That Time of Year

This poem contains a paradox on lines 10-12, "That on the ashes of his youth doth lie as the deathbed whereon it must expire, consumed with that which it was nourished by." This is in the quatrain about fire. Wood fuels fire and wood burns down to ashes. The ashes then extinguish the flames. In youth, people are full of life and energy. The older one gets, the less energy one has. Death approaches each day. The speaker begins talking about fall, then twilight, and then a fire. Each image portrays a shorter time period. He is getting closer and closer to death.