Image: Found Online | Helen Jacobs 1888 - 1970 children's book illustrator | American
William Collins is regarded as one of the most skilled 18th century lyric poets, marking a transitional period in English literature. Collins style is formally Neoclassical but presages the themes of the Romantic Period. He began drafting his final poem, “An Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands,” in 1749, but at the time of his death 10 years later, it had yet to be completed.(Poetry Foundation, 2011)
Collins desired to be a writer, but "he was given rather to planning than to writing books." Samuel Johnson referred to him as the man who "loved fairies, genii, giants and monsters." He clearly had a preference for enchantment and other fanciful things. But, he was disposed to suffer from bouts of depression and his mental health began to deteriorate during the final decade of his life, which resulted in his writing suffering. He inherited some money, and traveled for awhile but fits of depression gradually worsened to such a point that is debilitated him completely. (Greenblatt, 2006, p. 1335)
Citation:
Greenblatt, S. et al. (Eds). The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. A: The Middle Ages through the Restoration and the Eighteenth Century. (8th Ed.) 2006. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.