3. though the wise men might “know” that it is time to die, the speaker says that they still fight death because “their words had forked no lightning.” what does this mean

I believe this is saying even though wise men may know that their time is up and they are going to die. They will try to fight death because they feel that their words have not yet altered the world any way or held no meaning to anyone.

Ive seen this! its d : )