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 H

Hajj

World Religion
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

The annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, required once in a lifetime for able Muslims, commemorating the trials of Abraham and his family.

Detailed Definition
Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and a deeply symbolic journey reenacting key moments in Abrahamic history, including circling the Kaaba and standing at Arafat. It embodies unity, humility, and submission to God, drawing millions from diverse cultures into a shared ritual space. In poetry, Hajj serves as a powerful allegory for the soul’s journey toward divine presence—its rites (Tawaf, Sa’i, stoning the pillars) become metaphors for spiritual struggle, repentance, and return. Poets evoke its imagery to express transformation, collective identity, and the transcendence of worldly divisions.
Example
Example in poetry:
A hajj poem: “The Kaaba is the compass needle for a billion hearts”; A modern verse: “Not pilgrimage—it is shedding skins until only soul remains”; A minimalist reflection: “Journey outward, revolution inward”; A diasporic note: “In Hajj, I lost nationality—and found humanity.”
Additional Notes
Hajj, one of Islam’s Five Pillars, reenacts Hagar’s search for water (Sa’i between Safa-Marwah) and Ibrahim’s trials. Pilgrims wear ihram (simple white garments), symbolizing equality before God. The rituals—Tawaf (circumambulation), Wuquf at Arafat—fuse physical journey with inner purification. In literature, Hajj narratives explore unity, humility, and transformation—Malcolm X’s account highlights racial reconciliation. For students, Hajj’s symbolism (journey, sacrifice, return) mirrors classic narrative arcs, enriching comparative studies of pilgrimage in world religions and literature.
Also Known As
Pilgrimage
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