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 D

delve

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 verb meaning to dig, excavate, or turn up earth; also to search deeply or investigate thoroughly, often used metaphorically.

Detailed Definition
"Delve" derives from Old English "delfan," meaning to dig or excavate, and functions literally for physical digging and metaphorically for deep investigation. Medieval poetry used it for agricultural labor—peasants delved the earth—establishing it as humble, earthy work contrasting with aristocratic pursuits. The term's metaphorical extension to intellectual or spiritual searching made it versatile for poets exploring both physical and mental labor. To delve into mysteries, memories, or texts suggested determined, often difficult investigation beneath surfaces. The word's Anglo-Saxon roots gave it native English directness appropriate to plain speech or depictions of common life. Poets valued its ability to unite physical and mental effort, making material labor metaphorically illuminate intellectual work. Its archaic quality later suited pastoral poetry and works celebrating agrarian virtue or honest toil.
Example
Example in poetry:
The farmer must delve the earth to plant his crops; "Delve deep to find the buried treasure"; Miners delve into mountains seeking precious ore; To delve ancient texts reveals forgotten wisdom; The roots delve deep into the fertile soil; Poets delve into human nature's mysteries
Additional Notes
Delve appears throughout English literature with both literal (dig earth) and metaphorical (investigate deeply) meanings. Its agricultural origins link it to pastoral and georgic traditions. By the 19th century, the metaphorical sense dominated literary usage: "delve into mysteries," "delve into the past." The term's Anglo-Saxon roots ("delfan") give it earthy, fundamental quality versus Latinate "excavate." Related to "delver" (one who digs). Essential for analyzing agricultural imagery, knowledge-seeking metaphors, and the relationship between physical and intellectual labor. In socialist and labor literature, "delve" carries political resonance, linking manual labor to human dignity. Useful for discussing earth-related metaphors, archeological imagery, and how texts represent investigation as physical work requiring effort and persistence.
Also Known As
dig excavate burrow tunnel Howk
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