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.

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

Carol

Technique
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 joyful, rhythmic song-like poem often with refrains, associated with celebrations or seasonal themes.

Detailed Definition
Carols, from medieval ring-dances to Christmas hymns, use repetitive structures for communal singing; they appear in folk poetry to evoke festivity, unity, and oral tradition, preserving cultural rituals through simple, memorable verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
The medieval "Corpus Christi Carol" combines religious narrative with folk melody and repeated refrains; Traditional Christmas carols like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" feature simple stanzaic structure suitable for group singing; A modern carol might celebrate seasonal change with verses alternating with a repeated chorus; W.H. Auden wrote "O What Is That Sound" as a ballad-like carol with ominous repetition; Carols typically feature ABAB rhyme schemes and regular meter for easy memorization; Contemporary poets adapt carol form for secular subjects while maintaining joyful, song-like qualities
Additional Notes
The carol represents a joyful, song-like poetic form characterized by regular rhythms, refrains, and celebratory themes, with deep roots in medieval communal singing traditions. Originally associated with dance (the word derives from "carole," a circle dance), carols evolved to mark religious festivals, particularly Christmas, though secular carols celebrating spring or harvest also flourished. The form typically features a burden or refrain repeated after each stanza, creating participatory rhythm suitable for group recitation. Traditional carols employ simple rhyme schemes (often ABAB or AABB) and regular meter to facilitate memorization and communal performance. Modern poets have adapted the carol form for various celebratory or ironic purposes—note how some contemporary writers use carol structures to subvert expectations or address serious themes with deceptively cheerful forms. When analyzing carols, students should consider the relationship between form and function, examining how repetition, rhythm, and simplicity serve both aesthetic and social purposes in creating collective joy.
Also Known As
Christmas Carol Caroling Song
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