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

Comatas

Literary Character
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 shepherd in Theocritus's Idylls who miraculously survives imprisonment in a chest, representing pastoral martyrdom and divine favor.

Detailed Definition
Comatas appears in Theocritus as a shepherd imprisoned by his master for sacrificing the master's goats to the Muses, surviving through bees that fed him honey; he embodies the poet's devotion to art. The character represents the sacrifices poets make for their vocation and the divine protection granted to true servants of the Muses. Comatas demonstrates that pastoral poetry, despite its peaceful surface, can address serious themes of persecution, faith, and the vindication of artistic dedication.
Example
Example in poetry:
Comatas appears in Theocritus as a goatherd imprisoned for stealing goats but kept alive by bees bringing honey; Poets use Comatas to represent the divinely favored poet or the miraculous preservation of the artist; In pastoral tradition, Comatas embodies the shepherd-singer whose gifts earn supernatural protection; A poet might invoke Comatas when celebrating the special status of poets; Comatas serves as a figure of poetic martyrdom and divine rescue; The story demonstrates the pastoral theme of nature protecting its singers
Additional Notes
Comatas appears in Theocritus's Idylls in a story of miraculous survival where he was imprisoned in a chest for stealing goats but kept alive by bees bringing honey. This legend makes Comatas a figure of pastoral martyrdom and divine protection of poets. Poets invoke Comatas when celebrating the sacred status of singers, nature's care for its poets, or miraculous deliverance. The character demonstrates belief in poetry's divine sanction and nature's special relationship with those who sing its praises. Comatas represents the idea that true poets receive supernatural protection and sustenance.
Also Known As
long-haired imprisoned singer mythic goatherd
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