In this verse line, death is personified. It appears as a man, as gendered by Oliver. He comes to buy the poet’s life with the “bright coins” that he possesses. It implies a sense of need on death’s part. There is no room for canceling the transaction. The price humans pay is non-refundable. Only death could pay (or knows) the value of life. It is paid in the terms of “bright coins” that come to no use after the transaction is done.