John Gay:
(Barnstaple (Devon), 30 June 1685 – London, 4 December 1732).
English poet and dramatist, best known for his play The Beggar’s Opera.
Gay was secretary to the Duchess of Monmouth from 1712 to 1714. In 1713, he published the poem Rural sports, dedicated to Alexander Pope, with whom he was a friend. In 1714 he published Gay’s Sheperd’s week, a series of shepherd’s poems. In 1716, he published Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London, a poem in three parts, partly inspired by Jonathan Swift. In 1727, his first series of the popular Fables appeared.
A woman’s friendship always ends in love.