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 E

Elba

Battles
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

Not a battle, but Napoleon’s 1814 exile island, often referenced in poetic contexts of fall and return.

Detailed Definition
Elba symbolizes temporary downfall and the fragility of power. In poetry, it appears as a liminal space between empire and oblivion—frequently invoked in Romantic and historical verse to explore themes of exile, memory, and the restless ambition that defies containment, foreshadowing the Hundred Days’ tragic return.
Example
Example in poetry:
Elba, Napoleon’s 1814 exile, appears in Romantic poetry as imperial fall and quiet reflection; A modern sonnet might frame Elba’s cliffs as a cage for a caged eagle; In a dramatic monologue, Napoleon watches France from Elba’s shores; A free-verse elegy could mourn the soldiers who followed him to Elba; Contemporary poets use Elba to explore exile as prelude to return; A haiku might capture gulls circling over Elba where an emperor waits.
Additional Notes
Elba, Napoleon’s 1814 exile site, is not a battle but a poetic symbol of fall, reflection, and return; it features in Romantic and historical verse as a liminal space between power and obscurity, often preceding the drama of the Hundred Days.
Also Known As
Island of Elba
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