65.] CONTENTS CHAP.

PAGE PREFACE vii I .-- EARLY YEARS 1 II .-- GAY COMMENCES AUTHOR 7 III.--"RURAL SPORTS"-- "THE FAN"-- "THE WIFE OF BATH"-- ETC.

18 IV.--"THE SHEPHERD'S WEEK"-- "A LETTER TO A LADY" 24 V.--"THE WHAT D'YE CALL IT"-- "AN EPISTLE TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF BURLINGTON"-- "TRIVIA, OR, THE ART OF WALKING THE STREETS OF LONDON"-- "THREE HOURS AFTER MARRIAGE" 36 VI.--"POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS"-- GAY INVESTS HIS EARNINGS IN THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY--THE SOUTH SEA "BUBBLE" BREAKS, AND GAY LOSES ALL HIS MONEY--APPOINTED A COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE LOTTERY--LORD LINCOLN GIVES HIM AN APARTMENT IN WHITEHALL--AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS--CORRESPONDENCE WITH MRS.

HOWARD 50 VII.--"THE CAPTIVES"-- THE FIRST SERIES OF "FABLES"-- GAY AND THE COURT--POPE, SWIFT AND MRS.

HOWARD 65 VIII.--"THE BEGGAR'S OPERA" 78 IX.--"POLLY" 92 X .-- CORRESPONDENCE (1729) 105 XI .-- CORRESPONDENCE (1730) 115 XII .-- CORRESPONDENCE (1731) 126 XIII .-- DEATH 133 APPENDIX:-- I .-- NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF THE TONES OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA," by W.H.