While, Iris, I at distance gaze

Aphra Behn's While, Iris, I at distance gaze

Aphra Behn (1640–1689) remains one of the most significant literary figures of the Restoration period, not only for her contributions to drama and prose but also for her poetry, which articulates the complexities of love, desire, and power with remarkable emotional depth. Her poem "While, Iris, I at distance gaze" is a poignant exploration of unrequited love, blending classical conventions of Petrarchan longing with a distinctly Restoration-era sensibility. Through its vivid imagery, emotional intensity, and interplay of hope and despair, the poem captures the paradox of love as both an ennobling and destructive force. This analysis will examine the poem’s thematic concerns, its engagement with Restoration-era gender dynamics, its use of literary devices, and its place within Behn’s broader oeuvre.

Thematic Concerns: Love, Suffering, and the Paradox of Desire

At its core, "While, Iris, I at distance gaze" is a meditation on the agony of unreciprocated love. The speaker, presumably Behn herself or a poetic persona, addresses Iris—a name that evokes both the Greek goddess of the rainbow (a messenger between gods and mortals) and the ephemeral nature of the beloved’s affection. The poem’s opening lines establish a dynamic of voyeuristic longing:

"While, Iris, I at distance gaze,
And feed my greedy eyes,"

The act of gazing becomes both sustenance and torment, as the speaker’s "wounded heart" cannot be satisfied by mere looking. This tension between fulfillment and deprivation is central to the poem. The speaker acknowledges that "Hope is the food of love-sick minds," suggesting that love thrives on anticipation rather than possession—a concept deeply rooted in Petrarchan tradition, where the unattainable beloved serves as both muse and tormentor.

Yet Behn complicates this tradition by introducing a paradox: while love refines the "nobler part" of the soul, it also brings suffering that cannot be digested—that is, fully processed or overcome. The poem thus interrogates the Renaissance ideal of courtly love, questioning whether the lover’s suffering is truly ennobling or merely destructive.

Restoration Context: Gender and Power in Love Poetry

Behn’s work must be understood within the cultural and literary landscape of the Restoration, a period marked by both libertine excess and rigid gender expectations. As one of the first professional female writers in England, Behn navigated a male-dominated literary sphere, often subverting conventional love poetry by foregrounding female desire and agency.

In "While, Iris, I at distance gaze," the speaker’s abjection before Iris—"Yet at your feet while thus I lie"—could be read as a performance of traditional masculine Petrarchan suffering. However, given Behn’s frequent engagement with female perspectives, it is possible that the speaker is female, thus queering the conventional dynamic of the male poet lamenting an unattainable woman. If so, the poem becomes a radical assertion of female desire in a society that often silenced women’s erotic expression.

Moreover, Iris is described in terms that evoke both allure and cruelty:

"When from her lovely cruel eyes,
I found I was undone."

This duality aligns with Restoration portrayals of women as both objects of desire and agents of destruction—a trope seen in the era’s fascination with femmes fatales, such as those in John Dryden’s plays. Yet Behn’s treatment is more nuanced; the speaker does not condemn Iris but instead embraces suffering as a form of devotion. This complicates the power dynamic, suggesting that the lover’s submission is both voluntary and, paradoxically, a kind of agency.

Literary Devices: Imagery, Paradox, and Emotional Intensity

Behn’s poem is rich in imagery that conveys both the ecstasy and torment of love. The metaphor of love as a tempest—

"The flood would swell, the tempest rise,
As my despair came on;"

—evokes the uncontrollable nature of passion, aligning with the Baroque fascination with emotional extremes. The flood and tempest imagery also recalls classical and Renaissance depictions of love as a force of nature, as in Ovid’s Amores or Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Paradox is another key device. The speaker claims that it is "far more glorious here to die, / Than gain another prize," elevating suffering into a perverse triumph. This echoes the Christian martyr’s embrace of pain for spiritual reward, but here the devotion is secular, even erotic. The final lines—

"And wish at least to find
As raptured nights, and tender days,
As he to whom you're kind."

—reinforce this paradox: the speaker envies the rival who enjoys Iris’s affection, yet the very act of wishing suggests a masochistic pleasure in longing itself.

Comparative Readings: Behn and Her Contemporaries

Behn’s poem can be fruitfully compared to the works of male contemporaries like John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, whose libertine poetry often mocked Petrarchan conventions. Where Rochester’s "Love and Life" cynically declares, "All my past life is mine no more," rejecting sentimental attachment, Behn’s speaker remains ensnared in desire, refusing to disavow love despite its pains.

A more illuminating comparison might be with Katherine Philips, the "Matchless Orinda," whose Platonic love poetry celebrated chaste female friendship. Behn, by contrast, embraces eroticism, even in its most agonizing forms. This distinction highlights Behn’s unique position as a writer who refused to conform to either Puritanical restraint or cavalier detachment.

Conclusion: The Enduring Power of Behn’s Love Lyric

"While, Iris, I at distance gaze" is a masterful exploration of love’s dual capacity to exalt and destroy. Through its interplay of hope and despair, its vivid natural imagery, and its subtle gender dynamics, the poem transcends its Restoration context to speak to universal human experiences of longing and loss. Behn’s willingness to dwell in emotional extremity—without resorting to cynicism or easy resolution—makes her work resonate across centuries.

In an age where women’s voices were often marginalized, Behn’s poetry asserts the legitimacy of female desire and suffering, reclaiming the love lyric as a space for complex emotional truth. Her poem reminds us that love, even at its most painful, remains a force that defines and refines the self—an idea as compelling today as it was in the seventeenth century.

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