Threescore Years and Ten

Tagged With: - THE SCARLET LETTER

In the “Custom-House” introduction to the novel, Hawthorne describes a “gallant old General” who “had already numbered, nearly or quite, his threescore years and ten, and was pursuing the remainder of his earthly march…” A score is an antiquated term for 20 years. Threescore would signify 20 x 3, or 60 years. The most famous […]