Life and Letters of John Gay (1685-1732) | Page 8

Mr.
Gay in particular";[10] and again, nine days later, addressing the same
correspondent, he said: "My humble services, too, to Mr. Gay, of
whose paper ['The Present State of Wit'] I have made mention to
[Erasmus] Lewis."[11] Gay, ever anxious to please those whom he
liked and, perhaps, especially those who might be of use to him, when
writing the verses, "On a Miscellany of Poems to Bernard Lintott"
(which appeared in that publisher's Miscellany issued in May, 1712),
eagerly took advantage to ingratiate himself with a number of people,
in so far as he could do this by means of compliments. Gay tells the
publisher that if he will only choose his authors from "the successful
bards" praised by the author, then "praise with profit shall reward thy
pains"; and--
So long shall live thy praise in books of fame, And Tonson yield to
Lintott's lofty name;
but, since an author should not praise one publisher at the expense of
another, he has already had a kindly word for that more celebrated
publisher, Jacob Tonson--"Jacob's mighty name." It may be mentioned
in passing that Gay's "Poems on Several Occasions" bear the joint
imprint of Lintott and Tonson. Gay waxed eloquent in these verses,
when writing of the other contributors to the Miscellany, and bestowed
praise upon his brother-poets in no measured quantity:--
Where Buckingham will condescend to give That honour'd piece to
distant times must live; When noble Sheffield strikes the trembling
strings, The little loves rejoice and clap their wings. Anacreon lives,
they cry, th' harmonious swain } Retunes the lyre, and tries his wonted
strain, } 'Tis he,--our lost Anacreon lives again. } But when th'
illustrious poet soars above The sportive revels of the god of love, Like

Maro's muse he takes a loftier flight, And towers beyond the wond'ring
Cupid's sight.
If thou wouldst have thy volume stand the test, And of all others be
reputed best, Let Congreve teach the list'ning groves to mourn, As
when he wept o'er fair Pastora's urn.[12]
Let Prior's muse with soft'ning accents move, Soft as the strain of
constant Emma's love: Or let his fancy choose some jovial theme. As
when he told Hans Carvel's jealous dream; Prior th' admiring reader
entertains, With Chaucer's humour, and with Spenser's strains.[13]
Waller in Granville lives; when Mira sings With Waller's hands he
strikes the sounding strings. With sprightly turns his noble genius
shines, And manly sense adorns his easy lines.
On Addison's sweet lays attention waits, And silence guards the place
while he repeats; His muse alike on ev'ry subject charms, Whether she
paints the god of love, or arms: In him pathetic Ovid sings again, And
Homer's "Iliad" shines in his "Campaign." Whenever Garth shall raise
his sprightly song, Sense flows in easy numbers from his tongue; Great
Phoebus in his learned son we see, Alike in physic, as in poetry.
When Pope's harmonious muse with pleasure roves, Amidst the plains,
the murm'ring streams and groves. Attentive Echo, pleased to hear his
songs, Thro' the glad shade each warbling note prolongs; His various
numbers charm our ravish'd ears, } His steady judgment far out-shoots
his years, } And early in the youth the god appears. }
It was in reference to these complimentary lines (which Pope saw in
manuscript) that, on December 21st, 1711, Pope wrote to Cromwell: "I
will willingly return Mr. Gay my thanks for the favour of his poem, and
in particular for his kind mention of me."[14] That letter is interesting
also as being the last exchanged between Pope and his old friend; and it
is instructive, as showing how the acquaintance between the poets was
already ripening, that Pope turned to Gay in his distress at the defection
of his earlier friend. "Our friend, Mr. Cromwell, too, has been silent all
this year. I believe he has been displeased at some or other of my

freedoms, which I very innocently take, and most with those I think my
friends," he wrote to Gay on November 13th, 1712. "But this I know
nothing of; perhaps he may have opened to you, and if I know you right,
you are of a temper to cement friendships, and not to divide them. I
really very much love Mr. Cromwell, and have a true affection for
yourself, which, if I had any interest in the world, or power with those
who have, I should not be long without manifesting to you."[15]
If Pope had lost the friendship of Henry Cromwell, he was certainly
anxious to strengthen the bond that was beginning to be forged between
himself and Gay, to whom he wrote again: "I desire you will not, either
out of modesty, or a vicious distrust of another's value for you--those
two eternal foes to merit--imagine that your letters and