My beloved, continues the lover, is unto me as a cluster of cypress. She only partially expresses herself; it is as though she said: He is only near to me, for I have not the blessedness of that intimate union by which He would dwell wholly in me, and I in Him. He is nevertheless near to me but as a cluster of cypress (a shrub producing a very fragrant balm), since it is He only who gives odor and value to everything that is done by those who love Him. This cluster grows in the vineyards of Engaddi, which are very beautiful, and the grapes of which are excellent. She compares her Well-beloved to the pleasant fragrance and excellent virtue of balsam, to the delight and strength of wine, to express by these images that he, who has learned from the interior enjoyment of God to put his pleasure in Him, can no longer find delight in anything else; and that we no sooner seek any other source of satisfaction than we lose that which is divine.