A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare

"A Lover's Complaint" by William Shakespeare is a narrative poem published in 1609 alongside Shakespeare's Sonnets. Written in rhyme royal, the poem tells the story of a young woman weeping by a river, casting away tokens of lost love. When an old man approaches, she recounts her seduction and abandonment by a charming but false lover. Despite recognizing his deception, she confesses she would fall for him again, revealing the enduring power of desire over reason. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Title A Lover's Complaint
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lover%27s_Complaint
Credits This etext was prepared by the PG Shakespeare Team,
a team of about twenty Project Gutenberg volunteers.
Reading Level Reading ease score: 61.9 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
Category Text
EBook-No. 1543
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Sep 19, 2025
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 339 downloads in the last 30 days.
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