How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
A lightning before death: O, how may I
Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. Romeo asks himself what he is feeling as he prepares to take his life alongside the body of his wife and love Juliet. Often men at the point of death experience happiness or "lightning before death," Romeo says. But he questions how he can possibly feel "lightning."