Both Uses of
harbinger
in
The House of the Seven Gables
- He had that sense, or inward prophecy,—which a young man had better never have been born than not to have, and a mature man had better die at once than utterly to relinquish,—that we are not doomed to creep on forever in the old bad way, but that, this very now, there are the harbingers abroad of a golden era, to be accomplished in his own lifetime.†
Chpt 12harbingers = indications of the approach of something
- To me, though, for a considerable period of time, I have lived chiefly in retirement, and know less of such things than most men,—even to me, the harbingers of a better era are unmistakable.†
Chpt 17 *
Definition:
an indication of the approach of something -- especially something bad