Sonnet 87

Farewell thou art too deare for my possessing,

And like enough thou knowst thy estimate,

The Charter of thy worth gives thee releasing:

My bonds in thee are all determinate.

For how do I hold thee but by thy granting,

And for that ritches where is my deserving?

The cause of this faire guift in me is wanting,

And so my pattent back againe is swerving.

Thy selfe thou gav'st, thy owne worth then not knowing,

Or mee to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking,

So thy great guift upon misprision growing,

Comes home againe, on better iudgement making,

Thus have I had thee as a dreame doth flatter,

In sleepe a King, but waking no such matter.

Commentary

Address to his beloved

A poem of resignation.

The first quatrain is full of legal / monetary terminology: deare, possessing, estimate, Charter, releasing, bonds, determinate. It implies that the love relationship between the poet and the young man is like a contract at law in which each party has reciprocal rights and obligations.

The second quatrain continues the legal jargon, now observing that the poet has no right to the young man's affection, because there is nothing of value in him (the poet) to deserve such an honour.

The third quatrain accepts that the young man probably made a mistake in thinking that the poet was a worthy object for his affection.

The final couplet expresses the sentiment that the poet must have been dreaming!

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