obed
And liberal-handed, brings no gloom to us,
But, rich in its own self, gives us rich hope
Of winter-time; and when the winter comes,
We burn old wood, and read old books that wall
Our biggest-room.

"We burn old wood, and read old books"--there's the kindly cheerfulness
that is appealing. Isn't that a picture to drive hence any thought of
sadness?

His son, Thornton, felicitously said that all his life he was striving
to open more widely the door of the library, and the windows that look
out upon nature. He loved the green fields of suburban London, and never
was more happy than when sauntering along the leafy lanes. With books
for companions and nature for inspiration, how can any mortal be other
than cheerful.

All the literary men of his time delighted in his society. All were his
friends. Many a mention is made of the happy and cheerful gatherings at
his home. Hazlitt speaks of "the vinous quality of his mind" as
producing a fascination and an intoxication at once upon those who came
in contact with him.

Professor Dowden, on the other hand, says it was not a heavy wine, but a
bright, light wine that coursed through his veins--

Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance and Provencal song and sunburnt mirth.

It is natural for one acquainted with the writings of Leigh Hunt to
associate him with cheerfulness, for kindness and cheerfulness are to be
found in everything he wrote. Even in his letters in which he tells of
some of his perplexities there is found the optimistic note.

Which recalls what Hunt wrote of associations with Shakespeare. It is
quite natural to associate the idea of Shakespeare with anything which
is worth mention. "Shakespeare and Christmas" are two ideas that fall as
happily together as "wine and walnuts." "Shakespeare and May," and
"Shakespeare and June" call up many essays about spring and violets. One
may say "Shakespeare and Love," and put himself at once in the midst of
a bevy of bright damsels, as sweet as rosebuds. "Shakespeare and Life"
puts before one the whole world of youth, and spirit, and life itself.

"Hunt and Cheerfulness" are inseparable in the mind of one who knows the
story of his life and its struggles.

There's the cheerful note in this rondeau which appeared in _The New
Monthly Magazine_, 1838:

Jenny kiss'd me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief! who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in