on Milosz's cynical dreamer " here, in this corner, between the chest and the fireplace, 'you find countless remedies for boredom, and an infinite number of things that deserve to occupy your mind for all time: the musty odor of the minutes of three centuries ago; the secret meaning of the hieroglyphics in fly-dung; the triumphal arch of that mouse-hole; the frayed tapestry against which your round, bony back is lolling; the gnawing noise of your heels on the marble; the powdery sound of your sneeze... and finally, the soul of all this old dust from corners forgotten by brooms." Bachelard, on L'amoureuse initiation