The woman's slowness in responding has meant that her beloved has turned and gone. In response she literally says, My soul went out,
as if her essence had gone out in pursuit of him. So, we might say in today’s words, that she nearly died.1
The young woman is distraught at the fact that a sense of emotional and relational distance has entered her marriage because of failed intimacy.
6 J'ai ouvert à mon bien-aimé; Mais mon bien-aimé s'en était allé, il avait disparu. J'avais le souffle coupé, quand il me parlait. Je l'ai cherché, et je ne l'ai point trouvé; Je l'ai appelé, et il ne m'a point répondu.