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

beau

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

A fashionable and attentive admirer, especially a man devoted to courtship and style.

Detailed Definition
Originally meaning a gallant or admirer, the beau appears frequently in eighteenth-century poetry and verse satire. He represents polite society, courtship rituals, and social display. Poets often used the beau to dramatise flirtation, romantic performance, or the artificial codes governing love. The term carries both charm and irony, allowing poets to praise elegance while subtly mocking affectation.
Example
Example in poetry:
The beau bows low beneath the lamp-lit trees, his ribboned smile rehearsed for hearts at ease; She mocks the beau who counts his curls not hours, and spends his vows like coins on fleeting flowers; Once every beau in silk and scented air paraded love as fashion, not as care; The poet paints the beau as ornament, a moving mirror of polite intent
Additional Notes
In poetry, beau often signals the social rituals of courtship rather than genuine love. The term is closely linked to eighteenth-century urban and aristocratic settings, where appearance, manners, and reputation mattered as much as emotion. Poets use beau to critique superficial romance, social performance, or the commodification of affection. It frequently appears alongside terms like fop or gallant, allowing subtle distinctions between empty elegance and sincere devotion.
Also Known As
Admirer Suitor Swain gallant macaroni bo
Skip to main content