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 B

Bannockburn

Battles
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 1314 Scottish victory over England, securing Scottish independence under Robert the Bruce.

Detailed Definition
Bannockburn is a cornerstone of Scottish national identity and resistance. In poetry, it appears as a symbol of freedom, resilience, and the triumph of the underdog, often invoked in works celebrating Scottish heritage and anti-imperial sentiment.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Battle of Bannockburn is central to Scottish patriotic poetry, such as Blind Harry’s “The Wallace,” which links it to national liberation; Robert Burns alludes to Bannockburn in “Scots Wha Hae” with the line “By Bannockburn’s red field”; modern Scottish poets invoke Bannockburn as a symbol of resistance against oppression; Bannockburn features in verse commemorating Robert the Bruce’s leadership and tactical brilliance; poets use Bannockburn to contrast medieval unity with modern political fragmentation; educational poems for children sometimes recount Bannockburn to teach Scottish history through rhythm and rhyme.
Additional Notes
Bannockburn (1314) was a decisive Scottish victory over England during the Wars of Scottish Independence, led by Robert the Bruce. It features prominently in Scottish nationalist poetry, notably Robert Burns’s “Scots Wha Hae,” which uses the battle as a rallying cry for liberty. For students, Bannockburn exemplifies how historical battles become cultural touchstones—symbolizing resistance, sovereignty, and collective memory. Compare its poetic treatment with Culloden to explore contrasting narratives of victory and defeat in Scottish verse.
Also Known As
Battle of Bannockburn
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