John Gay

John Gay was an English poet and dramatist of the early 18th century. He is best remembered for 'The Beggar's Opera' (1728), a ballad opera that satirized the contemporary government and society of England. Gay was a member of the Scriblerus Club, alongside notable writers like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Despite facing financial difficulties, his work remains influential in the landscape of English literature.

June 30, 1685

December 4, 1732

English

John Gay

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The Unsatisfactory Painter.

        Lest captious men suspect your story,
        Speak modestly its history.
        The traveller, who overleaps the bounds
        Of probability, confounds;
        But though men hear your deeds with phlegm,
        You may with flattery cram them.
        Hyperboles, though ne'er so great,
        Will yet come short of self-conceit.

        A painter drew his portraits truly,
        And marked complexion and mien duly; -
        Really a fellow knew the picture,
        There was nor flattery nor delicture.
        The eyes, and mouth, and faulty nose,
        Were all showed up in grim repose;
        He marked the dates of youth and age -
        But so he lost his clientage:
        The which determined to recover,
        He turned i...

John Gay

Vulture, Sparrow, And Birds.

        Ere I begin I must premise
        Our ministers are good and wise:
        Therefore if tongues malicious fly,
        Or what care they, or what care I?

        If I am free with courts, and skittish,
        I ne'er presume to mean the British:
        I meddle with no state affairs,
        But spare my jest and save my ears;
        And our court schemes are too profound
        For Machiavel himself to sound.
        A captious fool may feel offended;
        They are by me uncomprehended.

        Your younger brother wants a place -
        (That's many a younger brother's case).
        You likewise tell me he intends
        To try the court and beat up friends.
        I trust he may a patriot find,
        True to his king a...

John Gay

Wild Boar And Ram.

        A sheep lay tethered, and her life
        Fast ebbing on the butcher's knife;
        The silly flock looked on with dread.
        A wild boar, passing them, then said:
        "O cowards! cowards! will nought make
        The courage of your hearts awake?
        What, with the butcher in your sight,
        Flaying - ere life be parted quite -
        Your lambs and dams! O stolid race!
        Who ever witnessed souls so base?"

        The patriarch ram then answered him:
        "My face and bearing are not grim,
        But we are not of soul so tame
        As to deny Revenge her claim:
        We have no whetted tusks to kill,
        Yet are not powerless of ill.
        Vengeance, the murdering hand pursues,
        And retributio...

John Gay

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