In this tale, the lover speaks of the sun, moon, flowers, and cypress as figurative garments for describing the beloved. An uninformed listener mistakes this coded speech for aimless talk because he understands each image literally. The lover explains that readers acquainted with the language of love recognize the single beloved behind these varied forms.

The passage illustrates how poetic imagery can simultaneously reveal and conceal: it communicates the beloved's qualities to perceptive readers while protecting the lover's secret from outsiders. Its central distinction is therefore not between sacred and ordinary objects, but between literal hearing and interpretive understanding.