| Content Description | Text, which consists of fifteen 5-line verses with a refrain, is preceded by the note: 'An excellent New Ballad To the Tune of the Cutpurse'. Title has been altered, with 'Masquerade' following cancelled 'Opera House'. Text heavily revised throughout.
Text is a satire on the performances of John James Heidegger at the Haymarket Theatre.
For identification of Gay's autograph and suggested dating see P. Croft, Autograph Poetry (London, 1973) i, pp 64-67. Suggested attribution to Pope is discussed in correspondence from Robin Flower and Norman Ault to Francis Needham, 1939; see Pw V 1634. |