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

diadem

Apparel
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 jeweled headband or crown worn as a symbol of sovereignty or high honor, often used in classical and romantic poetry as a more elevated synonym for crown.

Detailed Definition
The diadem is a poetic word that carries an air of antique majesty, often appearing in epic and heroic verse to denote the headpiece of a ruler, goddess, or victor. Unlike the heavier crown, the diadem can be delicate, a band of gold or silver set with precious gems, and its circular form symbolizes eternity and the unbroken nature of power. Poets use the diadem in descriptions of divine figures, such as Diana or Venus, to signify their celestial authority. In love poetry, a lover's brow might be described as worthy of a diadem, a hyperbole of praise. The diadem also appears in poems about the fall of empires, where it is cast down or shattered, representing the collapse of order. Its etymology from Greek "to bind" adds a layer of meaning about holding together and unity.
Example
Example in poetry:
"A Diademe? Alas, a racke, or wheele" (Ralph Knevet); "Bitter thorns to proclaim me your lover, a diadem woven with rue" (Amy Lowell, "CROWNED"); "The proud throne shall crumble, the diadem shall wane" (Hello Poetry); "The crowning diamonds of a diadem" (Ananta Madhavan); "She wore a diadem of stars in the midnight of her hair"; "The diadem's gems caught the firelight and scattered it like sparks"
Additional Notes
The diadem is a poetic word that carries an air of antique majesty, often appearing in epic and heroic verse to denote the headpiece of a ruler, goddess, or victor. Unlike the heavier crown, the diadem can be delicate, a band of gold or silver set with precious gems, and its circular form symbolizes eternity and the unbroken nature of power. Poets use the diadem in descriptions of divine figures, such as Diana or Venus, to signify their celestial authority. In love poetry, a lover's brow might be described as worthy of a diadem, a hyperbole of praise. The diadem also appears in poems about the fall of empires, where it is cast down or shattered, representing the collapse of order. Its etymology from Greek "to bind" adds a layer of meaning about holding together and unity. Related terms include crown, coronet, and tiara. Students should note the diadem's elevated, often classical register and its association with both earthly and divine sovereignty.
Other Meanings of “diadem”
Also Known As
jeweled crown royal fillet princely band correll Crown Bandeau Tiara
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