I. Historical Introduction (历史背景)

(1) At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the vast continental area that was to become the United States had been probed only slightly by English and European explorers. At last early in the seventeenth century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.

(2) The colonies that became the first United States were for the most part sustained by English traditions, ruled by English laws, supported by English commerce, and named after English monarchs and English lands.

(3) The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of the settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, about adapting to new life and dealing with Indians; they wrote letters, contracts, government charters, religious and political statements.

(4) The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an English soldier of fortune. His reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.

(1) 直到17世纪初，美国所在的广袤大陆才被英国及少数几个欧洲国家的探险家涉足。17世纪早期，英国人最终在弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞定居，奠定了人们熟知的美国主流文化的基础。

(2) 成为第一个联邦的殖民地大部分是由英国的传统维系，受英国法律管辖，依靠英国商贸，以英国君主和领地命名。

(3) 美国早期文学就是这些殖民者写的叙述文和日记，主要是关于他们来到这块新大陆的航海历程，如何适应岛上的新生活，如何和当地印第安人打交道；还有信件、契约、政府宪章、宗教和政治声明。

(4) 1607年，英国殖民者在弗吉尼亚詹姆斯敦建立了第一个在北美的永久性殖民地。英国雇佣兵约翰·史密斯上尉就是这批殖民者中的一员。17世纪初，他发表的关于探寻新大陆的报告被认为是第一部用英语写作的美国文学作品。

II. Early New England Literature (早期新英格兰文学)

New England had from the beginning a literature of ideas:

theological, moral, historical and political. The Puritans, who had come to New England for the sake of religious freedom, had embraced hardships, together with the discipline of a harsh church for a very long time. Over the years the Puritans built a way of life that was in harmony with their somber religion, one that stressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety. These were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing, including the sermons, books, and letters of such noted Puritan clergymen as John Cotton and Cotton Mather.

新英格兰文学打一开始就充满了各种各样的思想，内容涉及神学、道德、历史和政治等话题。清教徒来到新英格兰是为了获得宗教自由，他们长期地忍受着困苦和教堂严酷的教规。通过多年的努力，他们养成了一种与他们忧郁的宗教相适应的生活方式，即勤劳、节俭、虔诚和节制。这些主要价值观充分体现在他们的作品中，包括一些著名的牧师如约翰·科顿和科顿·马瑟等的布道词、书籍和信件等。