Solomon's reference to his bride as being an "enclosed" garden is indicative of the sacred and private aspects of their intimacy. The gardens of many of the ancients were surrounded by walls and hedges for privacy. Often these walls were composed of a tangle of brambles , thorns or canes to prevent intrusion. The doors were also equipped with wooden bolt locks for security. (Unger, 457) Such imagery beautifully illustrates the fact that the Shulamite's love is exclusively for the king. Furthermore, the "springs" and "fountain" of her sexual love are sealed and shut up from all, except for Solomon. Undoubtedly, Solomon uses such images as emblems of sexual love for he later asserts:
I am come into my garden,
my sister , my spouse: I
have gathered my myrrh with
my spice; I have eaten my
honeycomb with my honey; I
Have drunk my wine with my milk... (Dakes, 678)
This passage is often regarded by exegetes as the consummation scene of Solomon and his beloved bride. His choice of the garden imagery as symbols amorous love is abundantly clear. In The Pistel of Swete Susan, the medieval poet makes similar use of the garden metaphor. Here, the poet capitalizes on the natural garden setting of the biblical story of Susan and the Elders. In The Pistel of Swete Susan Joakim's natural garden is symbolic of Susan, his beautiful bride. Though the poet never specifically calls Susan a garden, as Solomon did his Shulamite bride, the symbolism is strongly implied by the poet's choice to juxtapose the image of the beautiful maiden with an elaborate garden setting. In this sense, Susan's natural beauty mirrors the natural beauty of Joakim's garden. Unlike the biblical account of Susan and the elders, the Swete Susan poet fully develops the garden imagery for the expressed purpose of painting a vibrant picture of the lady's virtue and radiance.
In line 65 of the poem , the poet begins his description of Joakim's fine garden:
In the season of somere with Sibel and Jone
Heo greithed hire til hire gardin, that growed so grene,
Ther lyndes and lordes were lent upon lone,
The savyne and sypres, selouth to sene,
The palme and the poplere, the pirie, the plone,
The juipere jentel, jonyn bitwene,
The rose ragged on rys, richest on rone...(SS,66-72)