How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #1
POSTHUMUS
You gentle gods, give me but this I have,
And sear up my embracements from a next
With bonds of death. (1.1.135-137)
From the beginning, the lovers are aware of death. Posthumus promises he won't give away the ring until he's dead. In a way, that's true: he gives the ring up once he believes his marriage is dead.
Quote #2
IMOGEN
There cannot be a pinch in death
More sharp than this is. (1.1.155-156)
At seeing Posthumus leave, Imogen is immediately struck with a pain greater than death—or so she thinks. It won't be too long before she knows the torment (pinch) of death herself. It's curious how she's fixated on death right away, even before her troubles really begin, as if being in love gives her a special, more immediate connection with death.
Quote #3
CORNELIUS
Those she has
Will stupefy and dull the sense awhile,
Which first perchance, she'll prove on cats and dogs,
Then afterward up higher. But there is
No danger in what show of death it makes,
More than the locking-up the spirits a time,
To be more fresh, reviving. (1.5.43-49)
Cornelius tells us all about the potion he's made for the Queen. We can't help but wonder why we're given this description: could it be a foreshadowing of what will happen later in the play?