A Lover's Complaint
Thomas Thorpe printed the 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's Sonnets, placing A Lover's Complaint at its end. This volume appeared in London during a year when many poets sought to publish their work through private presses rather than official guilds. The poem sat alongside one hundred fifty-four sonnets that had circulated in manuscript form for years before this print run. Other writers like Samuel Daniel and Thomas Lodge had appended similar female-voiced complaints to their own sonnet sequences decades earlier. Richard Barnfield included Cassandra after his Cynthia with certaine sonnets in an attempt to follow established literary conventions. Michael Drayton published Matilda the Faire following Ideas Mirrour in 1594 as part of a growing trend among Elizabethan authors. These appendages served as narrative conclusions to collections of short lyrical poems. The structure allowed poets to transition from abstract emotional expression into concrete storytelling. Critics have noted how this format provided a space for extended character development within a single volume.
Forty-seven stanzas of seven lines each make up the entire text of A Lover's Complaint. Each stanza follows the rhyme scheme ABABBCC known as rhyme royal. This metrical pattern matches exactly the meter used in Shakespeare's longer narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece. The consistency suggests deliberate craftsmanship by a poet familiar with classical forms. Words and forms not found elsewhere in Shakespeare appear throughout these forty-seven stanzas including archaisms and Latinisms. Edmond Malone called the poem beautiful while suggesting Shakespeare may have been trying to compete with Edmund Spenser. The repetition of specific rhymes creates a musical quality that echoes through the narrative. An old man nearby approaches the woman weeping at the edge of a river asking why she cries. She responds by telling him of a former lover who pursued seduced and finally abandoned her. Her speech contains phrases like O that infected moisture of his eye which reveal the intensity of her emotions. The rhythm forces readers to pause between lines creating moments of reflection on betrayal and regret.
A young woman weeps at the edge of a river throwing torn-up letters rings and other tokens of love into its current. An old man nearby approaches the woman asking the reason for her sorrow. She responds by telling him of a former lover who pursued seduced and finally abandoned her. He recounts in detail the speech her lover gave to her which seduced her. His words included false fire glowing in his cheek and forc'd thunder flying from his heart. She concludes her story by conceding that she would fall for the young man's false charms again. O all that borrowed motion seeming owed would yet again betray the fore-betray'd. The scene unfolds under natural light as water flows around scattered objects of affection. Tears mix with the river while broken promises float downstream toward an unknown destination. The emotional weight presses against every line of verse as memory floods back over time. A reconciliation seems impossible despite her admission of vulnerability to future deception. The narrative triangle of young woman elderly man and seductive suitor parallels similar triangles found elsewhere in Shakespeare's works.
One writer suggests that the author was an anonymous early Elizabethan poet rather than Shakespeare himself. In 2007 Brian Vickers proposed the poem was written by John Davies of Hereford an author of theological pamphlets. He details arguments for the non-Shakespearean nature of the poem listing numerous verbal parallels between the Complaint and known works of Davies. Phrases like What brest so cold that is not warmed heare appear alongside What heart's so cold that is not set on fire. On this evidence it was omitted from the 2007 RSC Complete Works though many scholars rejected this decision. MacDonald P. Jackson called this omission a mistake stating that Vickers' evidence is very meagre. Harold Love raised similar questions regarding Vickers' suggestion in his review published by The Times Literary Supplement. Some researchers argue these parallels could reflect common literary tropes rather than direct borrowing. Others believe the stylistic differences point toward different hands behind the same narrative framework. The controversy remains unresolved despite decades of academic scrutiny.
The first page of A Lover's Complaint appeared in Shakespeare's Sonnets printed in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe. This volume included one hundred fifty-four sonnets followed immediately by the complaint poem as its final piece. Critics have linked the work to other plays such as All's Well That Ends Well through shared themes of deception and redemption. John Kerrigan described the poem as an appropriate coda to the sonnets with its narrative triangle of young woman elderly man and seductive suitor. Samuel Daniel wrote Complaint to Rosamund following Delia in 1592 while Thomas Lodge composed Complaint of Elstred after Phillis in 1593. Michael Drayton published Matilda the Faire after Ideas Mirrour in 1594 creating a pattern among Elizabethan poets. Richard Barnfield added Cassandra after Cynthia with certaine sonnets to complete his sequence. These appendages allowed writers to explore deeper emotional landscapes beyond short lyrical forms. Modern editions continue to include the poem alongside the main body of sonnets for study purposes. Scholars examine how it functions both independently and within the larger collection structure.
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Common questions
When was A Lover's Complaint first printed by Thomas Thorpe?
Thomas Thorpe printed the 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's Sonnets, placing A Lover's Complaint at its end. This volume appeared in London during a year when many poets sought to publish their work through private presses rather than official guilds.
What is the rhyme scheme used in each stanza of A Lover's Complaint?
Forty-seven stanzas of seven lines each make up the entire text of A Lover's Complaint and follow the rhyme scheme ABABBCC known as rhyme royal. This metrical pattern matches exactly the meter used in Shakespeare's longer narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece.
Who wrote the poem A Lover's Complaint according to modern scholarly consensus?
Stanley Wells and Paul Edmondson note that Shakespeare is widely accepted as the poems' author today. Kenneth Muir Eliot Slater and MacDonald P. Jackson wrote studies supporting Shakespeare as the poems' author despite earlier doubts raised by Hazlitt in the early 19th century.
Why did Brian Vickers suggest John Davies of Hereford wrote A Lover's Complaint?
In 2007 Brian Vickers proposed the poem was written by John Davies of Hereford an author of theological pamphlets. He details arguments for the non-Shakespearean nature of the poem listing numerous verbal parallels between the Complaint and known works of Davies.
How many stanzas are there in the complete text of A Lover's Complaint?
Forty-seven stanzas of seven lines each make up the entire text of A Lover's Complaint. Each stanza follows the rhyme scheme ABABBCC known as rhyme royal which creates a musical quality that echoes through the narrative.