The answer is D. Cheerless
The figurative language that exists within this excerpt can be identified with the phrases “recesses … to which he never came,” “his austerity could never blight,” and “keep the fire of my nature continually low,” provide readers with a feeling of loneliness, suppression, and sadness. A person who felt this way or spoke these things would most likely be without happiness and without cheer—or cheerless.
