This chapter opens with a soliloquy by Petrarch in which he laments the fact that the sun is not rising above him, and that it is not up to him to decide when he will die. He tells us that he has been preparing for his death ever since he was born. The sun is rising, he says, and he is afraid that it will be the last moment before the god of destruction returns. He says that the city of Ugart will be fortified with thousands of men to guard against the god's return. When the god returns, the city will be in ruins. He will not be able to escape, however, because he is the "hattian" that the god spared. Petrarch says that he will go to the city's architect and inform him of the situation. The architect should not be in the city, because the god has marked him with the mark of darkness