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 under one's hat

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 keep confidential, withhold information, or maintain secrecy; headwear-concealment metaphor used in poetry to convey discretion, private knowledge, or silent trust through cranial-covering imagery emphasizing intimate containment.

Detailed Definition
Keep under one's hat means to keep something secret, private, or confidential. In poetry, the idiom can appear in poems about gossip, conspiracy, hidden love, political danger, family shame, or private knowledge. The hat image suggests something carried close to the head, concealed yet personally possessed. It has a playful tone, but secrecy may be comic, protective, dangerous, or morally troubling. A poet can use it to explore the burden of knowing, the ethics of silence, and the drama of withheld revelation.
Example
Example in poetry:
A comic poem might say the old gardener kept the mayor's secret under his hat until the roses bloomed; In a mystery poem, to keep something under one's hat is to conceal knowledge; The phrase suggests secrecy without heavy menace; A poet can use it for gossip, surprise, or hidden wisdom.
Additional Notes
Keep under one's hat means keep something secret or confidential. The hat suggests something covered, carried, and close to the head. In poetry, it can be playful, conspiratorial, or ominous, useful for gossip, political secrets, hidden love, or private grief. Students should note the idiom’s intimacy: secrecy is not locked in a vault but worn casually in public. It pairs well with veils, lids, masks, and concealed thoughts.
Also Known As
keep secret
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