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

Abiathar

Biblical
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

High priest who supported David and later Solomon’s rival Adonijah

Detailed Definition
Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, escaped Saul’s massacre of priests and became David’s loyal high priest. He later backed Adonijah’s failed bid for kingship, leading to his exile by Solomon. In poetry, Abiathar symbolizes the tension between loyalty and political misjudgment, and the fragility of sacred office amid royal intrigue.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Milton’s "Paradise Regained," Abiathar is implicitly referenced through allusions to David’s court and priestly loyalty; In Alfred Tennyson’s "King David," Abiathar’s role as priest during David’s reign underscores themes of divine favor and exile; In Robert Browning’s "Saul," the tension between priestly and kingly authority echoes Abiathar’s historical position; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s "The Seraphim," priestly figures like Abiathar serve as intermediaries between heaven and earth; In William Blake’s prophetic books, Abiathar symbolizes the fading authority of the Levitical priesthood; In John Keble’s "Lyra Innocentium," Abiathar’s exile with David becomes a metaphor for faithful endurance.
Additional Notes
Abiathar: High priest during David’s reign who later supported Adonijah’s claim to the throne; his eventual exile by Solomon (1 Kings 2) marks a shift in religious authority. In poetry, Abiathar can symbolize loyalty, political intrigue, or the fall from grace. His association with the ephod and consultation of God (1 Samuel 23) links him to themes of divine guidance and priestly mediation. Compare with Zadok for contrasting priestly lineages.
Also Known As
Abiathar the Priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech
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