It straggled onward into the mystery of the primevil forest. this hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and imposed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to hester's mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering.

Portrayals of the backwoods that the European pilgrims experienced are really exceptional. It's difficult to envision now, yet at one time the greater part of the Eastern United States was secured with woodland, including 200-foot tall pines—which were immediately transformed into poles for the English naval force. By the eighteenth century, the majority of these woods we gone. Truth be told, the land that Hawthorne knew may have been much more deforested than it is today, since a ton of timberland arrive has been replanted. This "primitive woodland" is where individuals can shed some of those annoying trappings of progress.