Умное число Линкольна

Abstract

The article suggests a non-traditional treatment of the semantic structure of the numeral four score and seven which opens Lincoln’s Gettisburg Address (1863) and which has virtually become the signature word of this document. Possibilities for revealing a polyphony of meanings broaden if the famous text is regarded as a poetic text, like, for instance, it was viewed by Harriet Monroe and the “prairie poets” early in the 20th century. Such approach allows going beyond direct textual meaning of the word toward contextual meanings materializing through semantic links of the word with other segments of the text. Moreover, it enables the reader as a coauthor of a poetic text to offer their own construction of sub-textual meanings hidden behind Lincoln’s number. Dealing with the form of the numeral four score which distinctly echoes the Biblical numerals of the type threescore/fourscore, the author of this article, unlike some researchers, is not prone to explain away the two-word spelling as Lincoln’s orthographic mistake suggesting that Lincoln’s spelling served certain functional and sub-textual purposes.