You remember Keats' poem that runs: "When I have fears that I will cease to exist", etc... What's the poem about? I think fear of disaster goes back originally to Noah who lived under the fear that is symbolised by the deluge, hence he built a ship. I think the Noahian fear of imminent menace is part of the human psyche, collectively and indivisually. This fear of imminent menace is coupled with the sense of nearing to the end. "Nearly finished", says Christ on the cross, and when asked about the end (alsaa'a) Mohammed brought his index and thumb to the point they nearly touched and he said, "As near as this". No playwright portrays this hunch of fear of coming to the end like Harold Pinter does in whose plays there is always the menace of losing what one possesses. There is no guarantee that the woman who is in your bed tonight will stay as she is in the following morning. There is no guarantee that one will retain his health, money and social life as they are now. In Metamorphosis Franz Kafka depicts this theme when he makes his character Gregor Samsa transform from a human into a cockroach. On the other hand, when Adam and Eve were dismissed from Eden, they thought it was going to be a couple of hours, days no longer. It was Cain who after 70 years discovered it was going to be a long story so he ordered music and dance and festivity to while away the time till going back