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

Fionnuala

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

One of the Children of Lir, transformed into a swan for 900 years

Detailed Definition
Fionnuala endured centuries of exile with grace and song, becoming a symbol of patience and sorrow. Her story is a cornerstone of Irish lament poetry. Poets invoke Fionnuala to express themes of endurance, sisterly devotion, and the redemptive power of music in the face of prolonged suffering.
Example
Example in poetry:
Fionnuala is one of the Children of Lir, transformed into a swan for 900 years; Her lament in “The Fate of the Children of Lir” is a classic of Irish sorrow poetry; She embodies endurance, familial love, and the pain of exile; Poets reference Fionnuala to explore themes of transformation and longing; Her voice in swan-form retains human eloquence, showing the persistence of identity; She is a symbol of Ireland’s suffering and resilience.
Additional Notes
Fionnuala is one of the Children of Lir, transformed into a swan for 900 years. Her lament in “The Fate of the Children of Lir” is a masterpiece of Irish sorrow poetry. Students should study Fionnuala as an embodiment of endurance, familial love, and exile. Her voice retains human eloquence even in swan form, showing the persistence of identity. Poets reference her to explore transformation, longing, and Ireland’s historical suffering—making her a national symbol of resilience and tragic beauty.
Also Known As
Fionnuala of the Swans The Lamenting Sister Child of Lir The White-Necked Exile
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