But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him. What is the meaning of this excerpt the scarlet letter?

The excerpt suggests that the rosebush is nature's offering to those who must enter or leave the prison.

Explanation:

"The Scarlet" letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of a woman accused of adultery with a scarlet letter "A" pinned to her breast. The above excerpt is from the first chapter "The Prison Door' where the rosebush had grown just outside of the prison door. The rosebush offered it's fragrance and beauty to those in the prison, either those going for their death or for those who are on their way into the prison vicinity. The term "token" also suggests that the flower may be some kind of offering or gift from nature to the inmates. Thus, this rosebush can mean that it is nature's offering to those who enter or exit the prison, a symbol of nature's everlasting nature.

The rosebush is nature's offering to those who must enter or leave the prison.