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 J

John Mark

Biblical
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

Early church figure, author of Mark’s Gospel, and companion of Paul and Barnabas

Detailed Definition
John Mark initially left Paul’s first mission but later reconciled, becoming useful in ministry (Acts 12:12; 2 Timothy 4:11). In poetry, John Mark represents redemption after failure, the value of second chances, and how youthful retreat can mature into faithful service.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Milton’s "Paradise Lost," John Mark’s desertion and restoration (Acts 13; 2 Timothy 4) illustrate grace in failure; In George Herbert’s "The Church-porch," John Mark models the young worker who matures; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s "The Seraphim," John Mark symbolizes the companion of apostles; In John Keble’s "Lyra Apostolica," John Mark represents the author of the shortest Gospel; In Christina Rossetti’s devotional verse, John Mark’s name evokes the communion of restored servants; In T.S. Eliot’s "The Rock," John Mark’s journey with Barnabas prefigures reconciliation.
Additional Notes
John Mark: Cousin of Barnabas; early companion of Paul and Barnabas, later reconciled (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37–39; 2 Tim 4:11). Traditionally author of Mark’s Gospel. In poetry, John Mark embodies restoration after failure, the value of second chances, and the quiet authorship of the first Gospel. His mother’s house (Acts 12) was a church hub—ideal for poems on home as sanctuary, growth through rupture, or the origins of gospel narrative.
Also Known As
Mark the Evangelist Mark
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