Both Uses of
dearth
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Prior to the Revolution there is a dearth of records; the earlier documents and archives of the Custom-House having, probably, been carried off to Halifax, when all the king's officials accompanied the British army in its flight from Boston.†
p. 28.8
- In the mere exercise of the fancy, however, and the sportiveness of a growing mind, there might be a little more than was observable in other children of bright faculties; except as Pearl, in the dearth of human playmates, was thrown more upon the visionary throng which she created.†
p. 89.2 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(dearth) an insufficient quantity or number
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Today, dearth is almost always used in the form: "a dearth of...", but in more archaic writing (such as many translations of Homer), dearth is used by itself to reference a famine (shortage of food) -- as in: "Dearth never comes there, nor are the people plagued by any sickness..."