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

Durga

World Religion
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 fierce form of the Hindu goddess Devi, warrior deity who combats evil and protects dharma, often riding a lion or tiger.

Detailed Definition
Durga embodies shakti in its most dynamic and protective form, celebrated especially during Navaratri. She emerged to defeat the buffalo demon Mahishasura, symbolizing the triumph of divine feminine power over arrogance and chaos. In poetry, from the Devi Mahatmya to modern feminist reinterpretations, Durga represents courage, justice, and maternal ferocity. Her ten arms holding divine weapons signify the convergence of all cosmic powers in one divine will. Poets invoke her in times of crisis or moral decay, using her image to inspire resistance against oppression and to affirm the sacredness of righteous action. Her presence in verse often conveys urgency, empowerment, and divine intervention.
Example
Example in poetry:
In a Shakta hymn, Durga is “the lion-riding storm that devours demons of doubt”; A modern feminist poem: “CEO of cosmic justice—no boardroom, just battlefield”; A diasporic verse: “Durga Puja is homecoming in drumbeats”; A minimalist lyric: “Not destroyer, but liberator.”
Additional Notes
Durga, “the inaccessible,” slays the buffalo demon Mahishasura, restoring cosmic balance. Her festival, Navaratri, celebrates feminine power through dance (Garba), fasting, and scripture recitation. Iconographically, her many arms hold divine weapons, symbolizing collective divine support. In poetry, she’s both protector and destroyer—Kazi Nazrul Islam’s “Bidrohi” invokes her rebellious energy. For scholars, Durga embodies shakti (power) as necessary force against adharma, inspiring literature that links spiritual and social resistance, especially in feminist and anti-colonial contexts.
Also Known As
Devi Shakti Parvati Bhavani
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