From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,

We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be

That no life lives forever;

That dead men rise up never;

That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

—A. C. SWINBURNE, “The Garden of Proserpine”

Everybody dies.

—JOHN GARFIELD in Body and Soul

Everybody dies.

—RANDY NEWMAN, “Old Man”

At the door of life, by the gate of breath,

There are worse things waiting for men than death.

—SWINBURNE, “The Triumph of Time”