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

Barricade

Military
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 barricade is a defensive obstacle constructed to block movement and protect a position from attack.

Detailed Definition
The barricade carries strong associations with urban insurrection and revolutionary struggle, evoking images of citizens hastily constructing defenses from everyday materials to resist oppressive forces. Poets, particularly those writing of revolutionary movements such as the French uprisings, have used the barricade to symbolize grassroots resistance and the collision between organized power and popular defiance in the streets of besieged cities.
Example
Example in poetry:
Poetry of the French Revolution often depicts barricades as symbols of popular uprising against tyranny; A verse might describe citizens dragging furniture and paving stones to build barricades in narrow streets; Poets use "barricade" to evoke both desperate defense and collective solidarity among the oppressed; A poem could contrast the barricade's makeshift construction with the disciplined ranks of an approaching army; The term appears in revolutionary ballads celebrating ordinary people's resistance to armed authority; A modern poem might use "barricade" metaphorically for personal or emotional defenses erected against pain.
Additional Notes
A barricade is a defensive obstacle constructed to block movement and protect a position from attack. Barricades are often improvised from available materials—furniture, rubble, overturned vehicles—making them symbols of desperate urban defense and civilian resistance. In military history, barricades have featured prominently in revolutions and sieges, from the Parisian barricades of 1848 to the street fighting of Stalingrad. Unlike formal fortifications, barricades suggest spontaneity and the determination of ordinary people to defend their homes. In poetry, the barricade embodies defiance, sacrifice, and the transformation of everyday objects into instruments of war. The phrase "man the barricades" evokes the romantic image of revolutionaries fighting for freedom. Related concepts include roadblock, checkpoint, and trench. Modern barricades may include concertina wire, Hesco bastions, and anti-vehicle obstacles.
Also Known As
Barrier Blockade Obstacle Roadblock Rampart Hurdle
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