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Gay (JOHN an English poet born near)

JOHN, an English poet; born near Barnstaple, Devonshire, England, in 1685. He was apprenticed to a silk mercer in London. In 1713 he published his "Rural Sports." ." In 1712 he became secretary to Anne, Duchess of Monmouth. "Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London," appeared in the same year. In 1714 his caricature of Ambrose Philips's pastoral poetry was published, "The Shepherd's Week." He was appointed secretary to the Earl of Clarendon, in his embassy to the court of Hanover. In 1715 appeared his burlesque drama of "What d'ye Call it?" "Three Hours after Marriage," a farce, altogether failed. In 1720 he published his poems by subscription, in 1723 his tragedy, "The Captives," and in 1726 his well-known "Fables." His "Beggar's Opera," the notion of which seems to have been afforded by Swift, was first acted in 1727, at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where it ran for 63 nights, but the lordchamberlain refused to license for performance a second part entitled "Polly." The latter part of his life was spent in the house of the Duke of Queensberry, where he wrote his sonata "Acis and Galatea" and the opera "Achilles." He died in London, Dec. 4, 1732.