教授与学生寻找北美第一位诗人的墓地

Professors, Students Search for Burial Site of North America’s First Poet

Anne Bradstreet was the first person on the North American continent to publish poems, but her legacy¹ has largely been lost to time.

Now, professors and students at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts are trying to find where she is buried. They also are working to build her legacy and, what they say is, her rightful place in Western literature.

Christy Pottroff is an assistant professor of English at Merrimack College. She and associate English professor Ellen McWhorter are leading several students in a project called Finding Anne Bradstreet.

“Even though we don’t know much about her, she was a household name in the 17th century, both here and in England,” Potroff told the Associated Press.

Bradstreet’s book of poetry, “The Tenth Muse² Lately Sprung Up in America,” was popular both in the North American Colonies and in her native England. It was published in 1650. People in her home country were very interested in her descriptions of everyday life in the New World.

Bradstreet was a member of a well-known family that held important positions. Her father, Thomas Dudley, served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She married Simon Bradstreet, who also served as governor. She died in 1672.

Her family was powerful and wealthy so she received more education than many women in her community of Puritans, a Christian³ religious group.

Most of her writings were about home life in the Colonies, her position as a woman and mother of eight and her love of her husband.

“I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold,” she wrote in the poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband.”

She also wrote about watching the family’s home catch fire.

“Then, coming out, behold⁴ a space, The flame consume my dwelling⁵ place,” she wrote in “Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666.”

All of Bradstreet’s writing was strongly influenced by her Puritan religious beliefs.

“She thought poetry was a vehicle for glorifying⁶ God,” McWhorter said.

Bradstreet did not set out to become a published poet. Her writings were at first shared with family.

But her brother-in-law took her writings to London, where they were published. Some experts believe he did so without her knowledge, but it is more likely she did know he planned to have them published, Pottroff said.

The Merrimack project began just last year. But McWhorter’s interest in Bradstreet dates to 2009 when she was interviewing for a job at the college. At that time, she heard that Bradstreet was buried somewhere on the school’s grounds. It turns out that is not true. But researchers think she was buried not too far away in North Andover.

The professors and students believe she was buried where her family home used to be, which is now private property. They aim to use radar⁷ technology to find underground objects that might suggest a burial site.

The goal is just to find the burial site and bring Bradstreet’s work and life back into the light.

“We want to rebuild some of her legacy that has been lost,” said Emma Leaden, an English student at Merrimack helping⁸ with the project.

Leaden had never heard of Bradstreet but quickly got involved in the project.

“I just thought finding the grave of America’s first poet sounded exciting and very Indiana Jonesy,” she said.

The group is developing a software application about Bradstreet’s life so people can take guided walks to follow her footsteps. The professors and students also are preparing a Bradstreet lesson plan for high school teachers to use in the classroom.

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

legacy – n. something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past

thy – adj. relating to or belonging to you

doth – v. ancient third person singular present form of the verb ‘do’

consume – v. to destroy something with fire

dwelling – n. a place where a person lives

glorify(ing) – v. to honor or praise a god or goddess

interview(ing) – v. to participate in a formal meeting in which you are being considered for a job or other position

1 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

2 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

5 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

6 glorifying   

赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• I had no intention of either glorifying or belittling Christianity, merely the desire to understand it. 我并没有赞扬基督教或蔑视它的立意，我所想的只是了解它。
• You are glorifying a rather mediocre building. 你正在美化一栋普普通通的建筑。

7 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。