greater of which was Emerson’s Nature, “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society...the lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other.” Emerson appealed to Thoreau with his love for nature and simplicity. A trait that was much a part of Thoreau’s child-hood. Emerson’s work began to help Thoreau realize his own pursuits in nature were not in vain, but were truly the pinnacle of living, and his childhood was the era of his true living. He, in response to an inquiry for a class record, states “Though bodily I have been a member of Harvard University, heart and soul I have been far away among the scenes of my boyhood. Those hours that should have been devoted to study, have been spent in scouring the woods and exploring the lakes and streams of my native village.” With this Thoreau leaves to go back to his home town, where he will go back to the environment of his boyhood. Henry Thoreau, with his mentality almost totally developed, meets the reinforcement needed to solidify his views. His journal happened to be no personal concern, and one day while his mother conversed with Lucy Jackson Brown it was brought to her attention, which then of course was forwarded to Emerson. On the grounds that Henry’s views echoed Emerson’s so greatly Emerson then devised they should meet, and soon after they became, “ an important, if not always easy, friendship” (Derleth, 19). It was not long after their first meeting that Emerson was already writing of Thoreau in his journal, “I delight much in my young friend, who seems to have as free and erect a mind as any I have ever met...My good Henry Thoreau made this else solitary afternoon sunny with his simplicity and clear perception...” Emerson very much took a liking to Henry, whether it was a reflection in himself that Emerson saw, or a fertile...
