A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard



African American Voices

The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"
Available versions

The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"

William Schwenck Gilbert

William Schwenck Gilbert portrait
18 November 1836 - 29 May 1911 (~75)
The Hunting
Available versions

The Hunting

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll portrait
27 January 1832 - 14 January 1898 (~66)
Love and Satyr
Available versions

Love and Satyr

Thomas d'Urfey

Thomas d'Urfey portrait
c. 1653 - 26 February 1723 (~70)
Three Men of Gotham
Available versions

Three Men of Gotham

Thomas Love Peacock

Thomas Love Peacock portrait
18 October 1785 - 23 January 1866 (~81)
A Study of Reading Habits
Available versions

A Study of Reading Habits

Philip Arthur Larkin

Philip Arthur Larkin portrait
9 August 1922 - 2 December 1985 (~63)
A Sense of Humor
Available versions

A Sense of Humor

Edgar A. Guest

Edgar A. Guest portrait
20 August 1881 - 5 August 1959 (~78)
Politicians
Available versions

Politicians

Orrick Johns

Orrick Johns portrait
2 June 1887 - 8 July 1946 (~59)
On Mistress Willis
Available versions

On Mistress Willis

John Wilmot

John Wilmot portrait
1 April 1647 - 26 July 1680 (~33)
The Spectre Pig
Available versions

The Spectre Pig

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. portrait
29 August 1809 - 7 October 1894 (~85)
The Invitation
Available versions

The Invitation

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick portrait
24 August 1591 - 15 October 1674 (~83)
A Sea Dirge
Available versions

A Sea Dirge

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll portrait
27 January 1832 - 14 January 1898 (~66)
The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen
Available versions

The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick portrait
24 August 1591 - 15 October 1674 (~83)
Sir, I admit your general rule
Available versions

Sir, I admit your general rule

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope portrait
21 May 1688 - 30 May 1744 (~56)
The Dolls
Available versions

The Dolls

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats portrait
13 June 1865 - 28 January 1939 (~74)
The Treadmill Song
Available versions

The Treadmill Song

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. portrait
29 August 1809 - 7 October 1894 (~85)
Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death
Available versions
Address to a Haggis
Available versions

Address to a Haggis

Robert Burns

Robert Burns portrait
25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796 (~37)
The Hatband
Available versions

The Hatband

Arthur Macy

Arthur Macy portrait
6 June 1842 - 1 June 1904 (~62)
The Innovator
Available versions

The Innovator

Stephen Vincent Benét

Stephen Vincent Benét portrait
22 July 1898 - 13 March 1943 (~45)
Lines for an Old Man
Available versions

Lines for an Old Man

T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot portrait
26 September 1888 - 4 January 1965 (~77)
The Garden Party
Available versions

The Garden Party

Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc portrait
27 July 1870 - 16 July 1953 (~83)
A Letter to My Aunt
Available versions

A Letter to My Aunt

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas portrait
27 October 1914 - 9 November 1953 (~39)
Caliban on Ariel
Available versions

Caliban on Ariel

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne portrait
5 April 1837 - 10 April 1909 (~72)
The Well of St. Keyne
Available versions

The Well of St. Keyne

Robert Southey

Robert Southey portrait
12 August 1774 - 21 March 1843 (~69)
Mathematics
Available versions

Mathematics

Thomas Edwards Hankinson

Thomas Edwards Hankinson portrait
19 June 1805 - 6 October 1843 (~38)
The Wedding of Shon MacLean
Available versions

The Wedding of Shon MacLean

Robert Williams Buchanan

Robert Williams Buchanan portrait
18 August 1841 - 10 June 1901 (~60)
The Sorry Hostess
Available versions

The Sorry Hostess

Edgar A. Guest

Edgar A. Guest portrait
20 August 1881 - 5 August 1959 (~78)
Plain Language From Truthful James
Available versions

Plain Language From Truthful James

Bret Harte

Bret Harte portrait
25 August 1836 - 5 May 1902 (~66)
I've A Pain In My Head
Available versions

I've A Pain In My Head

Jane Austen

Jane Austen portrait
16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817 (~42)
The 'Ole in the Ark
Available versions

The 'Ole in the Ark

Marriott Edgar

Marriott Edgar portrait
5 October 1880 - 5 May 1951 (~71)
Symptoms of Disease of the Heart
Available versions
John Barleycorn
Available versions

John Barleycorn

Robert Burns

Robert Burns portrait
25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796 (~37)
The Banker's Fate
Available versions

The Banker's Fate

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll portrait
27 January 1832 - 14 January 1898 (~66)
Dance of the Macabre Mice
Available versions

Dance of the Macabre Mice

Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens portrait
2 October 1879 - 2 August 1955 (~76)
Skip to main content

Poem Actions

Choose an action for this poem

Now playing
-
-
0:00
0:00
Track 1