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



Aladdin

Folklore
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

A poor young man who discovers a magic lamp granting wishes via a powerful genie

Detailed Definition
Originating in Middle Eastern folklore and popularized by One Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin’s tale explores themes of fortune, deception, and social mobility. In poetry, he represents the dream of sudden transformation, the duality of desire, and the moral complexities of power granted without merit.
Example
Example in poetry:
In poetic retellings, Aladdin’s lamp symbolizes the peril and promise of sudden fortune: "Rub the lamp, and dreams ignite—but wishes twist in genie’s light"; Romantic poets contrast Aladdin’s humble origins with his magical ascent: "Street-rat prince with lamp in hand, love and power at his command"; Contemporary verse uses Aladdin to critique consumerism: "We all seek the lamp—magic shortcut to wealth, fame, and ease"; In postcolonial poetry, Aladdin becomes a figure of cultural hybridity: "Between bazaar and palace, his story stitched from East and West"
Additional Notes
Aladdin: A character from the Middle Eastern folktale "One Thousand and One Nights," known for discovering a magic lamp containing a powerful genie. Though often adapted in Western media, his origins lie in Syrian and Egyptian oral traditions. Poets may use Aladdin to explore themes of sudden fortune, illusion versus reality, or the ethics of wish-fulfillment. Note that early versions differ significantly from Disney’s portrayal—Aladdin is not a prince but a clever street urchin.
Also Known As
Alaeddin
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