Where does the phrase “squeeze it into little inkdrops” come from? From Amy Lowell’s Poem, “The Letter”:
Little cramped words scrawling all over
the paper
Like draggled fly’s legs,
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncertain window and the
bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing
in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth,
virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.
I am tired, Beloved, of chafing my heart
against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the great moon.
Where does the blogname “bartlescriver” come from? From Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener“. Read it. It’s chillingly beautiful.
squeeze it into little inkdrops 
Chillingly beautiful is correct. I remember I gave you a copy of it as a gift once, my Bartlebee.
Indeed you did, sis. That’s the first time I ever read it…and I still have that very copy! 🙂
Just this week I used the Bartleby analogy to describe an uncooperative staff member who would “just prefer not to.”
Dad
😀 well played Dad!
It’s fascinating because both the poem and Bartleby the Scrivener are passionate and determined in very different ways.
You are so often positive and cheerful and yet I know your heart is passionate and determined. You are being vulnerable to your readers in revealing the meanings of the phrase and blog name. Thank you for that!