Then does Sulamith rise up, pressing her palms hard against her breasts,
and whispers in affright:

"My sister sleeps--I fear to awaken her."

She irresolutely dons her sandals, puts a light chiton upon her naked
body, throws a vail over it, and opens the door, leaving marks of myrrh
upon the handles of the lock. But there is no longer anyone upon the
road that glimmers whitely in its solitude between the dark bushes in
the gray murk of morning. The beloved had not waited, and was gone; not
even his steps were to be heard. The moon has dwindled and paled, and
floats on high. In the east, above the waves of the mountains, the sky
is putting on a chilly pink before the dawn. In the distance the walls
and towers of Jerusalem glimmer whitely.

"My beloved! King of my life!" Sulamith calls into the humid darkness.
"I am here. I await thee.... Return!"

But none responds.

"I will run upon the highway; I shall, I shall overtake my beloved,"
Sulamith says to herself. "I will go about the city in the streets and
in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. O that thou wert
as my brother, that sucked the breast of my mother! When I should find
thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would
lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house. Thou wouldst instruct
me; I would cause thee to drink of the juice of my pomegranates. I
charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell
him I am smitten by love."

Thus does she commune with herself, and with light, docile steps runs
upon the road toward the city. At the Dung Gates near the wall, two
watchmen that had gone about the city at night are sitting and dozing
in the chill of the morning. They awaken and stare with astonishment at
the running girl. The younger arises and blocks her way with outstretched
arms.

"Stay, stay, thou fair!" exclaims he with laughter. "Whither so fast?
Thou hast passed the night on the sly in the bed of thy dear and art yet
warm from his embraces; whereas we have been chilled through by the
dampness of the night. It would be but fair if thou wert to sit a while
with us."

The elder also arises and wants to embrace Sulamith. He does not laugh;
he breathes heavily, fast, and with wheezing; he is licking his blue
lips with his tongue. His face, made hideous by great scars of healed
leprosy, seems frightful in the pallid murk. He speaks in a voice hoarse
and snuffling:

"Yea, of a truth.