Have ... 1816. ] "THE FAIREST, BRIGHTEST, HUES OF ETHER FADE" Published 1815 [Suggested at Hackett, which is on the craggy ridge that rises between the two Langdales, and looks towards Windermere. The Cottage of Hackett was often visited by us, and at the time when this Sonnet was written, and long after, was occupied by the husband and wife described in _The Excursion_, where it is mentioned that she was in the habit of walking in the front of the dwelling with a light to guide her husband home at night. The same cottage is alluded to in the _Epistle to Sir George Beaumont_, as that from which the female peasant hailed us on our morning journey. The musician mentioned in the sonnet was the Rev. Samuel Tillbrook of Peter-house, Cambridge, who remodelled the Ivy Cottage at Rydal after he had purchased it.--I. F.] One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED. The fairest, brightest, hues of ether fade; The sweetest notes must terminate and die; O Friend! thy flute has breathed a harmony Softly resounded through this rocky glade; Such strains of rapture as[AL] the Genius played 5 In his still haunt on Bagdad's summit high; He who stood visible to Mirza's eye, Never before to human sight betrayed. Lo, in the vale, the mists of evening spread! The visionary Arches are not there, 10 Nor the green Islands, nor the shining Seas; Yet sacred is to me this Mountain's head, Whence I have risen, uplifted[74] on the breeze Of harmony, above all earthly care. The following reference to Mr. Tillbrook, referred to in the Fenwick note, is from the _Diary, Correspondence, etc._, of Henry Crabb Robinson, September 5, 1816:--"An evening was spent at Wordsworth's. Mr. Tillbrook, of Cambridge, formerly Thomas Clarkson's tutor, was there.... Mr. Walter sang some airs to Mr. Tillbrook's flute."--ED. VARIANTS: [Footnote 72: 1820. With ripening harvests ... 1816. ] [Footnote 73: 1827. Through the green leaves, ... 1816. ] [Footnote 74: 1837. From which I have been lifted ... 1815. ] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote AL: See the vision of Mirza in the _Spectator_.--W. W. 1815.] "WEAK IS THE WILL OF MAN, HIS JUDGMENT BLIND" Published 1815 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.