paillasse

Updated: July 2, 2026

So la soupe ended, and everybody belched and gasped and trumpeted up to The Enormous Room as usual. That evening, about six o'clock, I heard a man crying as if his heart were broken. I crossed The Enormous Room. Half-lying on his paillasse, his great beard pouring upon his breast, his face lowered, his entire body shuddering with sobs, lay The Wanderer.

E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings - The Enormous Room