A Lover's Complaint Summary
William Shakespeare

A Lover's Complaint Overview

A Lover's Complaint is a long narrative poem by William Shakespeare. It was published alongside Shakespeare's sonnets in the 1609 quarto. At the time, it was quite usual for sonnet collections to include a longer poem on similar themes. The poem consists of 47 stanzas in rhyme royale, a similar form to Shakespeare's other long narrative poem, The Rape of Lucrece. It tells the story of a young woman who, having been seduced and betrayed by a man, is struggling to deal with the aftermath of their relationship.