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

brent

Dialect
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

Brent is a Scottish dialect adjective meaning smooth, unwrinkled, or straight, often used to describe a youthful, unlined forehead or brow.

Detailed Definition
In Scottish poetry, "brent" vividly evokes the smooth, high, and uncreased brow of youth, contrasting sharply with the wrinkled or bald ("beld") forehead of old age. It carries connotations of physical attractiveness, vitality, and the unmarred beauty of early adulthood. This term enriches descriptive passages by grounding abstract ideas of aging and enduring love in tangible, sensory Scots language. Its use adds authenticity and rhythmic charm to verse, particularly in Burns' work, where it heightens emotional resonance through simple yet evocative dialect.
Example
Example in poetry:
From Robert Burns' "John Anderson, My Jo": "Your locks were like the raven, Your bonnie brow was brent;" This line contrasts the husband's youthful, smooth brow with his later aged appearance ("But now your brow is beld, John"), illustrating the passage of time within a loving marriage.
Additional Notes
Historical context or origin: Common in 18th-century Scots poetry and song, especially in Robert Burns' adaptations of traditional material, reflecting everyday descriptive language of the period. Related terms or variations: Contrasts with "beld" (bald) or wrinkled terms; similar to "braid" (broad) or "bonnie" (beautiful) in evoking positive physical traits. Variations in spelling are minimal, as it appears consistently in dialect texts. Common usage tips or pitfalls: Best employed in contexts describing youth or smooth surfaces to maintain archaic flavor; avoid in modern prose unless aiming for stylistic dialect effect, as it may confuse readers unfamiliar with Scots. Etymology: Likely related to concepts of straightness or smoothness in older Germanic/Scots roots, emphasizing an even, upright appearance.
Also Known As
burnt blackened scorched
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