Sonnet 87
Encyclopedia
Sonnet 87 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare
. It's a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.
Shakespeare says, in essence, that the Fair Youth is so much better than he is that Shakespeare can't possibly deserve him. Being unworthy, Shakespeare wants to release the Youth from the relationship so that "he can have the better life that he deserves" . In the closing couplet, Shakespeare says that while the relationship lasted, he felt like a king, but now he realizes it was simply a dream.
The structure of the poem forms an interesting and logical argument and progression . In the first stanza he is saying you're too good for me, so I understand if you want to get rid of me. In the second stanza he is saying that I am nowhere close to good enough for you, but maybe you are not aware of it. And in the third stanza he is saying you are too good for me, but maybe you didn't realize that before. In the closing couplet, Shakespeare confesses that no matter what the cause of misjudgment, you're released by the mistake, and "I'm left here to remember our time together" when I felt like nobility .
, it breaks from Shakespeare’s usual sonnet structure with its pervasive use of feminine endings, a rhyme of two or more syllables and which often ends with an unstressed syllable.
Along with Sonnet 20
, Sonnet 87 is most representative of Shakespeare’s experimentation with feminine ending
s. However, there is critical debate over their effect. Helen Vendler proposes that the feminine endings, similar to their intermittent use in Sonnet 126
, parallel “the poet’s unwillingness to let the young man go” . She notes that 12 of the 14 lines end with feminine rhymes. The movement between feminine and masculine ending
s, with the feminine endings receiving emphasis, enacts a longing on the part of the speaker for the young man to stay. Atkins adopts the view that the monotony of the feminine endings creates a somber tone of loss. Lines 2 and 4 are the only lines without feminine endings and they “ending as they do in pyrrhic feet, give the same elegiac effect” .
Michael Andrews acknowledges the metaphorical use of legal and financial imagery like Vendler and Booth. However he proposes further that the legal and financial imagery, along with a “cooly ironic” tone, disguises the speaker’s true feelings which only fully appear in the couplet: “Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter,/ In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.” The couplet reveals that the speaker understands that the young man never fully gave himself . In this interpretation the legal and financial imagery of the three quatrains are more self-protective than sincere.
Murray Krieger offers a different view of the contract theory seen within Sonnet 87. In his analysis, he focuses his attention on the use of the word “dear” within the first line. He notes that the reader’s initial deduction of the word “dear” implies the idea of affection. But this initial impression of the word on the reader is immediately confronted by the word “estimate," which essentially uncovers the reality of the speaker’s lowly position to the young man. Kreiger furthermore notes that the legal and financial terms strongly imply the poet’s bitterness towards his position: “at having love’s world of troth reduced to the niggardly world of truth, the world of faith to the world of fact” .
Booth understands the couplet to have sexual overtones. In the phrase, “I had thee as a dream” Booth suggests that “had” means “possessed sexually” or “embraced.” Sexual dreams were a common Renaissance topic and Booth suggests that Shakespeare is playing on this usage. He cites Spenser
’s The Faerie Queene 1.1.47-49, Jonson
’s The Dream, Herrick
’s The Vine, Othello
3.3.416-432, and Gascoigne
’s Supposes, 1.2.133 as contemporary works that contain sexual dreams . Booth also proposes that “matter” in the closing line has a sexual meaning in addition to meaning “real substance.” Here he cites examples of matter being used in its sexual sense in Hamlet
3.2.111: “country matter” and Julius Caesar
1.1.23: “women matters” .
Richard Strier additionally notes the complexity of the word “flatter” not only within Sonnet 87 but within other Shakespeare sonnets as well. While the word has been used “in contexts of purely negative self-deception” as well as “in the context of providing genuine beauty,” it is utilized within this poem as an “evocation of joy that is brief and delusive, but potent while it lasts” . The phrase “as a dream doth flatter” correlates strongly with the Petrarch
an view that earthly joys are briefly.
Sonnet 87 is filled with over the top, romantic language towards the young man, with lines such as “Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter.” Yet when watered down, Pequigney argues that this simply states that Shakespeare is only acknowledging that he enjoyed knowing the young man. The use of romantic language masks the idea that this is purely a platonic love
between the two males. In the sonnets addressed towards the young man, such as sonnet 87, there is a lack of explicit sexual imagery which is prominent in the sonnets addressed towards the dark lady. This, as Pequigney claims, is further proof “that nothing sexually amiss is to be found in the lyrics of that Shakespeare composed for the youth.”
A. L. Rowse
, another Shakespearean critic, also rejects the existence of homoerotic suggestion in sonnet 87, arguing that the language of the time is simply so far from how we communicate today. The language between two friends “might be considered sexually implicit” in today’s world, but hundreds of years earlier was simply friendly
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. It's a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.
Synopsis
The poet admits that he no longer possesses the love of the youth, whose worth is too great for the poet, who could only possess him while the youth did not recognise his own worth. His time with the youth was like a dream of greatness from which he has now woken.Shakespeare says, in essence, that the Fair Youth is so much better than he is that Shakespeare can't possibly deserve him. Being unworthy, Shakespeare wants to release the Youth from the relationship so that "he can have the better life that he deserves" . In the closing couplet, Shakespeare says that while the relationship lasted, he felt like a king, but now he realizes it was simply a dream.
The structure of the poem forms an interesting and logical argument and progression . In the first stanza he is saying you're too good for me, so I understand if you want to get rid of me. In the second stanza he is saying that I am nowhere close to good enough for you, but maybe you are not aware of it. And in the third stanza he is saying you are too good for me, but maybe you didn't realize that before. In the closing couplet, Shakespeare confesses that no matter what the cause of misjudgment, you're released by the mistake, and "I'm left here to remember our time together" when I felt like nobility .
Sonnet Formation/Rhyme Scheme
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 87 follows the traditional English sonnet form with fourteen lines consisting of three quatrains and a couplet. Although it follows iambic pentameterIambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet"...
, it breaks from Shakespeare’s usual sonnet structure with its pervasive use of feminine endings, a rhyme of two or more syllables and which often ends with an unstressed syllable.
Along with Sonnet 20
Sonnet 20
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20 was published in a collection of 154 sonnets in the early seventeenth century. This particular sonnet is infamously known and widely interpreted due to questions raised regarding the sexuality of the narrator, and therefore Shakespeare himself...
, Sonnet 87 is most representative of Shakespeare’s experimentation with feminine ending
Feminine ending
Feminine ending, in grammatical gender, is a term that refers to the final syllable or suffixed letters that mark words as feminine.It can also refer to:*Feminine ending, in meter , a line of verse that ends with an unstressed syllable...
s. However, there is critical debate over their effect. Helen Vendler proposes that the feminine endings, similar to their intermittent use in Sonnet 126
Sonnet 126
Sonnet 126 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It's the final member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet shows how Time and nature coincide....
, parallel “the poet’s unwillingness to let the young man go” . She notes that 12 of the 14 lines end with feminine rhymes. The movement between feminine and masculine ending
Masculine ending
Masculine ending is term used in prosody, the study of verse form. It refers to a line ending in a stressed syllable. Its opposite is feminine ending, which describes a line ending in a stressless syllable...
s, with the feminine endings receiving emphasis, enacts a longing on the part of the speaker for the young man to stay. Atkins adopts the view that the monotony of the feminine endings creates a somber tone of loss. Lines 2 and 4 are the only lines without feminine endings and they “ending as they do in pyrrhic feet, give the same elegiac effect” .
Legal and Financial Imagery
Critics commonly agree that Shakespeare uses legal imagery as a metaphor for the relationship between the speaker and the young man. Helen Vendler and Stephen Booth are of the same opinion that the legal terms of the sonnet frame the relationship between the speaker and the young man as a contract now void because of the beloved’s realization of his greater worth. The relationship between the speaker and the young man is expressed in the language of legal financial transaction: estimate, charter, bonds, determinate, riches, and patent, into the sonnet—also dear and worth in the financial sense . Booth, in addition to the above, understands hold and granting in a legal and financial sense as well.Michael Andrews acknowledges the metaphorical use of legal and financial imagery like Vendler and Booth. However he proposes further that the legal and financial imagery, along with a “cooly ironic” tone, disguises the speaker’s true feelings which only fully appear in the couplet: “Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter,/ In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.” The couplet reveals that the speaker understands that the young man never fully gave himself . In this interpretation the legal and financial imagery of the three quatrains are more self-protective than sincere.
Murray Krieger offers a different view of the contract theory seen within Sonnet 87. In his analysis, he focuses his attention on the use of the word “dear” within the first line. He notes that the reader’s initial deduction of the word “dear” implies the idea of affection. But this initial impression of the word on the reader is immediately confronted by the word “estimate," which essentially uncovers the reality of the speaker’s lowly position to the young man. Kreiger furthermore notes that the legal and financial terms strongly imply the poet’s bitterness towards his position: “at having love’s world of troth reduced to the niggardly world of truth, the world of faith to the world of fact” .
Couplet
Though Vendler and Booth understand the legal imagery in a similar fashion, they differ in their understanding of the couplet. Vendler proposes that the couplet has a defective key word. Vendler identifies “gift” as the key word of the sonnet as “gift” and its variants “gives” and “gav’st” appear in all three quatrains in lines 3, 7, 9, 10, and 11. However, this key word is defective because it is absent in the couplet. Its absence in the couplet reflects the desertion of the “gift,” the young man .Booth understands the couplet to have sexual overtones. In the phrase, “I had thee as a dream” Booth suggests that “had” means “possessed sexually” or “embraced.” Sexual dreams were a common Renaissance topic and Booth suggests that Shakespeare is playing on this usage. He cites Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
’s The Faerie Queene 1.1.47-49, Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
’s The Dream, Herrick
Robert Herrick (poet)
Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English poet.-Early life:Born in Cheapside, London, he was the seventh child and fourth son of Julia Stone and Nicholas Herrick, a prosperous goldsmith....
’s The Vine, Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
3.3.416-432, and Gascoigne
George Gascoigne
George Gascoigne was an English poet, soldier, artist, and unsuccessful courtier. He is considered the most important poet of the early Elizabethan era, following Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and leading to the emergence of Philip Sidney...
’s Supposes, 1.2.133 as contemporary works that contain sexual dreams . Booth also proposes that “matter” in the closing line has a sexual meaning in addition to meaning “real substance.” Here he cites examples of matter being used in its sexual sense in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
3.2.111: “country matter” and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
1.1.23: “women matters” .
Richard Strier additionally notes the complexity of the word “flatter” not only within Sonnet 87 but within other Shakespeare sonnets as well. While the word has been used “in contexts of purely negative self-deception” as well as “in the context of providing genuine beauty,” it is utilized within this poem as an “evocation of joy that is brief and delusive, but potent while it lasts” . The phrase “as a dream doth flatter” correlates strongly with the Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
an view that earthly joys are briefly.
Sexuality
Opening with the exclamation of “Farewell!” sonnet 87 reads very much like a break-up poem, which would suggest a romantic theme to it, and because of the sonnet’s addressee, the suggestion turns into a homosexual romance. At the very least, Shakespeare thinks that he owes it to the youth to break up with him, due to what Pequigney calls “the narcissistic wound.” Shakespeare’s undermining of himself is proof of an apparent “wound to the ego” .Sonnet 87 is filled with over the top, romantic language towards the young man, with lines such as “Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter.” Yet when watered down, Pequigney argues that this simply states that Shakespeare is only acknowledging that he enjoyed knowing the young man. The use of romantic language masks the idea that this is purely a platonic love
Platonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
between the two males. In the sonnets addressed towards the young man, such as sonnet 87, there is a lack of explicit sexual imagery which is prominent in the sonnets addressed towards the dark lady. This, as Pequigney claims, is further proof “that nothing sexually amiss is to be found in the lyrics of that Shakespeare composed for the youth.”
A. L. Rowse
A. L. Rowse
Alfred Leslie Rowse, CH, FBA , known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to friends and family as Leslie, was a British historian from Cornwall. He is perhaps best known for his work on Elizabethan England and his poetry about Cornwall. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer...
, another Shakespearean critic, also rejects the existence of homoerotic suggestion in sonnet 87, arguing that the language of the time is simply so far from how we communicate today. The language between two friends “might be considered sexually implicit” in today’s world, but hundreds of years earlier was simply friendly