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 I

in dubio pro reo

Latin Phrases
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

In doubt, for the defendant; the legal principle of presuming innocence when evidence is ambiguous.

Detailed Definition
In dubio pro reo, "in doubt, for the defendant," expresses the legal principle that ambiguity should favor the accused, that guilt requires proof beyond doubt. In poetry, this phrase signals fair judgment, the ethics of uncertainty, and resistance to rush toward condemnation. Poets invoke it when advocating charity, when insisting that doubt should favor mercy rather than severity. The phrase suggests both procedural rule and moral principle—that we should err toward acquittal rather than conviction when truth remains unclear. It appears in poems about judgment, forgiveness, and the ethics of interpretation, where speakers argue that doubt creates obligation toward leniency, that uncertain guilt shouldn't produce certain punishment.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem about justice invokes "in dubio pro reo—in doubt, favor the defendant"; Contemporary verse uses it when advocating mercy: "In dubio pro reo: doubt should favor acquittal"; A poem about judgment employs the phrase: "In dubio pro reo reminds us to err toward mercy"; Verse about fairness uses "in dubio pro reo" as principle; A metapoetic reflection might note "Reading requires in dubio pro reo, giving poets benefit of doubt"; Poets advocating charity invoke "in dubio pro reo": "When uncertain, assume innocence"
Additional Notes
A cornerstone of Roman and later European jurisprudence, in dubio pro reo embodies the presumption of innocence. In literary contexts it can symbolise moral uncertainty, divine judgement, or the tension between justice and mercy. Poets may adapt it ironically to question social verdicts. Its balanced rhythm and internal alliteration make it rhetorically powerful, and it is closely linked to concepts such as onus probandi and natural law.
Also Known As
when in doubt for the accused benefit of the doubt
Skip to main content