"You find your
[b[tympanum straining to catch some little murmur, and dwelling
eagerly upon every accidental sound within the vessel.

The eardrum. A figure of speech for hearing.

i know the tympanum... it wasn't inflamed last week when i went to the doctor (friday morning, just before the storm blew in) for a bad case of 'swimmers ear'-an inflamation of the outer ear canal.
(i go to a water aerobics class ever week--so i am in a pool all winter long)
i still taking ear drops and oral antibotics, but the swelling has gone down, so i can hear with the ear again, and the discomfort (i never got to a real painful stage)is largely gone.

Dear of troy: I used to have some very soft rubber earplugs that were quite comfortable, and kept contaminated water out of the ears. If I were going in a pool, I would wear them. They had a thin diaphragm which did not impair hearing. College swimming coach advised me to wear them.

this is the first time i have ever had 'swimmer's ear'-- and its been over 25 years since i've had any ear infections-- (the last one was an internal ear infection, very painful, (extremely painful--i was 8 months pregnant, and my doctor gave me antibotics, but suggested no pain relivers.. he didn't like tylenol of pregnant women, and asprin (or asprin based) pain relivers were out of the question because of how the supress blot clotting..) so i just suffered for a few days with nothing but a heating pad.

i'll get some ear plugs before my next class, or a swim cap that covers my ears.