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

Essence

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

The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially that which defines its character; in mysticism, the core reality of the soul or the divine.

Detailed Definition
In philosophical and mystical theology (e.g., Sufism), essence (Dhat) refers to the unchangeable, fundamental reality of God, beyond all attributes. The human essence is seen as a reflection of the divine. In poetry, the quest is often to discover one's true essence beneath the layers of ego and conditioning. The poet seeks to express the inexpressible essence of love, God, or being itself, using language not to define but to point toward that fundamental, unnameable core of existence.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Advaita poetry, Essence (svarupa) is pure awareness: “Strip away names—Essence remains”; In Sufi verse, Essence is the Beloved’s core: “Beyond form, beyond face—only Essence calls”; In contemporary poetry, Essence is authenticity: “In a world of masks, I seek your Essence”; Poets contrast Essence and appearance: “Jewel hidden in dust—Essence waits for the polishing hand.”
Additional Notes
Essence (ousia in Greek, svarūpa in Sanskrit) distinguishes what something truly is from its appearances; in mysticism, the soul’s essence is divine; poets seek to strip away surface to reveal essence—using minimalism, silence, or piercing imagery to point to the irreducible core of being or love.
Also Known As
Substance Quintessence essential oil quiddit Spiritus
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