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

Barabbas

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

The prisoner released by Pontius Pilate at Passover instead of Jesus, often symbolizing substitution, injustice, or collective guilt in poetic allusion.

Detailed Definition
Barabbas, described as a rebel or murderer in the Gospels, was freed at the crowd’s demand while Jesus was crucified—a pivotal moment highlighting human choice and divine sacrifice. In poetry, Barabbas embodies the paradox of substitutionary grace, the guilty set free while the innocent suffers, often symbolizing humanity’s redemption through Christ’s unjust condemnation.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Milton’s "Paradise Lost," Barabbas’s release (Matthew 27) prefigures substitutionary atonement; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s "The Seraphim," Barabbas symbolizes the guilty set free; In George Herbert’s "The Sacrifice," Barabbas’s freedom contrasts with Christ’s chains; In John Keble’s "The Christian Year," Barabbas becomes a type of every sinner; In Christina Rossetti’s "Good Friday," Barabbas’s name evokes undeserved mercy; In T.S. Eliot’s "Ash-Wednesday," Barabbas’s choice reflects humanity’s preference for violence over peace.
Additional Notes
Barabbas: Insurrectionist released instead of Jesus (Matthew 27:15–26); his name means “son of the father.” The irony is potent: a guilty man freed while the innocent dies. In poetry, Barabbas represents substitutionary grace, human choice, and the paradox of liberation through another’s suffering. His obscurity post-release invites imaginative expansion—ideal for dramatic monologues on guilt, freedom, or undeserved mercy.
Also Known As
Barabbas the Insurgent Jesus Barabbas
Skip to main content