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



Abijah

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

Biblical king of Judah noted for his short but militarily successful reign and religious reforms, as recorded in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

Detailed Definition
Son of Rehoboam, Abijah reigned for three years and defeated Jeroboam in battle, asserting Judah’s legitimacy. Though criticized for idolatry, his victory reinforced Jerusalem’s religious centrality. In poetry, Abijah appears as a symbol of fleeting power and the complexities of royal piety amid national division.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Milton’s "Paradise Lost," Abijah’s brief reign is not mentioned, but kings of Judah like him frame the poem’s historical scope; In William Cowper’s "The Task," Abijah’s conflict with Jeroboam illustrates the cost of national division; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s "The Drama of Exile," minor kings like Abijah symbolize the fragility of earthly rule; In Alfred Tennyson’s "King David," Abijah’s lineage reinforces Davidic covenant themes; In John Keble’s "The Christian Year," Abijah’s war with Israel becomes a metaphor for spiritual warfare; In Christina Rossetti’s devotional verse, Abijah’s name evokes the continuity of God’s promises to Judah.
Additional Notes
Abijah: Name shared by several biblical figures, including a king of Judah (2 Chronicles 13) known for a dramatic sermon before battle. His speech invokes covenant theology and divine favor, useful in poetic meditations on legitimacy, faith in crisis, or national identity. When referencing Abijah, clarify context—royal, priestly, or prophetic—as each carries different symbolic weight. Related concepts include "Davidic covenant" and "temple worship."
Also Known As
Abijam
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