A couple of questions about expressing someone or something is “dying” in Japanese.

So I know that 死んでいる doesn't mean that someone is "dying", but rather "is already in the state of being dead." I also know that 死にかけている gets across the nuance of someone or something being in the state of "dying", however I'm a little curious as to how this literally translates. Is it something akin to "death is hanging over them"? And if so, how would one say something more poetic in Japanese, something like "the specter/shadow of death is hanging over you"?