This article examines how rite contributes to an anthropology of time, especially time considered as long and composite in it’s relation with death. The rite appears as a crucible and as a vehicle for establishing connections or symbolism. Walking is suggested as an example of an everyday activity that may become for a seriously ill person a ritual of shared meaning with others in preparation for death. Three new representations of death are also discussed : death as solving a problem with life, as a rejection of the body and as a denial of violence. The transition from the good to the fine death reveals a relationship with time : we would therefore move away from a good death, one that is timely, towards a fine death, which happens when the dying person agrees to welcome it.