Words
Whitney often speaks about the power of words in her writing. For example, in An Order Prescribed, to two of her Younger Sisters Serving in London, she warns her sisters against people who will use words to deceive them:
Your business soon dispatch
and listen to no lies,
Nor credit every fained tale,
that many will devise.
For words they are but wind,
yet words may hurt you so."
Here, Whitney symbolically describes words as being like the wind to emphasize how meaningless they are, as someone can say anything they please. As such, words do not necessarily have any weight or truth to them. However, she does acknowledge that despite their lack of certainty, words can still hurt people.
London
Whitney describes London as a place of merriment and excitement, giving us an insight into what London was like in the 1500s. She describes in vivid detail the smells, sounds, and sights of London, including various merchants selling their wares and haggling down a typical London street. For Whitney, London symbolizes a place of familiarity and comfort, as it is where she was "bred." Her descriptions are also laced with humor and wit, foreshadowing the London city comedies of the 1600s.
Wife or Writer?
In Whitney's poems, the idea of being a wife lies in contrast to being a writer. In To her Sister Mistress A.B, Whitney writers to her sister, who has chosen a completely different path to herself. While her sister has settled down with a husband and two sons, Whitney has chosen the life of a writer. She seems to set these two lifestyles apart from each other, saying to her sister: "I know you huswifery intend, though I to writing fall." Here, it seems the life of a writer and a wife are somehow incompatible.
