Herrick compares life to a light that gives the body its living colors. When that light wanes, the crimson blush of cheeks and lips fades, much like a sunset draining a sky full of shifting, dappled colors—those “counter-changed tabbies”—into a single, even tone. Death, then, is a dark smudge that wipes away all fresh tinctures from the face. The speaker’s voice is calm and reflective, without sharp grief, which gives the poem a quiet, melancholic grace. The imagery feels intimate and painterly, as if death is a gentle but inevitable softening of the body’s last gleams into a uniform darkness. It’s a brief, visual meditation on how the end of life strips away the warm, varied marks of vitality, leaving only a sombre blank behind.
LIFE IS THE BODY'S LIGHT — Summary
Life is the body's light; which, once declining, Those crimson clouds i' th' cheeks and lips leave shining:- Those counter-changed tabbies in the air, The sun once set, all of one colour are: So, when death comes, fresh tinctures lose their place, And dismal darkness then doth smutch the face.