Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
William Shakespeare. 15641616153. Sonnets ix
FAREWELL! thou art too dear for my possessing, | |
And like enough thou know’st 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? | 5 |
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. | |
Thyself thou gav’st, thy own worth then not knowing, | |
Or me, to whom thou gav’st it, else mistaking; | 10 |
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing, | |
Comes home again, on better judgment making. | |
Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter | |
In sleep a King; but waking, no such matter. |