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

Give no quarter

Idiomatic Phrase
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

To show no mercy, leniency, or pity towards an opponent; it implies an unyielding and ruthless stance, often in a contest or conflict.

Detailed Definition
Give no quarter means to show no mercy, make no concessions, or refuse leniency in conflict. In poetry, the phrase carries martial and historical weight, recalling battles in which defeated enemies were not spared. It can describe war, argument, revenge, competition, political repression, or the merciless workings of time and death. The idiom is powerful because it intensifies conflict beyond ordinary disagreement. A poet may use it to portray ruthless strength, moral brutality, or the tragic cost of refusing compassion.
Example
Example in poetry:
An epic battle poem may say the invaders give no quarter; In a political satire, the pamphleteer gives no quarter to hypocrisy; The phrase can show ruthlessness in war or argument; A poet might soften it by showing mercy where no quarter was expected.
Additional Notes
Give no quarter means show no mercy, especially in battle. Historically, quarter could mean mercy or spared life granted to a defeated enemy. In poetry, the phrase carries severe martial force and can be used for war, argument, revenge, competition, winter weather, or inner struggle. Students should recognise its extremity: it suggests absolute refusal of compassion, compromise, or reprieve.
Also Known As
no mercy
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