The poem also addresses the idea of art as a way of preserving one's memory. The speaker says, "When from hence I shall be gone at last / Then the World that loved me once may see / What I was, and be mine enemy." This suggests that the speaker believes that his art will allow him to continue to exist in some way after he has died. He is also aware that the world may turn against him after he is gone but believes that his art will ensure that he is remembered.
The final lines of the poem are particularly poignant. The speaker says, "Thus all things have their end, such as began, / Our life is but a span." This suggests that the speaker is aware of the fleeting nature of life and that he is trying to find a way to come to terms with his own mortality. The poem ends with the speaker saying, "O then so chaste and wise men were, / That neither wealth, nor fame, / Nor love nor lust did tempt them here / Till they approv'd their shame." This suggests that the speaker believes that the only way to achieve true peace is to renounce worldly desires and to live a life of chastity and wisdom.
Donne's poem "His Picture" is a powerful and moving meditation on themes of mortality and art. The speaker's awareness of his own mortality and his attempts to preserve something of himself through his art are both deeply moving, and the poem ends with a sense of resignation and acceptance of the fleeting nature of life.