Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan chief, traveled to England with her husband John Rolfe in 1616, where she was presented at court as Rebecca Rolfe. Her visit generated enormous public interest and became a symbol of colonial encounters, inspiring numerous pamphlets, poems, and artistic representations that shaped English perceptions of the New World and indigenous peoples.

Pocahontas became a recurring figure in colonial literature and poetry, symbolizing both the exotic Other and possibilities of cultural bridge-building. Her story inspired romantic and tragic treatments in verse that explored themes of cultural collision, conversion, and identity that would resonate through American literature for centuries.