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Quotation from Billy Budd and Other Stories by Herman Melville

“Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity”

Herman Melville (spoken by The Lawyer)

Billy Budd and Other Stories, Bartleby, the Scrivener (final line) (Putnam's Monthly (1853) / Piazza Tales (1856))

Portrait of Herman Melville

The narrator's closing lament generalises Bartleby's fate.

Citation: "Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity" — Herman Melville, Billy Budd and Other Stories, Bartleby, the Scrivener (final line) (Putnam's Monthly (1853) / Piazza Tales (1856)). (id billy-budd-and-other-stories-q3)

Portrait: Herman Melville by Joseph O Eaton, Joseph Oriel Eaton, Public domain.

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