The Poetical Works of William Collins; With a Memoir

Mercy and freedom become living figures in William Collins's odes, moving among flowers, cliffs and shadowed valleys. This collection brings together poems on pity, fear, simplicity and the imagination, alongside Oriental Eclogues and verse connected with Shakespeare. In the ode written at the beginning of 1746, spring returns to the graves of the brave, while Honour and Freedom appear as mourners. The poems give public ideals and private feelings a physical presence through scenes from nature.

A memoir places the verse beside an account of Collins's education and literary difficulties. It follows him from Chichester to Winchester and Oxford, then to London, where ambitious projects meet financial pressure and uncertain prospects. The volume also includes an essay on his poetry and observations on the eclogues and odes. Readers interested in older British verse can compare the poems with the critical judgments and biographical explanations surrounding them.