'Desert' in the Bible

What is this coming up from the desert like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

(The Bridegroom)“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling,How very beautiful!Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove;Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goatsThat have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].

Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? Under theapple tree I awakened you. There your mother had gone into labor with you; there she went into labor and gave birth to you.