"Sonnet 87" also bears some similarities to the great sonnet cycles of the past. The poem deals with the unworthiness of the speaker to deserve the love of the person he adores. So, the speaker bids the young man "farewell" or "good-bye."
The shift in the sonnet occurs between the three quatrains and the couplet. Yet, throughout the entire poem, the speaker does not change his opinion that he is unworthy of the young man's love.
In the first quatrain, the speaker states that the young man is too precious, too valuable ("dear") to be loved (or possessed) by someone like the speaker. In fact, the speaker believes that the young man will eventually realize his own value or worth ("estimate"), at which time he will leave the speaker. The speaker then uses the language of business -- "charter" and "bonds" -- as metaphors for their relationship. The young man is like a valuable piece of land or property that the speaker was leasing for a short period of time, but now the speaker feels that the lease has expired. He no longer has any legal right to be on the property: he no longer deserves a relationship with the young man.
In the second quatrain the speaker emphasizes his unworthiness. He describes the young man's love as a "fair" (meaning wonderful) "gift." However, he feels that a good reason ("cause") for the young man to give him such a precious gift is