O Death, what art thou? an Husbandman, that reapeth always,
Out of season, as in season, with the sickle in his hand:
O Death, what art thou? the shadow unto every substance,
In the bower as in the battle, haunting night and day:
O Death, what art thou? Nurse of dreamless slumbers
Freshening the fevered flesh to a wakefulness eternal:
O Death, what art thou? strange and solemn Alchymist,
Elaborating life's elixir from these clayey crucibles:
O Death, what art thou? Antitype of Nature's marvels,
The seed and dormant chrysalis bursting into energy and glory.