One such admirer was a young Massachusetts neighbour, Henry David Thoreau. A schoolteacher by trade, Thoreau ended up as a boarder at Emerson's home, beginning a lasting, if not frustrating, friendship. This complex relationship introduced Thoreau to the literary world, as well as to the art of lecturing, as performed by Emerson.

One such lecture, delivered by Emerson in 1837 to a Harvard audience, spoke about the past, present, and future of "The American Scholar." Twenty-five years later, in 1862, shortly after his death, a monthly periodical published an article constructed from Thoreau's journals, entitled simply "Walking." Though very different in general subject matter, both pieces contain very similar philosophies, applicable

Both emerging during a time of Transcendentalists, both Emerson and Thoreau explored and debated many similar themes, such as the role of the individual, popular to their era. The movement within America toward intellectual independence provided diverse material for many discussions, both oral and published, for many writers of the time, beginning with Emerson and spreading to many others. Through his mentorship of Thoreau, Emerson molded public opinion not only through his own influential body of work, but also by nurturing and supporting the career of his younger peer. There is no doubt of the crucial role played by Emerson in the maturing work of Thoreau. Emerson provided the framework within which Thoreau was able to create and explore his own intellectual independence.

One recurring theme of this era of American literature was the idea of establishing independence for the United States from the historical ties to Europe. A cry went out for Americans to marvel in the wonders of their own backyard, rather than to look overseas to the previously dominant western European nations. Emerson was no exception to this movement and took time during his "The American Scholar" lecture to speak of the need for the present generation of Americans to establish their own history: "Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this." Emerson called for active, original thought on the part of American scholars and criticized those who wrote as they: "set out from accepted dogmas, not from their own sight of principles." His criticism more specifically, was directed to those scholars who looked abroad for inspiration, only to find: "That which had been negligently trodden under foot by those who were harnessing and provisioning themselves for long journies into far countries, [are] suddenly found to be richer than all foreign parts." Emerson's argument can be summed up with his observation that: "Man is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wondrous than things remote."

to many areas of life and society. The application of these philosophies from one work to the other, show not a taste of plagiarism, but rather act as a testament to the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the thoughts and ideas of Henry David Thoreau.

Variations of these same sentiments are present in Thoreau's look at the wonders of "Walking." Thoreau shares Emerson's concerns over western dominance on American culture but is more direct in his approach: "We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature, retracing the steps of the race; we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adv

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