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.

I want a simpler life, without the hassle of being online. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit the life I want.

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.

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 K

Keep something at bay

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

An idiomatic phrase meaning to force an unwanted threat, illness, or enemy to stay at a safe distance, preventing their approach.

Detailed Definition
Keep something at bay means to hold danger, grief, illness, memory, temptation, or other threatening forces at a distance. In poetry, the idiom is rich because the threat remains present, like water, animals, or enemies kept just beyond the boundary. It suggests defence rather than victory. A speaker may keep despair at bay through song, work, prayer, humour, or routine. The phrase is useful for exploring fragile control, emotional survival, and the constant labour of preventing what one fears from drawing nearer.
Example
Example in poetry:
Prevent: "Warriors keep something at bay through vigilance and preparation."; Defense: "Poets keep despair at bay with rhythms of hope."; Student use: "Shows protection in resilience themes."; "Medicine helped keep infection at bay."
Additional Notes
Threat prevention, shows defense in resilience or protection themes. Valuable for vigilance. Suggests active guarding. Use in survival poetry. Contrasts with exposure. Enhances strength. Pair with barrier imagery.
Also Known As
Hold at bay Keep at arm's length Ward off Fend off
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