A Lover's Complaint

The first page of "A Lover's Complaint" from Shakespeare's Sonnets, 1609

"A Lover's Complaint" is a narrative poem written by William Shakespeare, and published as part of the 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's Sonnets. It was published by Thomas Thorpe.

“A Lover’s Complaint” is an example of the female-voiced complaint, that is frequently appended to sonnet sequences. Other examples include Samuel Daniel’s “Complaint to Rosamund”, which follows Daniel's Delia (1592), Thomas Lodge’s “Complaint of Elstred”, which follows Phillis (1593), Michael Drayton’s “Matilda the Faire”, which follows Ideas Mirrour (1594), and Richard Barnfield’s “Cassandra”, which follows The Affectionate Shepherd.