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

addlepated

Archaic Terms
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

Silly, foolish, or muddled in thought; having a confused or addled mind.

Detailed Definition
“Addlepated” combines “addle” (rotten or muddled) with “pate” (head), forming a colorful descriptor of foolishness. Common in 17th- and 18th-century literature, it appears in poetry to mock or gently chide characters lacking sense. Its rhythmic syllables and comic tone make it useful in satirical or light verse, where archaic diction enhances humor or characterizes rustic or outdated speech patterns in dialogue or persona poems.
Example
Example in poetry:
That addlepated squire mistook the moon for a cheese; Addlepated dreams led him to the widow’s gate; The addlepated owl hooted wisdom to deaf stones; Addlepated by love, he kissed the thorn and bled
Additional Notes
“Addlepated” is a colorful archaic insult suggesting a mind scrambled like an egg (“addle” originally meant putrid or unfruitful). Common in 17th- and 18th-century prose and drama, it entered poetic diction as a humorous or affectionate way to describe absentmindedness, foolishness, or harmless eccentricity. Unlike harsher terms for stupidity, “addlepated” often carries a tone of indulgence rather than contempt, making it suitable for comic verse or lighthearted character portraits. Its two-syllable structure and soft consonants allow it to fit neatly into iambic or anapestic lines. Poets may pair it with rustic or elderly figures to underscore endearing folly rather than moral failing. Related terms include “addle-brained” and “dotard.”
Also Known As
foolish muddled
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