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

carl

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 rustic man, peasant, or fellow of low social standing; sometimes used as a general term for a man.

Detailed Definition
Originating from Old Norse “karl,” the term “carl” denoted a free man of common status, distinct from nobles or clergy. In medieval poetry and ballads, it often described a rough, honest laborer or a comic rustic figure. The word appears in works like Chaucer’s or Scottish border ballads to establish social contrast or earthy realism. Though occasionally pejorative, “carl” could also carry connotations of strength and simplicity. Its archaic usage helps poets evoke feudal hierarchies or folkloric settings, grounding lofty themes in the lives of ordinary people.
Example
Example in poetry:
The carl who tilled the rocky northern soil (peasant, rustic man); A surly carl with rough and weathered face (churl, common man); The old carl sat by his hearth and told tales (elderly countryman); Many a carl and dame came to the fair (common folk); The carl spoke true, though his manner was gruff (freeman of low rank); A sturdy carl with calloused working hands (working man, rustic)
Additional Notes
Carl appears most frequently in Scots poetry and medieval English texts. In Scottish context, it simply means "man" or "fellow" without necessarily negative connotation (as in "auld carl"). In English medieval usage, it often emphasizes rustic or low social status. The word derives from Old Norse "karl" (man, freeman). "Carlish" means churlish or boorish. In some ballads, carl carries affectionate or neutral tone; in others, it's dismissive. Students should note regional and contextual variations. Burns uses "carl" frequently in Scots poems. The feminine equivalent, "carline" (old woman), appears in Scottish poetry. For students studying class representation in literature, carl's usage reveals social hierarchies and attitudes toward common people.
Also Known As
carle churl carll
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