I found myself picking up a book last evening by Anne Rice, with the title of Blood Canticle. This book is one of the continuing segments of the Vampire Lestat chronicles, the first of which was Interview with a Vampire. Anyway, after reading several chapters, I found my self having to avowal that the book in no way was along the lines of the percipience of the word Canticle that I had grown up knowing. Thus I looked the word up and this is what I came up with:

1.) Canticle
From the Wikipedia, encyclopedia.
A canticle is most basically defined as a non-metrical hymn or song. Its meaning can be expanded to include:
A song, especially a hymn (as in "Canticle of Canticles", another way to refer to the biblical book Song of Solomon.)
A canto or division of a poem
A psalm, hymn, or passage from the Bible, arranged for chanting during a church service (for example the Magnificat.)

From the Latin "canticulum", a diminutive of "canticum", song. From "cantus", singing, "coner", to sing.


This definition is what I understood “Canticle” to allude. So here is my question, how is it then that a book can have the word in its title if the subject of said book is not a poem, song, psalm or hymn?



Rev. Alimae

Rev. Alimae