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

fife

Musical Instrument
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 fife is a small, high-pitched woodwind instrument similar to a flute, often used in military and marching bands.

Detailed Definition
The fife is a type of woodwind instrument that produces a bright, piercing sound, typically made of metal or wood. It is commonly associated with military music and marching bands, where it plays a crucial role in signaling and keeping rhythm. In Archibald MacLeish's poem "Youth is old before his time," the mention of a "merry fife" contrasts with the themes of loss and sorrow, highlighting the absence of joy and vitality in youth. The fife symbolizes the lively music and carefree spirit that youth should embody but is missing in the poem's context.
Example
Example in poetry:
In the poem "Youth is old before his time," MacLeish writes, "Danceth to no merry fife," which illustrates the idea that the speaker's youth is devoid of the joyful music and dance typically associated with a vibrant life.
Additional Notes
The fife has historical roots dating back to the 15th century and was commonly used in military contexts to accompany drums. It is often confused with the flute, but the fife is smaller and has a more limited range. Related terms include "flute" and "piccolo," which are also woodwind instruments but differ in size, sound, and playing technique. When discussing musical instruments in poetry, it's important to consider how they contribute to the poem's themes and emotions, as seen in MacLeish's work. The etymology of "fife" is believed to derive from the Middle English word "fife," which itself comes from the Old French "fife."
Also Known As
Piper Wind Instrument Melodic Flute
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