Waller nothing more gay or ſprightly than thoſe of Sir John Suckling and nothing fuller of Variety and Learning than Mr. Donne nothing can be more gallant or gentile than the poems of Mr. Never was there a more copious Fancy or greater reach of Wit, than what appears in Dr. 1692, William Walch, preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, in John Dryden, The Fourth Part of Miſcellany Poems, Jacob Tonson (publisher, 1716), page 338: (Line 236) Why is my neighebores wyf so gay? (Line 298) That I was born, and make me fresh and gay, (Line 508) But in oure bed he was so fressh and gay (Line 545) For ever yet I lovede to be gay, (Line 221) To bringe me gaye thinges fro the fayre.
Gay ( comparative gayer, superlative gayest ) The sense of ‘upright’, used in reference to a dog’s tail, probably derives from the ‘happy’ sense of the word. The reason behind the recent pejorative usage is not documented, though it is primarily speculated to be due to hostility towards homosexuality.
