The time scale of The Song of Songs is unclear. If the language is taken as pure metaphor the romance between the two speakers could be a very fast one, but if only a portion of the imagery is allegorical then Dodi and Rayati would have to spend potentially months apart. Whether their separation is brief or lengthy, the two lovers definitely demonstrate a shift in their language in the second chapter of the poem. There is an intensity in the words where in Chapter 1 there was only allure and curiosity. Their desire for one another escalates to the breaking point, but in Chapter 2 the lovers have not yet consummated their relationship.

The chapter opens with Dodi and Rayati speaking more or less at the same time. Were The Song to be sung as a duet, both singers would likely be singing two parts of the same measure. Rayati begins by describing herself as "A rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys", which contrasts with Dodi's origins in the hills or perhaps beyond them. What is clear is that the two of them don't live in the same region, or at least that they both feel sufficiently separated from one another to liken unto such a separation. Perhaps they see themselves as being of two different nationalities, though they are both firmly Judaic/Canaanite in culture. Apart from one another, they describe each other as special, unique to those around them. Rayati is called "a lily among the thorns" and Dodi a lone apple tree in a grove of plain trees. In the religious reading, this passage describes the relationship between God and Israel as being exclusive to the rest of the world and being sweeter for it.

In their separation, the lovers fantasize about one another. Rayati imagines Dodi holding her in bed, with special attention paid to the description of his right and left hands. The image of the right and left hands of God are significant in Jewish mysticism, with the right hand representing Chesed (God's kindness) and the left representing Gevurah (God's strength). In the religious reading of The Song, Rayati, representing Israel, hopes for both the blessing and the protection of Dodi, representing God.

When Dodi returns from over the mountains, he comes to visit Rayati and implores her to come away with him. Their separation, if literal, seems to have been because of the winter. Dodi reasons that just like the coming of spring results in the blossoming of the fields, the returns of wildlife and the celebration of people, the new season should also result in the advancement of the lovers' relationship. It is in this segment that one of the most famous lines of the poem is found. Speaking together, at least as it seems in the text, Dodi and Rayati say, "Let us catch the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards, for our vineyards are in bloom". Once again, the vineyard is used as a metaphor for happiness and prosperity. The lovers are expressing their readiness to move past all the obstacles between them. The time for hesitation has passed for them. In this passage, they are doing nothing less than conspiring to meet under cover of darkness.

There is a sense of danger to this story, of two young people flouting convention and tradition to be together. It is a very progressive piece of literature. If it is a secular story of two young lovers it is at least partially illicit and if it is an allegory about the relationship between God and Israel, then it posits that relationship as one in peril, even a forbidden one.