At last night's rehearsal Michael introduced us to My heart is inditing, the fourth of the Coronation Anthems by Handel. This is an enjoyable sing, but right away we wondered about this word "inditing". What does it mean?
First, here is the context:
My heart is inditing of good matter
I speak of the things which I have made unto the King
King's daughters were among thy honorable women
Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in vesture of gold and the King shall have pleasure in thy beauty
Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and queens thy nursing mothers
The word comes from the Middle English word enditen and means to compose, to write, or to say or dictate.
So, perhaps "telling" or "speaking"?
2 comments:
I just received a CD of Handel's Coronation anthems and (as I have ADHD), listened to it at least 5 times in the car today! First question that came up "what does inditing mean? So thank you for the research - stops the imagination from running wild!
Hello Malcolm, I'm glad you found the information useful.
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