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.

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

Hatupatu

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

A clever hero known for outwitting the ogre Kurangaituku and escaping her clutches.

Detailed Definition
Hatupatu’s tale, centered in the Rotorua region, recounts his capture by the bird-woman Kurangaituku and his daring escape using cunning and magic. His story highlights themes of resilience, intelligence over brute force, and the triumph of the underdog. In poetry, Hatupatu symbolizes resourcefulness and cultural identity, often invoked in narratives of survival and resistance against overwhelming odds.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hatupatu, the clever hero who outwitted the giant Kurangaituku, is referenced in poetry to celebrate cunning over brute strength; Poets use Hatupatu’s escape through the thermal springs of Rotorua as a metaphor for resilience and resourcefulness; His story appears in verse as a cautionary tale about hospitality and betrayal; Contemporary poets draw parallels between Hatupatu’s journey and the navigation of cultural identity; In performance poetry, Hatupatu’s magical bone flute becomes a symbol of ancestral knowledge; His triumph is often framed as a victory of wits and tikanga (customary practice) over chaos.
Additional Notes
Hatupatu is a legendary hero from Te Arawa traditions, known for his clever escape from the giant bird-woman Kurangaituku by using thermal springs and magic. His story emphasizes wit over strength and adherence to tikanga (customary law). In poetry, Hatupatu symbolizes resilience, ingenuity, and the triumph of intelligence. His journey through the geothermal landscapes of Rotorua also ties him to place-based identity. Poets should note that his tale is regionally specific and often performed in waiata and haka. When referencing Hatupatu, consider linking him to themes of survival, ancestral knowledge, and the sacredness of geothermal features.
Also Known As
cave survivor bird slayer heroic youth
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