts, his dreams, did stirof sandy, red bullfights,of powder-blasts in the airand carnival delights.Yet still his wife was in despairin a dusty room so dim,for she knew death was a whorenot far from tempting him.

Meaning: The saying pictures restrained grief bursting the heart. Its forceful image expresses the pressure of sorrow kept unspoken or unacknowledged.

Meaning: The timing of death cannot be treated as an appointment people can count on controlling. The calendar image expresses uncertainty about life’s duration, encouraging awareness of limits without making a prediction about any individual or demanding constant urgency.

Meaning: Death is imagined as unable to hear objections, so a protest cannot make it negotiate. The saying expresses mortality’s finality rather than a judgment about how someone should feel about loss.

Meaning: Death is named as a certainty against which other expectations seem less secure. The saying invites perspective on finite life, but it gives no information about anyone’s timing or circumstances and should not dismiss fear, grief or the value of present care.