Sonnet 87
1. Farewell thou art too dear for my possessing,
2. And like enough thou know'st thy estimate,
3. The Charter of thy worth gives thee releasing:
4. My bonds in thee are all determinate.
5. For how do I hold thee but by thy granting,
6. And for that riches where is my deserving?
7. The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
8. And so my patent back again is swerving.
9. Thyself thou gavest, thy own worth then not knowing,
10. Or me, to whom thou gavest it, else mistaking,
11. So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
12. Comes home again, on better judgment making.
13. Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,
14. In sleep a King, but waking no such matter.
In Sleep A King
Dedication: To Elizabeth
Another in this series of farewells to Elizabeth, with suggestions that he is the source of too great a cost to her. Thus the end of his dream and why only in “Sleep a King”. In addition with further suggestions that his departure enables the return home of Henry whose referenced by the “great gift upon misprision growing”.
1st Quatrain: (1-4)
Telling Elizabeth farwell. That she knows her value in line 2. That her special privilege provides for her release from him in line 3. That the bonds to him are all determinate (of Henry recognition?) and thus ended.
2nd Quatrain: (5-8)
Playing on granting in line 5 of her love and of her decision of Henry's recognition. Though questioning his own deserving of her love and more importantly of the riches of his most desired objective.Rhetorically asking the purpose of the "fair gift" (Henry) in 7. Suggesting a change in direction for him, i.e. giving up his objective.
3rd Quatrain: (9-12)
When she gave herself to him she must not have considered her own destiny in line 9. Or in line 10 telling her it must have been his own mistake to have received her love. In line 11, "thy great gift" (Henry) is "upon misprision growing", i.e., is neglected yet he must be of an age still growing perhaps in his late teens.
couplet (13-14),
Reminiscing on their relationship and ending with the very revealing clue that Oxford dreamed himself a King. I really think Oxford believed he was married to Elizabeth. This was probably the reason he refused to consummate the marriage with his own wife.
Commentary:
This sonnet is one of despair for Oxford expressing giving up his expectation of seeing both himself and his son made King. How long an interval there is between this and the next sonnet would be desirable to know. Though the next sonnet does begin gently discussing Henry’s virtues as seen by Elizabeth, which was no doubt a way of reinvigorating the discussion. And while the Orthodoxy would argue that the sonnets break at 126 and in a sense they do with a more tempered message. I find that the break after this sonnet is actually more contrasting in the poet’s message, as his poems will become almost entirely a call for Elizabeth’s renewal through Henry
That the poet is mysteriously dreaming of being a king should greatly surprise and perplex those who haven’t been following along. This is an odd allusion to make seemingly out of no where.
This poem initially struck me as written to fair youth that traditional scholarship supposes. However the several clues of which the dream of being a king, already mentioned, and the “great gift upon misprision growing” as a third person reference to Henry are too clear. Indeed it suggests that he had not given up on his hopes so much for Henry as on his own hopes of playing any part in Henry’s recognition. It should make more sense in light of the pronouncements about his own identity to come and as well have such a direct and important impact on the story of how Shakespeare came to be known as someone very different from who he was as I hope you’ll see in the second part of this book.
Charter in line 3 is likely a proper noun because it is meant to suggest a Royal charter. It was by royal charter that several monarchs used to legitimize and deny succession of various lines. See note.
The patent in line 8 is the thing one alone can use (monopoly) and the direction of this usage seems not to be determinant (inconstant) like the usage of swerving in King Henry V (II, ii).
The misprision in line 11 alludes to both the concealment and the crime being committed in Henry's treatment.
Vendler suggests that besides sonnet 20, this sonnet is Shakespeare’s “chief experiment in feminine endings”. The chief problem I have with this, is that this is the notion that the sonnets in general are experiments. This notion has become ingrained and enshrined wisdom and convention, and it belies the misunderstanding of these poems. They were not written as an exercise, they have a very real purpose which to the poet is his most important and personal objective in life. That masculine and feminine rhymes exist in these poems is much more likely a fit for the subject that they are addressed to. Though it is dangerous ascribing such gender based ascriptions to Elizabeth for she was seen as having masculine traits and was often referred to as prince. In fact Oxford referred to her this way several times in his letters. She comments that the king reference in the couplet was for the mere excuse of something close to “aching” aurally.
Note:
The royal charter of Richard II in 1397 and a codicil added by Henry IV that was ultimately ignored allowed Elizabeth's grandfather to become king and provide for her own succession.