EVENT
Death is personified as an event and described as having dominion over the deceased, with the room and bed depicted as its altar. The passage reflects on the inevitability and impartiality of death, contrasting it with the virtues of the deceased.
DEATH
Oh, cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command; for this is thy dominion! But of the loved, revered, and honoured head thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious.