That seemed the very sound of happy thoughts.

"I roved o'er many a hill and many a dale,

With my accustomed load; in heat and cold,

Through many a wood and many an open ground,

In sunshine and in shade, in wet and fair,

Drooping or blithe of heart, as might befal;

My best companions now the driving winds,

And now the 'trotting brooks'[BB] and whispering trees,

And now the music of my own sad steps,