Collins, William, a gifted and ill-fated English poet, born at Chichester; settled in London; fell into dissipated habits and straitened circumstances; had £2000 left him by an uncle, but both health and spirits were broken, and he died in mental imbecility; his “Odes” have not been surpassed, among which the most celebrated are the “Odes to the Passions,” to “Simplicity,” and to “Evening” (1720‒1756).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Collins, Wilkie * Collins, William, R.A.