John Gay

John Gay (1685–1732) was an English poet and dramatist. Born in Barnstaple, Devon, he moved to London and became associated with leading writers of the early eighteenth century, including Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Gay wrote poetry, essays, and stage works, but achieved lasting fame with *The Beggar’s Opera* (1728), a ballad opera that satirized politics and society and proved a major theatrical success. He also wrote *Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London* (1716) and the pastoral play *The What D’Ye Call It* (1715). Gay died in London in 1732.