This quote from Fred Rogers shines a light on a modern perspective of the power of friendship in one's life, but was this idea present in the 17th century? In “To My Excellent Lucasia, on Our Friendship'' by Katherine Philips, the poet indeed demonstrates that this idea of friendship’s impact on one’s existence could potentially be incredibly significant. Although Philips uses the word “life” twice within her poem, both usages are not meant to be taken literally as the word was defined at the time, rather, they were meant to be an expression of the extreme amount of purpose and spiritual direction Lucasia gained as a result of her becoming acquainted with the titular subject of the poem, Lucasia. The definition of life at the time, according …show more content…
Through stating “crowned with felicity” (Philips, line 2), Philips is saying that she only gained life due to the great happiness she received from when she could confidently say that she belonged to, or when she united with Lucasia. This demonstrates that life in this context does not literally mean the condition of existing (as opposed to the condition of being dead), but rather the condition of finding joyful purpose within one’s lifetime. This ties into the second stanza, when Philips asserts that this state of purposeful, joyful existence is what allowed her to become more than a “carcass” (Philips, line 5) that has the appearance of life. Before this, she did not have “a soul till she found thine” (Philips, line 12). This is important because the idea of life without a soul implies that before she met Lucasia, although she was not dead, she did not have spiritual guidance or meaning within her existence. Lucasia is what allowed her to become something more than a human going through the motions with no real connection to her own existence. The references to “felicity” (Philips, line 2), “my joy” (Philips, line 16), and “mirth” (Philips, line 17) demonstrate that what Lucasia really gave Orinda was not literally life, but happiness and purpose within her