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

cumhacht

Dialect
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

The Irish word for power, might, or supernatural force, used in poetry both in its literal political sense and in reference to the magical power attributed to poets, sacred sites, and otherworld beings.

Detailed Definition
Cumhacht encompasses both temporal power — the might of kings and warriors — and the more mysterious force of magic, bardic authority, and divine presence. In the Irish poetic tradition, cumhacht is intimately connected to the poet's own art: the power of praise to elevate and satire to destroy was understood as a literal social and even supernatural force. In mythological verse, cumhacht describes the overwhelming power of the Tuath Dé and the sídhe. For poets working in the wake of colonialism, cumhacht also carries the political resonance of recovered agency — the power of language and culture to resist erasure.
Example
Example in poetry:
Cumhacht refers to both physical strength and magical power in poetry; The druid's cumhacht allows transformation of natural elements through speech; Poets describe cumhacht as flowing from proper alignment with cosmic forces; The hero's cumhacht grows through trials and acquisition of wisdom; Cumhacht can be inherited, stolen, or granted by supernatural beings; Misuse of cumhacht leads to downfall in many cautionary tales.
Additional Notes
Cumhacht (power) in Irish poetry refers to both political authority and supernatural force. It is often associated with the poet's ability to bless or curse, reflecting the belief in the magical efficacy of words. Poets explore the responsibility that comes with cumhacht and the dangers of its misuse. In mythological contexts, cumhacht is gained through knowledge, ritual, or lineage. Understanding cumhacht helps analyze power dynamics in Irish narratives, where verbal skill is as potent as physical strength.
Also Known As
power might force authority magic
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