First and Only Extended Journey: Washington and Philadelphia
Poet involved
What happened
In the spring of 1855, Emily Dickinson traveled with her mother and sister outside Massachusetts for the first and only time. They spent three weeks in Washington, D.C., visiting her father during his Congressional term, then two weeks in Philadelphia, where she met the Reverend Charles Wadsworth.
Literary impact
This rare excursion exposed Dickinson to the wider world and provided material for her letters and poems. Her meeting with Charles Wadsworth, whom she called 'my Philadelphia' and 'my dearest earthly friend,' inspired some of her most passionate and anguished verses, and their correspondence became a central emotional relationship of her adult life.
Source: Wikipedia
