More Information about Poet and Philosopher: John Gay # His work

John gay was a famous poet and dramatist. He is best bear in mind for The Beggar’s Opera.

 John Gay 

John Gay was born in Barnstaple in Devon in1685. He was the soiled child of the Queen Anne fraternity of poets was the pliant fabulist John Gay. He left an orphan at the age of ten. He was educated at free Grammar School in the town, and was afterwards, to his discontent, apprenticed to a London silk mercer. He was escaped from this uncongenial employment to be dependent on an uncle thus, early exhibited his life-long disposition to rely upon others for support. In 1712, in his late twenties Gay was a secretary to the Duchess of Maomouth. During his stay in London, Gay established relationships with Londoners and became part of the city society. By 1713 he was on friendly terms with all literary figure of the day, such as Pope, Swift and Arbuthnot, who found something in him to laugh at and to love. Ladies too treated him with the kind of friendliness which has a touch of commiseration. In 1714 Gay was appointed secretary to Lord Clarendon, a post which he owed to Swift, but death of Queen Anne in that year brought the Whigs into office and destroyed the poets. Prior to this he had been secretary to the imperious Duchess of Monmouth. He was now left without money or employment, and owed much to generosity of Pope. In 1720 a collected edition of his poems brought in substantial profits: but he immediately invested in South Sea Stock, which was soon worthless, but thanks to the efforts of his friends that he received the sinecure of lottery commissioner, with salary of $15a year in 1722 and 1729 he had lodgings in the palace of Whitehall. In spite of this he felt himself neglected. Gay died in 1732 at the duke of Queensberry’s house. He was 47 years old when he was died. He was buried into the poet’s Corner in Webminitser Abbey. The inscription on his tomb is taken from The Berggar’s Opera and spoken by the Beggar, showing Gay’s humor until the end of his life. He was interred, to quotation Arbuthnot’s words, ‘as a peer of the realm’, in Westminster Abbey. The character of the poet may be seen in his couplet transcribed upon the monument:

Life is a jest, and all things show it;

I thought so once and now I know it.

 Not long before his death he found ‘indolence and idleness the most tiresome things in the world’.

Gay published poems, plays, fables, and ballad operas. Let us have look on some notable works of John Gay

The Shepherd’s Weeks: a series of mock classical pastoral poems. (1714)

What D’Ye Call It, a satirical play(1715)

“Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, “a poem (1716)

Three Hours after Marriage, a comedy written with Alexander Pope and John Arbuthnot (1717)

Avis and Galatea, the libretto to Handel’s opera and Gay’s final attempt at ballad opera (1719)

Poem on several occasions, a set of poems (1720)

Fables, a set of beast fables (1727-38)

Fifty-one fables in Verse (1727)

The Beggar’s Opera, his famous ballad opera (1728)

Polly the sequel of The Beggar’s Opera which was published but not executed (1729)

Achilles (1733)