Question

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?

Answer 1

They will try to delay their death, because their works that they had done in this world had not impacted the world in a big way. Therefore, they will stay here until they do something great that cause "lightning".

Answer 2

I believe that this means that even though they know that they're eventually going to die, they don't want to until they have done something that's impacted the world in a big way, causing them to fight against death.