The Sonnets LXXXVII - Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing
By William Shakespeare
Farewell! thou art too dear 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 riches where is my deserving?
The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
And so my patent back again is swerving.
Thy self thou gavst, thy own worth then not knowing,
Or me to whom thou gavst it, else mistaking;
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.
Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.