A Lover's Complaint : Summary
Introduction:
'A Lover's Complaint' is a narrative poem by Shakespeare. It was published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609 as a part the quarto of William Shakespeare's Sonnets.
The poem counts a total of 329 lines divided into 47 stanzas written in rhyme royal i.e., ABABBCC rhyme scheme.
Summary:
The poet overhears from hillside the woeful cries of a lady in some distance and he follows the sound to discover the source of it. A strange maid seems deliberately upset found nearby a river. Despite her agony, she looks though very young. Her face is pale and gaunt and she is crying helpless into her kerchief. She tears the love letters and breaks the rings and throws them into the river.
An old shepherd rising up from the river and offers to lend his ears to her problems. She agrees and tells him her story. There was a young man who had a fascinating appearance and any woman saw him at once fell into his love. Many a woman fell into him and ready to give them to him even when he wasn't interested in them. His appearance and his curly hair attracted many towards him. He attracted both the sexes because he was so skilled in many interests. He was exceptionally good at horse riding. He was very skilled in speech that he could make a laugher to weep and a weeper to laugh. Despite all these, he had a dark history behind him. He was untrue and proved treacherous to many women who hold his illegitimate children in their womb.
The maid says the old shepherd that she could resist her feelings toward the young man for sometime. But finally her appetite overcame reason when he besieged her. He offered to give her all the love tokens and other treasures which other women gave him. Before she met him, the oral knowledge about him hadn't had much impact on her. But when he appeared before her, she couldn't resist herself giving to him, she gave up all her pledges. Love conquered everything. His tear, however, again proved infectious and it poisoned her chastity. He could touch any extreme to achieve his goal. He had hidden everything into his poisonous tears. He was able to deceive anyone with his fascinating appearance.
