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 F

fealty

Archaic Terms
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 loyalty sworn by a vassal to a feudal lord; faithful allegiance, especially the formal obligation of loyalty in the feudal system.

Detailed Definition
"Fealty" derives from Old French "feauté," ultimately from Latin "fidelitas" (loyalty), referring specifically to the formal oath of allegiance sworn by vassals to feudal lords. The term encompasses both the ceremony of swearing loyalty and the ongoing obligation of faithful service. Medieval poetry extensively explored fealty's demands—how loyalty constrained action, how conflicting obligations created tragedy, how breaking fealty led to dishonor. The word carries legal, social, and moral weight, representing the fundamental bond holding feudal society together. Poets employed "fealty" when examining themes of duty, honor, and the sometimes-conflicting demands of various loyalties—to lord, king, church, or love. Its technical precision distinguished feudal obligation from other forms of loyalty, making it valuable for historically accurate medieval settings. The term's ceremonial associations made it appropriate for elevated discourse about honor, obligation, and the bonds that structured hierarchical societies.
Example
Example in poetry:
The knight swore fealty to his liege lord; "Fealty binds the vassal to his king"; The oath of fealty was sacred and binding; To break fealty was treason most foul; Feudal society depended upon fealty's bonds; The ceremony of fealty involved ritual gestures
Additional Notes
Fealty represents the cornerstone of feudal relationships in medieval literature, embodying mutual obligation between lord and vassal. More than simple loyalty, it involves sworn oaths, ceremonial rituals, and reciprocal duties. Medieval romances, chronicles, and epics center on fealty's sacred nature and the dishonor of breaking it. Malory, Chaucer, and medieval poets treat it as fundamental social bond. Related to "fidelity" but more specific to feudal context. Etymology from Latin "fidelitas" (faithfulness). Essential for analyzing medieval literature's social structures, oath-breaking tragedy, and honor systems. The term appears in both secular (feudal) and spiritual (religious fealty to God) contexts. Useful for discussing social bonds, loyalty conflicts, and the sacred nature of promises in medieval worldview.
Also Known As
loyalty allegiance faithfulness homage
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