The poet's chosen modus vivendi is that of Socrates: the unexamined life is not worth living: "When it's over, I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. / I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." This poem is more an exuberant declaration of the wonderment to be discovered in the natural world than in the religious experience of the Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross, who uses much the same language. Both poets share the belief that the spiritual is inherent in everything around us. If we do not discover it, it is our fault and our loss. "When Death Comes" is a wonderful poem about life. It would provide a fruitful comparison with Emily Dickinson's various death poems.