Stanza II (lines 21-32) Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And, then, he gives her a huge gigantic "BUT." Ouch. You see, the speaker hears something behind him: "Time’s winged chariot," to be exact.
He’s being chased down by Time’s hybrid car!
He doesn’t say who’s driving, but we can assume it’s probably Time.

And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.

Then, he seems to have a hallucination.
Look, he tells the mistress, look at all this sand. The future is just endless sand.
We’re all going to die.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,

This next part is even creepier.
The speaker tells the mistress that, in the grave, worms will have sex with her.
According to the line, she’s a virgin.

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

In the grave, her "quaint honor" will completely disintegrate.
According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, "quaint" is a euphemism that means "vagina."
So, he’s telling her that she can’t take her virginity with her into the afterlife, and making icky jokes about her vagina.

And into ashes all my lust:

Next, he tells her that if they die without having sex together, his "lust" or desire, will all burn up, with nothing left but the "ashes."
Interestingly, he seems to imply that, if he can’t have sex with her, he won’t have sex at all.

The grave 's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.

He rubs in the whole thing by telling her that coffins are great: they have lots of privacy, but no hugging!