C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
John Gay (1685–1732)
Gay, John. An English poet; born near Barnstaple, Devonshire, in Sept. 1685; died at London, Dec. 4, 1732. His life was a series of vicissitudes: starvation and luxury, neglect and admiration, alternating in kaleidoscopic abruptness throughout his bohemian existence. His ‘Rural Sports’ gave him his start in literature; and ‘Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London’ has become a classic. But ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ (the first English comic opera), the ‘Fables,’ and ‘The Shepherd’s Week,’ must remain his enduring monuments. He wrote also ‘The Wife of Bath,’ and other comedies. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).