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 C

capstan

Nautical
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 vertical, rotating barrel used to apply massive force via horizontal bars pushed by crewmen.

Detailed Definition
The capstan is the great wooden winch of the old sailing ship, a towering cylinder around which men walk in a circle, pushing bars to raise the anchor or hoist heavy loads. In poetry, it is an image of collective labor, cyclic motion, and the power of many small efforts combined. The walking of the capstan—often accompanied by a shanty—creates a rhythm of communal endurance, a slow, grinding dance that binds the crew together. Poets use the capstan to discuss democratic effort, the turning wheel of fate, and the relentless, almost mythical, labor that underpins all maritime achievement. Its vertical stance also suggests a pillar of the community.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Walk her round: the sailors are walking around the capstan as they push on the capstan bars” (Kipling, Anchor Song).; “I’ve left my girl in Melbourne town … and I’ll love my girl for ever” (A Capstan Chantey).; “Up on the little slope behind the houses … is an ancient wooden capstan, cracked” (Elizabeth Bishop, At the Fishhouses).; The capstan in poetry symbolizes collective labor, cyclic motion, and the power of many small efforts combined.; Poets use the capstan to evoke the grinding, mythical labor that underpins all maritime achievement.; The capstan’s vertical stance suggests a pillar of community and shared purpose.
Additional Notes
The capstan is a mighty vertical winch, a drum powered by crewmen walking in a circle, pushing bars to raise the anchor or hoist heavy loads. In poetry, it is a powerful symbol of collective labor, the cyclic motion of persistent effort, and the amplification of individual strength through community. The walking of the capstan, often accompanied by a rhythmic sea shanty, creates a scene of communal endurance, a slow, grinding dance that binds the crew together. Poets use the capstan to discuss democratic effort, the turning wheel of fate, and the relentless, almost mythic, labor that underpins all maritime achievement. Its vertical, pillar-like stance also suggests a central, uniting force, a physical and social axis around which the ship's life revolves.
Also Known As
Capstan bar windlass (sometimes confused)
Skip to main content