Gay, John

(1685-1732)

   Born in Barnstaple, Devon, he lived most of is life in London. He was secretary to the Duchess of Monmouth and to Lord Clarendon, envoy to the court of Hanover. Although chiefly remembered as the author of The Beggar's Opera (1728) (which ran for 62 performances, not consecutively), he wrote many other dramas and poems. He lost most of his money through disastrous investment in the South Sea Bubble investment scheme. He was buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Some of his other publications: Wine, 1708 (a burlesque). The Present State of Wit, 1711 (a survey of contemporary periodical publications). The Shepherd's Week, 1711 (mock classical poems). Rural Sports, 1713. Trivia: or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, 1716. Three Hours After Marriage, 1717. Collected Poems, 1720. The Captives, 1724. Fables, 1727. Some of his poems: "Poems From Gay's Chair," "Sweet William's Farewell to Black-ey'd Susan," "The Birth of the Squire; an Eclogue," "The Tea-Table, a Town Eclogue," "The Story of Arachne," "The Story of Cephisa," "Thought on Eternity."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Encyclopædia Britannica. Electronic Edition, 2005. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Fellow Mortals: An Anthology of Animal Verse. Roy Fuller, ed. Macdonald and Evans, 1981. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Harper Anthology of Poetry. John Frederick Nims, ed. Harper and Row, 1981. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Poetical Works of John Gay. G.C. Faber, ed. Russell and Russell, 1926. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).