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

Erlking

Folklore
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 supernatural ruler of the forest who lures travelers, especially children, toward death.

Detailed Definition
The Erlking, or Erlkönig, is a Germanic folkloric figure associated with the dangerous enchantment of the woods. In Goethe’s famous ballad, he appears as a seductive presence who calls to a child riding through the night, while the father interprets the child’s terror as natural sights and sounds. The figure has therefore become a powerful emblem of disbelief and divided perception. In poetry, the Erlking may speak in a beautiful voice, making menace inseparable from charm and showing how authority can fail to hear the vulnerable.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poet may follow the Erlking through a dark wood as he tempts a frightened child with promises of games; “Erlking” can symbolize death disguised as beauty, music, or invitation; A narrative poem might echo the famous ballad tradition by contrasting a parent’s rational explanations with the child’s terror; Using the Erlking creates dramatic tension between what one character sees and what another refuses to believe.
Additional Notes
The Erlking, or Elf King, is a supernatural forest ruler best known through German folklore and Goethe’s poem “Erlkönig.” He lures travelers, especially children, with beautiful promises before bringing death. The figure creates tension between what a frightened child perceives and what an adult may dismiss as illness or danger. Related motifs include the wild hunt, enchanted forests, seduction by spirits, and fatal invitation.
Also Known As
Erlkönig Erl-King Elf King
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