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.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this 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

Home › Glossary › Letter A

A bird in the hand

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Having a small, certain advantage is better than pursuing a larger, uncertain one.

Detailed Definition
This proverbial phrase, rooted in medieval falconry where a trained bird represented tangible value, underscores the poetic theme of prudence over ambition. In literature, it often appears in cautionary or reflective verses to critique reckless desire or to affirm contentment with modest security. Poets use it to contrast illusion with reality, especially in sonnets or fables exploring human folly, temptation, or the cost of lost opportunity. Its rhythmic simplicity and concrete imagery make it ideal for didactic poetry, where moral lessons about patience, risk, and gratitude are conveyed through everyday metaphors that resonate across cultures and eras.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Better a bird in the hand than two in the bush,” wrote John Heywood in his 1546 proverb collection, a line often echoed in pastoral poetry to caution against reckless ambition; In Robert Frost’s reflective tone, one might imagine: “He chose the known path, for a bird in the hand outweighs dreams in the trees”; A modern sonnet might lament: “She clung to her modest joy—a bird in the hand—while others chased mirages of grander love”; Contemporary free verse could observe: “In this economy of trust, I’ll take your steady glance—a bird in the hand—over promises that vanish like smoke.”
Additional Notes
This idiom originates from medieval falconry, where a bird held in the hand was a guaranteed asset versus two birds merely seen in flight. In poetry, it often serves as a thematic anchor for poems about prudence, regret, or the tension between security and ambition. It appears frequently in didactic verse, pastoral poetry, and fables, functioning as a moral compass that cautions against speculative desire. Poets may use it ironically to critique complacency or earnestly to affirm contentment. Related concepts include "opportunity cost" and "the grass is always greener," but this phrase uniquely emphasizes tangible possession over hypothetical gain. For students, recognizing its rhetorical function—often as a closing maxim—helps decode the ethical stance of a poem.
Also Known As
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
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