Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830. __1__ her life, she seldom left her house. The people with whom she did come in __2__ , however, had a great impact on her thoughts and poetry. She was particularly stirred by Charles Wadsworth, whom she met __3__ a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home in 1860,__4__ some people believe that she started to write sad poems in the years that followed. 

 __5___ it is certain that he was an important figure in her life, it is not certain that she fell in love with him. For she only called him “my closest earthly friend.”