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

Brumalia

Historical Festival
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

Late Roman winter festival of Dionysus and Saturn, involving feasting and role reversals

Detailed Definition
Brumalia was a Roman festival held in November–December, derived from the Latin "bruma" (shortest day), honoring Dionysus, Saturn, and Ceres with banquets, gift-giving, and temporary social inversion. It merged elements of Saturnalia and rural Dionysian rites. In poetry, Brumalia appears in late antique and Byzantine verse as a symbol of seasonal renewal, indulgence, and the persistence of pagan customs—often contrasted with Christian austerity or used to evoke the cyclical rhythm of death and rebirth in nature and society.
Example
Example in poetry:
John the Lydian describes Brumalia as a December feast blending Saturnalian and Dionysian elements; Late Roman poets like Ausonius reference Brumalia to mark winter’s depth and hope for renewal; In Byzantine hymns, Brumalia is Christianized as a precursor to Epiphany; Neoclassical poets use Brumalia to evoke Roman syncretism and seasonal festivity; Modern historical verse depicts Brumalia as a bridge between pagan and Christian winter rites; Poets use Brumalia to symbolize indulgence as necessary counterpoint to austerity.
Additional Notes
Brumalia (from bruma, “shortest day”) was a late Roman winter festival honoring Dionysus, Saturn, and Ceres with feasting, gift-giving, and role reversals—essentially a fusion of Saturnalia and rural Dionysian rites. Though Christianized over time, it persisted into the Byzantine era. Poets can use it to explore seasonal renewal, syncretism, or the persistence of pagan customs. In teaching, compare with Kalends and Saturnalia to show evolving Roman festal culture.
Also Known As
Bruma
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