"By that time will my aged years perhaps a staff require:
And quakingly as still in fears
my limbs draw to the fire:
Yet joy I shall them so to see,
If any joy in age there be."
In this poem, Whitney writes to her sister Anne. Whitney tells her sister that she hopes she will still be alive when her nephews have grown up but says that by then she will be very old herself. She describes old age as being undesirable, saying she will need a walking stick and will have shaking limbs. At the end of this passage, she says that she will have joy in seeing her nephews grown-up "if any joy in age there be," which is a pretty negative account of old age.
"Be modest in a mean,
be gentle unto all:
Though cause they give of contrary
yet be to wrath no thrall.
Refer you all to him,
that sits above the skies:
Vengeance is his, he will revenge,
you need it not devise."
In this poem, Whitney gives her younger sisters some advice about working in service in London. She tells them that they should be "modest" and "gentle." Even if someone wrongs them, they shouldn't act themselves. Instead, they should refer their grievances to God, and wait for him to act upon it.
"The time is come I must departe
from thee, ah, famous Citie"
In Will and Testament, Whitney laments the fact she must leave London. In some accounts, she must leave because she was too ill, but others say it is because she didn't have enough money to sustain herself. Either way, leaving London is a huge loss for Whitney, as she is clearly very fond of the city.
