THE LIER. This was first printed in Sir John Simeon's _Unpublished Poems of Donne_ (1856-7), whence it is included by Chambers in his Appendix A. It is given the title _Supping Hours_. Its inclusion in _HN_ (whence the present title) and _W_ strengthens its claim to be genuine. Probably it was written after the Cadiz expedition, and contains a reminiscence (Mr. Gosse has suggested this) of Spanish fare. l. 3. _Like Nebuchadnezar._ Compare: 'I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir; I have not much skill in grass.' Shakespeare, _All's Well_, IV. v. THE ELEGIES. Of the Elegies two groups seem to have been pretty widely circulated before the larger collections were made or publication took place. Each contained either twelve or thirteen, the twelve or thirteen being made up sometimes by the inclusion of the Funeral Elegy, 'Sorrow who to this house,' afterwards called _Elegie on the L. C._ The order in the one group, as we find it in e.g. _D_, _H49_, _Lec_, is _The Bracelet_,[1] _Going to Bed_, _Jealousie_, _The Anagram_, _Change_, _The Perfume_, _His Picture_, 'Sorrow who to this house,' 'Oh, let mee not serve,' _Loves Warr_, _On his Mistris_, 'Natures lay Ideott, I taught,' _Loves Progress_. The second group, as we find it in _A25_, _JC_, and _W_, contains _The Bracelet_, _The Comparison_, _The Perfume_, _Jealousie_, 'Oh, let not me (_sic_ _W_) serve,' 'Natures lay Ideott, I taught,' _Loves Warr_, _Going to Bed_, _Change_, _The Anagram_, _On his Mistris_, _His Picture_, 'Sorrow, who to this house.' The last is not given in _A25_. It will be noticed that _D_, _H49_, _Lec_ drops _The Comparison_; _A25_, _JC_, _W_, _Loves Progress_; and that there were thirteen elegies, taking the two groups together, apart from the Funeral Elegy. [Footnote 1: I take the titles given in the editions for ease of reference to the reader of this edition. The only title which _D_, _H49_, _Lec_ have is _On Loves Progresse_; _A25_, _JC_, and _W_ have none. Other MSS. give one or other occasionally.] These are the most widely circulated and probably the earliest of Donne's _Elegies_, taken as such. Of the rest _The Dreame_ is given in _D_, _H49_, _Lec_, but among the songs, and _The Autumnall_ is placed by itself. The rest are either somewhat doubtful or were not allowed to get into general circulation. Can we to any extent date the _Elegies_? There are some hints which help to indicate the years to which the earlier of them probably belong. In _The Bracelet_ Donne speaks of Spanish 'Stamps' as having slily made Gorgeous France, ruin'd, ragged and decay'd; Scotland which knew no State, proud in one day: mangled seventeen-headed Belgia.