(30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732 / Barnstaple, England)

poet John Gay
#471 on top 500 poets

Quotations

  • ''O ruddier than the cherry,
    O sweeter than the berry,
    O Nymph more bright
    Than moonshine night,
    Like kidlings blithe and merry.
    Ripe as the melting cluster,
    No lily has such lustre,
    Yet hard to tame,
    As raging flame,
    And fierce as storms that bluster.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British poet. Acis and Galatea (l. 1-10). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.
    9 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''Lions, wolves, and vultures don't live together in herds, droves or flocks. Of all animals of prey, man is the only sociable one. Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Lockit, in The Beggar's Opera, act 3, sc. 2.
    3 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''But his kiss was so sweet, and so closely he pressed,
    That I languished and pined till I granted the rest.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Lucy, in The Beggar's Opera, act 3, sc. 1, air 41.
    3 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • ''Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Lucy, in The Beggar's Opera, act 2, sc. 13.
    2 person liked.
    		8 person did not like.
  • ''I must have women—there is nothing unbends the mind like them.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist, poet. Macheath, in The Beggar's Opera, act 2, sc. 3 (1728), ed. F.W. Bateson (1934).
    1 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • ''I must have women—there is nothing unbends the mind like them.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Macheath, in The Beggar's Opera, act 2, sc. 3.
    1 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • ''I must have women—there is nothing unbends the mind like them.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist, poet. Macheath, in The Beggar's Opera, act 2, sc. 3 (1728), ed. F.W. Bateson (1934).
    0 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • ''Of all mechanics, of all servile handycrafts-men, a gamester is the vilest. But yet, as many of the quality are of the profession, he is admitted amongst the politest company.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Matt of the Mint, in The Beggar's Opera, act 3, sc. 4.
    1 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • ''O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed,
    By keeping men off, you keep them on.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist, poet. Mrs. Peach, in The Beggar's Opera, act 1, sc. 8, air 9 (1728), ed. F.W. Bateson (1934).
    1 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • ''How the mother is to be pitied who hath handsome daughters! Locks, bolts, bars, and lectures of morality are nothing to them: they break through them all. They have as much pleasure in cheating a father and mother, as in cheating at cards.''
    John Gay (1685-1732), British dramatist. Mrs. Peachum, in The Beggar's Opera, act 1, sc. 8.
    1 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.

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Acis and Galatea

Air.
Love in her eyes sits playing,
And sheds delicious death;
Love on her lips is straying,
And warbling in her breath;
Love on her breast sits panting,
And swells with soft desire;
Nor grace nor charm is wanting
To set the heart on fire.

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