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

Fionn

Mythology
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

Fionn mac Cumhaill is a legendary warrior and leader of the Fianna, famed for his wisdom and bravery.

Detailed Definition
Fionn gained wisdom by tasting the Salmon of Knowledge and led a band of heroes in the Fenian Cycle. His adventures, often poetic and romantic, explore themes of loyalty, nature, and heroism. Fionn’s tales are central to Irish folklore and inspire poetic depictions of noble leadership and mystical insight.
Example
Example in poetry:
Fionn mac Cumhaill appears as the legendary warrior-poet whose wisdom came from tasting the Salmon of Knowledge; Poets invoke Fionn when exploring the relationship between martial prowess and poetic inspiration; His leadership of the Fianna provides material for poems about warrior bands and outdoor life; The stories of Fionn's old age and jealousy create verses about the diminishment of heroes; In Irish literary tradition, Fionn represents indigenous Irish heroism as opposed to Ulster's more aristocratic warriors; Modern poets use Fionn to explore themes of knowledge, aging, and the cost of wisdom
Additional Notes
Fionn mac Cumhaill gains wisdom by eating the Salmon of Knowledge, becomes leader of the Fianna (warrior-poets), and features in hundreds of tales; he bridges myth and folklore, heroism and humor; poets may use Fionn to explore mentorship (e.g., teaching Oisín), aging, or the quest for knowledge; his thumb-in-mouth gesture (to access wisdom) is a potent poetic symbol; his adventures—hunting, riddling, defending Ireland—offer narrative templates for modern mythic verse; he represents the ideal of the warrior-poet-scholar.
Also Known As
Fionn mac Cumhaill Finn McCool Fionn MacCumhail
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