From The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
END, n. The position farthest removed on either hand from the
Interlocutor.
The man was perishing apace
Who played the tambourine;
The seal of death was on his face --
'Twas pallid, for 'twas clean.
"This is the end," the sick man said
In faint and failing tones.
A moment later he was dead,
And Tambourine was Bones.
Tinley Roquot