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 G

girt

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

Past tense and past participle of "gird," meaning encircled, bound around, or prepared for action by binding; surrounded or enclosed.

Detailed Definition
"Girt" is the past tense and past participle of "gird," meaning to encircle with a belt or band, to surround or encompass, or to prepare for action. The term appears literally—waists girt with swords, cities girt with walls—and metaphorically—loins girt for battle, minds girt for effort. Biblical language famously used "gird up thy loins" for preparation, giving "girt" associations with readiness and determination. Poets employed it when describing both physical encirclement and psychological preparation. The word's compact force and biblical resonance made it appropriate for elevated contexts requiring dignified expression of encompassment or readiness. Its use in phrases about preparation for conflict or effort gave it martial and moral associations. The term efficiently conveys both the action of binding and the resulting state of preparedness or encirclement, making it valuable for descriptions requiring both physical precision and metaphorical resonance.
Example
Example in poetry:
The knight girt on his sword for the tournament; "Girt about with armor strong" describes readiness; Girt is past tense of gird, to encircle; He girt himself with determination and resolve; The warrior girt his loins for battle; Mountains girt the valley on every side
Additional Notes
Girt appears as past tense/participle of "gird," meaning encircled, bound, or prepared. The term frequently appears in military contexts (girt with sword), descriptive passages (girt by mountains), and metaphorical preparations (girt for action). Biblical "gird up thy loins" influenced literary usage. Related to "girdle" and "begirt." Essential for analyzing preparation imagery, encirclement metaphors, and martial symbolism. The term's conciseness makes it metrically useful in poetry. Useful for discussing how literature represents readiness, the symbolism of binding and encircling, and metaphors of psychological preparation through physical imagery. Often appears in epic and heroic contexts where characters prepare for trials, making the act of girding significant ritual moment signaling transition to action.
Also Known As
belted encircled fastened bound
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